By KEVIN KAUMANS, Assistant Editor/Words With Mr. Kaumans
Recently my film professor had my class watch “The Graduate,.” a comedy/drama about a socially awkward (as well as possibly autistic) college graduate who goes back home to his strict, wealthy father, who throws a party for his son and invites all his friends.
Having no friends of his own, Benjamin, the main character, struggles to interact with the people of the party. It isn’t long, however, before the young man finds himself in an affair with the wife of his dad’s co-worker.
Mrs. Robinson is a disturbing character, to say the least. Not only is it mentioned in the movie that she knew Benjamin since he was a child, she is also shown to be very forthcoming when he takes her home.
She purposely tries everything to keep him from leaving so she could corner him into sleeping with her.
Eventually, Benjamin reluctantly gives in. After sleeping with her, he begins to realize that Mrs. Robinson may only been using him. This makes him ultimately decide to choose Elaine, Mrs. Robinson’s daughter.
While I do find some decisions the directors made strange, I’m not ashamed to say that “The Graduate” still holds up.
Sure, not all of its scenes are comfortable to sit through. But that’s the point. The audience is supposed to get second-hand embarrassment from what happens to Benjamin. Not to mention, Katherine Ross’ voice acting is something you don’t see quite often from modern-day actors. The way she screams makes it seem like the director was threatening her at gunpoint.
Another big theme that appears multiple times throughout the movie is control. The movie makes it clear that, throughout his entire life Benjamin never had control over anything.
His father is constantly pressuring him to go to graduate school. His father’s friend, Mr. McGuire, is pushing him to join his company that produces plastic, and arguably worst of all, he gets groomed by Mrs. Robinson, a woman who has known him since childhood.
When he chooses to seek out Elaine and ask her to marry him, it’s the first time in his life Benjamin starts thinking about the wants and needs of himself, not his father, not his father’s friends, not even Mrs. Robinson.
I didn’t go much into the plot because I don’t want to spoil the movie. Rather, I encourage you to watch it yourself and come to your own conclusions.
Does “The Graduate” deserve to be remembered in the modern era of film? Is the ending trying to convey a deep message? Is the movie itself even deep? Why does Benjamin constantly walk throughout the movie like he’s constipated? These questions, I leave up to you.