A Review: A Second Look at the Graduate

The Graduate has been highly regarded since its release in 1967. It won Oscars, has been on various AFI’s 100 Movie lists throughout the years, and was selected in 1996 for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry. People love it; it is considered a classic and is continually mentioned in various pop culture avenues. However, an analytical, second look at the Graduate results in a less romantic view on the movie: it results the realization that the movie is totally insane and unrealistic.
The Beginning
The beginning of the movie is totally believable. Benjamin Braddack graduates from college, and like many graduates today, has no direction. He doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, so he moves into his parents’ house and spends the summer not doing much of anything. Well nothing except his parents’ family friend, Mrs. Robinson. He’s seduced by her and they begin an affair.
At some point, Mr. Robinson and Benjamin’s father decide Benjamin should go on a date with the Robinson’s daughter, Elaine. Mrs. Robinson is completely against the idea of Benjamin dating Elaine. She is after all, having an extra-marital affair with Benjamin; the idea of him dating her daughter is just plain weird.
Benjamin eventually gives in to his father’s and Mr. Robinson’s insistence. Benjamin and Elaine fall in love, and it is around this time that the Elaine finds out about the affair. She leaves town to go to college and cuts off all communication with Benjamin. Mrs. Robinson tells Elaine that Benjamin raped her, and Elaine believes her mother. This is all believable.
Where Things Get Dicey
What girl wants to date her stalker?
Benjamin decides Elaine is the woman he needs to marry. So, he moves to the town where she attends college, rents a room, and begins his life as a stalker. The movie depicts his actions as romantic, but his “love” develops into obvious obsession as he tries stalks Elaine, even interrupting a date she is on.
He raped my mom, but I still want him.
You could ignore the fact that Benjamin was insane and stalked Elaine, and still see how this movie is ridiculous. At some point, Benjamin and Elaine communicate. She accuses him of raping her mother, and he explains that her mother actually seduced him. Then they get back together. Really? It goes without saying that a normal person would run at the sight of their stalker; but not Elaine. She didn’t just decide to communicate with the maniac blatantly stalking her; she also took his word for it that he didn’t rape her mother and decided to shack up with him despite knowing that he was intimate with her mother.
But the insanity doesn’t stop there.
Once Elaine’s parents, who are divorcing, get wind that the two are back together, Mr. Robinson pulls Elaine out of school and gets her to a church to get married. The date Benjamin interrupted was with a guy Elaine had been dating and who had proposed to her. So, Benjamin bombards the wedding and steals Elaine away; this leaves us with the movie’s closing scene where we see both Benjamin’s and Elaine’s facial expressions show that they realize the degree of their insanity.
The Bottom Line
Sure, the movie plays directly to adolescent rebellion for its story line. Benjamin and Elaine rebel against society, convention, their parents, and so on. But adolescent rebellion does not lead a girl to date her stalker and the guy who not only slept with her mother, but broke up her parents’ marriage. The events taking place in the latter half of the movie are totally unrealistic.