The Graduate-Mike Nichols

The Graduate is another title that previous generations have inaccurately heralded as a landmark film among the likes of Easy Rider and The Wild One. A generational proclamation. I once saw Easy Rider back in my High School days and didn't understand it, and I also watched The Wild One within the past few years. I liked The Wild One and Easy Rider I think may require a repeat viewing with a new set of goggles to merit a more accurate assessment, but The Graduate I thought was a pure dud. Along with Closer, The Birdcage, Wolf, Carnal Knowledge, and Catch-22, this would be the sixth film of Mike Nichols that I have seen. This may seem a little strange as the bulk of his catalog I generally don't care for, but unbeknownst to me with unintentional loyalty I managed to see 6 of his films. The plot isn't exactly terrible and the acting was not insufferable either. With such heavyweights as Katherine Ross, Dustin Hoffman, and Anne Bancroft I would think it would be hard to fail in that sphere. I suppose it was the writing of the characters themselves that left a sour aftertaste on my palate once the credits began. Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) I found to be incredibly annoying. I'm not sure if his character was deliberately written to be overtly insecure, or if that was at the insistence of Dustin Hoffman, nevertheless, I found it to be irritating and exceptionally unrealistic. When I was within the hemisphere of Ben's age (26), I was living in Pittsburgh and had two experiences of dating significantly older women. One who was 37, and another who was 40. Maybe it was temporary confidence at the time, or turning one page in the book of life to a more mature chapter, but either way, I found both experiences to be rather enriching and don't remember experiencing any of the nervous quirks that Ben is shown to have in the film. In stark contrast, I found those brief slices of time to be rather profound and eye-opening. In both cases, the relationships were bereft of the annoying hallow encumbrances that can be pre-requisite in dating someone who is your junior. There was no snide bitching about how I failed to notice the new hairstyle or call three times within 24 hours to let them know that they were on my mind, or any other ledger of nuanced violations. I found it to be such a relief to be with a mature woman who knew exactly what she wanted without preemptive waltzing around the subject. When I would come over to the house to visit I could almost feel the worries of the day glide off into another realm and we would enjoy our time together with enjoyable dialogue and intense dalliances with no strings attached, sleeping late into the day and enjoying coffee upon our rise. Now, had this all taken place a decade earlier, then I could see myself floundering in a sea of unfamiliarity and ultimately drowning without a life preserver. That part I could understand. But even then, I just don't see how any woman packing Mrs. Robinson's implied pedigree of experience would be able to tolerate insecurity on such an egregious level. This completely disregards the laws of nature in totality. Ask any woman what they like most about a man, and the number one answer (generally speaking) is masculinity. It is the silver lining that shapes arousal across the board. Be a man. Be about it. Know what you want and go for it without second-guessing. Surety of the self. In a chapter dedicated to those who are the antithesis of Don Juan, titled The Anti-Seducers, Robert Greene has this to say about men like Ben Braddock: "Bumblers are self-conscious, and their self-consciousness heightens your own. At first, you may think they are thinking about you, and so much so that it makes them awkward. In fact, they are only thinking of themselves—worrying about how they look, or about the consequences for them of their attempt to seduce you. Their worry is usually contagious: soon you are worrying too, about yourself. Bumblers rarely reach the final stages of a seduction, but if they get that far, they bungle that too. In seduction, the key weapon is boldness, refusing the target the time to stop and think. Bumblers have no sense of timing. You might find it amusing to try to train or educate them, but if they are still Bumblers past a certain age, the case is probably hopeless—they are incapable of getting outside themselves." Do you think 50 Shades of Grey would have been successful with a mumbling, stuttering, room-pacer who can't decide which move to make in a game of morality chess? Neither do I see it coming to fruition here in The Graduate. I thought Ben was a creepy fumbling goofball whose insecurity would have so completely sabotaged his chance of getting together with Mrs. Robinson that it is inconceivable to me to think she would put up with it beyond their first instance of being alone together. And that is what doomed this picture for me altogether. The metaphors of one generation's insistence of conservative values remaining in place while the proceeding rejects these customs in favor of progressive ideologies was not lost. And I feel that the alienated youth of today are even worse off than they were back in the 60's. But the fact that all of this falls to the wayside in preference of this ludicrous tale of seduction makes this one an outright dud for me.

Stars: **

Verdict: Skip

Cousins: Carnal Knowledge, Annie Hall, American Pie, American Beauty, The Secret of My Success