The Graduate: Still Relevant After All These Isolated, Socially Awkward Years

by Brett Parker

2007 marks the 40^th anniversary of what most recall as the most important year of the flower power era. 1967 brought about the “Summer of Love” in which the hippie culture came into full blossom and new ideals on love and freedom were forever embedded into the American consciousness. To mark the anniversary of this crucial point in history, I’ve read countless articles this year on all things ’67. This includes The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album, the legendary Monterey Pop Festival, and all of the hippie happenings in San Francisco.

With all the press ’67 is getting, it’s enough to make one ask, why does it matter so much? The reason, perhaps, is that the art and ideals that came about in this year still hold up a strong relevance to today’s era. Sgt. Pepper undoubtedly still influences how pop/rock music is seen and created, music legends such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin forever set the standards for musical icons, and free-spirited hippie ideals are still thrown around whenever the subject of the environment or politics is brought up. With all of this emphasis on 1967 and its creations, it is curious that little has been written lately about The Graduate, the ’67 Mike Nichols classic that probably holds the most relevance for our time.

The Graduate was a film that most still feel defines the ‘60s. With its underlying themes of free love and freedom from conformity, the film was very much of its hippie-themed era. Yet if one observes the picture today, they will find the film holds strong reflections of the world we occupy right now. Many of the film’s feelings and situations mirror those of 2007 so closely; it helps strengthen a connection between the Hippie era and the Myspace era.

A lot of modern familiarity can be spotted in Benjamin Braddock, the film’s main protagonist. Benjamin has just graduated from college and is feeling indifferent about his world and confused about his future. He has no idea what he wants for himself, all he knows is that he wants his future to be “different.” Benjamin wrestles with his indifference, but has difficulty in obtaining any form of meaning. This is strongly felt in a conversation he has with his father:

MR. BRADDOCK: Would you mind telling me then what those four year of college were for? What was the point of all that hard work?

BENJAMIN: You got me!

I’m reminded of something my college advisor once told me. She explained to me how on class registration day, students would pile into her room yet have no idea what classes they wanted or needed to take. They expected her to choose everything for them. The students’ lack of perspective and goals are very reflective of Benjamin’s. Like Benjamin, these modern day students lacked a clear idea of what they want out of life. It is also worth noting that Benjamin comes from a privileged family in a pleasant suburban lifestyle. Despite his good fortunes and strong social status, Benjamin still finds things to be discontent and off-put by. Perhaps most privileged young people of today feel this way. If one were to watch TV’s Laguna Beach, they would find countless teens in an upper-class lifestyle who do nothing but bicker, complain, and feel sorry for themselves.

One peculiar aspect of the film is Benjamin’s constant need for isolation. Benjamin is at his most comfortable when he is cut off from everyone and everything in his world. He is constantly immersed in his parent’s pool, swimming and drifting about. It is in this pool in which he is free to just think and relax without any distractions or stress. Benjamin takes pleasure in being cut off from other people. One could find Benjamin’s attraction to his pool as rather strange, yet if one looks around today, they will find countless people participating in behavior just like this. Instead of immersing themselves in a swimming pool, most people immerse themselves in a popular invention called the iPod. With its endless supply of music and playlists, the iPod allows a listener to immerse into a zone of soothing relaxation and a space to think freely. As a result, the device can cause a person to perform a self-isolation that makes social interaction almost obsolete. The wild popularity of iPods solidifies a modern need for an isolating comfort zone. Perhaps we’ve all become a generation of Benjamin Braddocks retreating to our swimming pools.

When it comes to the film’s relationships, its very obvious how the relationship between Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson still holds up today. There may have been a time when a young man dating a much older woman sounded offbeat and new, but in an era where Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore absorb the tabloids, age gaps in physical relationships have become commonplace. However, there is one relationship in the film that proves to be the most reflective of contemporary times: the one between Benjamin and Elaine Robinson. Benjamin and Elaine Robinson are attracted to each other, yet they lack a strong foundation for a lasting relationship. They only have one good date before it is discovered that Benjamin slept with her mother. Elaine grows outraged and cuts Benjamin out of her life. Benjamin pursues Elaine to her college campus in an attempt to win her over. At first, Elaine resists but then grows more affectionate and forgiving of Benjamin. Why? Well, perhaps she shares Benjamin’s feelings of indifference towards life. It is then Benjamin and Elaine contemplate marrying each other. This is not because they have lots in common and they truly love each other, but because they feel getting married will free them of their overwhelming feelings of inadequacy.

There are many couples in 2007 who think the same way. How else does one explain the astronomical divorce rate in today’s world? If one were to watch Dr. Phil or any talk show, they would see countless couples who wrestle desperately with each others’ flaws because they feel marriage is the end all be all of human happiness. Just look at MTV’s Engaged and Underage. The show features a new couple each episode who eagerly and relentlessly want to move forward with marriage despite everyone around them carefully explaining why the marriage won’t work out. Benjamin and Elaine would make perfect subjects for that show. Like so many young people today, they feel marriage will bring about happiness and end all of their personal problems without taking the time to think things through and sort themselves out.

There is one central idea throughout The Graduate that holds resonance no matter what era you occupy: you cannot run away from your inadequices. The film shows characters who try to elude their inner feelings through external factors, such as sex and marriage. Yet, as the film’s final shot confirms, it is very unlikely one can escape them. The film doesn’t offer any solutions to dealing with inadequacy, but we don’t always go to the movies for answers, we go to see characters who experience the same pain and feelings we do. Most college graduates experience feelings of inadequacy that create post-graduate anxiety. The Graduate nails those feelings perfectly. In high school, I used to roll my eyes when Benjamin pounded on the church windows, making a fool of himself. As I look back now, several years later, I know whole-heartedly where he’s coming from and have recently felt like doing that myself. So if you’re one of those people who currently feel nostalgic for 1967, make sure you throw a copy of The Graduate in with that Jimi Hendrix CD and that Tie-Died T-Shirt. Like the rest of that groovy art, it matters just as much.