The Graduate

The Graduate is one of those movies that if you tell someone youv'e have never seen it, they will
undoubtedly freak out and ask what is wrong with you. I had never seen it until recently, which I actually think worked out for the best. I think I was able to get more out of it than I probably would have had I been younger. This is a serious film, although its message is undercut by situations universal to anyone who had ever been stuck between the two worlds of child and adulthood.

What makes the Graduate timeless is its applicability. Like Ben, everyone goes through a period of anomie following some big change in their life. It is during this period of normlessness that an individual must reasess themselves on an existential level. The Graduate documents this very poignantly. When asked what he is going to do after college, Ben's answer is never definititive. He has no idea what he wants, that is until the end.

It is strange how quickly he seems to fall in love with Elaine. In a matter of a few scene changes, Elaine becomes his means to an end to his existential dilemma. He becomes driven once again, perhaps driven in the way we could imagine he was in College. Elaine becomes his new goal. After he wins her in the end, there is a sense of impending anomie because of the achievement of his goal. Perhaps the narrative has come full circle, perhaps not.

This movie is actually very similar to another one of my favorites, Garden State. It, too, is a coming of age story in which the twenty-something year old protagonist is emotionally resurrected by a woman. If you liked the Graduate, I would suggest it.