The Graduate

            During our class period we talked about how there was a lot of humor involved in this movie.  I think that this film  had the perfect amount of drama and humor.  The humor never took away from the seriousness of the plot.  You were very  aware that Ben is seriously in a rock and a hard place.  The movie has good recurring jokes such as the scotch one.  I think the jokes were good but not uproarious, and that was good because it kept the movie in the exact spot it needed to be in.  I also definitely think that it embodies the the young people who graduate and really have no idea what to do. 

            The Graduate is a groundbreaking movie that follows a boy who is finding it difficult to adjust to life after college.  The themes of the movie also related to what was happening in Hollywood.  New younger directors were creating films.  The film was just as relatable then as it is now.  Both the older and younger audiences were part of the movie with the young soft Benn and Elaine and the older  harder Mrs. Robinson.  During the 60's American youth were growing tired of the rules and standards of their middle class parents.  The soundtrack of Simon and Garfunkel added to the mood and relatability of the movie to college students.  The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won best director.  Short-statured Jewish actor Dustin Hoffman was already cast as Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in The Producers.  He decided to bow out and took the role of bumbling graduate Benjamin Braddock.  In 2002 The Graduate went to Broadway.  This movie was definitely groundbreaking.  Usually when a movie doesn't get outdated decades after it is created, it is something special.  People could relate to the movie In 1967 and they still can now.  Weather they are a parent of a college student or a student themselves.  This article only supported the way I felt about the film.  I had already seen the film and liked it very much.   Ben is a very relatable character and will always be as long as young people have to make a step into adulthood. 
http://www.filmsite.org/grad.html

            Seeing that the director won an Academy Award for the film, it is obvious that The Graduate really is special.  The situation of Ben is not original but many college students feel and felt what he did.  It was something that everyone felt, but never actually talked about.  I think the film is simple, but gets very outrageous with the affair and the marriage.  The affair and the wedding crash took the film away from just a bored kid who is confused and made the movie very exciting.  The viewer could be anxious with Ben as he tries to keep his secret and his love, Elaine.  The movie was so simple with Ben's confusion, and so unique with his affair and love life.  That is why The Graduate is such and excellent film.    

            

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