“The Graduate”, 1967’s film analysis
Mike Nichols directed an American romantic comedy film, The Graduate. The 1967 movie presents an epic of a 21-year old young man who was a new graduate in life and seemed to have no much value in life. An older woman seduces him before she later falls in love with her daughter. This video is one of the most contended movies of its time. The producers and directors utilize various literary devices to present the film in a manner that is welcomed by the audience. Besides, the producers and directors carefully balance several events, themes and plots in an orderly manner to make it easy for the audience to master the piece quickly. Being one of the best films of its time, the film was later selected for preservation in the US for its significance in terms of culture, history and aesthetics. Additionally, several themes are evident in the movie, such as; identity, love, marriage, sex, isolation and alienation. This paper, therefore, provides an analysis of the issues and ideas presented in the film and how various film’s styles are used to present the ideas.
To begin, almost the entire film revolves around Benjamin Braddock, who is the protagonist in the movie. As a result, most of the themes in the video point at him in several stances. The recent East Coast graduate finds himself questioning the values of the society. He also finds himself alienated in the shifting sexual and social mores of the 1960s. For instance, the theme of identity is evident in the film. The Graduate has just graduated but seems a little bit confused on the next step to take after finishing up school. As a result, the innocent and confused graduate is misguided, misdirected, and seduced figuratively and literally. The older generation people utilize his innocence and confusion to betray him and corrupt his life. The film style used to explain this idea include the film poster that talks about the aimless graduate.
Furthermore, the film also presents the theme of love, sex and marriage. The movie shows some relationships, some of which are pure as a result of love while others as a result of sex. For instance, it was due to sexual desires that Mrs Robinson chooses to seduce Benjamin. She uses sexuality to get what she wants without minding, whether her actions hurt others. Mrs Robinson is expected to be settled in her marriage and focus on developing her family while Benjamin should be focusing on getting a young lady to marry after graduating. The film has utilized various styles such as satire, and irony to support the theme of love, sex and marriage. For example, it is expected that men are the ones to make first moves towards women. However, this is different in the film, because Mrs Robinson moves ahead to seduce Benjamin, who was a young graduate.
Moreover, the movie contains several instances portraying the theme of gender. Regarding this, Mrs Robinson is the key person to focus on. Mrs Robinson breaks several gender roles. Typically, it is presumed that men are the ones to make a move of attracting women. Mrs Robinson however, serves as the best person to illustrate this understanding. Mrs Robinson portrays this male role by offering Benjamin a chance for engagement. Also, from the engagement, Mrs Robinson is indeed more experienced than Benjamin. She provides a wrong representation of the roles of women in building a family and society. She seems not to be happy to uphold the societal values that are in line with her gender status. As such, she can be described as living two spaces (male and female). By taking two gender spaces, her life seems to be so unnatural. Thus, doing away with her unhappiness to do morally unacceptable things.
Additionally, the film points out the theme of isolation and alienation. From the movie, the life that Benjamin leads seems to be unusual from what other youths lead. It is expected that at least after graduating, family members or friends will come in to advise him on the next step. However, she finishes school with a lot of confusion. He seems to be aimless in life. As a result, everybody is meant to doubt if he even had friends in school with whom he could share about life matters. Likewise, if at all, Benjamin would have had a good company with his peers, he would be focused on having a girlfriend of his age. Mrs Robinson takes advantage of his isolated life to lure him into sex life. The filmmaker uses the symbol of plastic to illustrate Benjamin’s connection with the parents, friends and the future. The plastic, in this case, has been used to symbolize falsity in the adult world.
In conclusion, the film “The Graduate” serves as one of the movies that address various societal aspects that are common in societies. The film addresses many ideas such as; marriage, sex, gender, love, and so on. The film wisely uses its characters to bring out its core objective. The principal characters in the movie are Benjamin and Mrs Robinson. Moreover, the filmmakers utilized various styles in bringing out these themes. For example, the style of irony, satire, symbols, and imagery are used in the film.