THE GRADUATE (1967)

[Bill Anderson]

Another weekend means time to introduce the 18-year-old to another notable
movie. Today, THE GRADUATE.

It’s been many years since I last saw this thing. I’ve always thought of it
as one of my favorite movies, a story that struck me personally because I
was the same age as Benjamin when the movie was released. He reminded me of
myself. Unlike Benjamin I was not quite but almost about to graduate from
college, but like him I was unsure of what the future might hold. So
imagine my feeling of empathy when I heard a comment from the kid early in
the movie: “He reminds me of myself.“

The movie holds up after all these years. It looks great, it’s still darkly
funny, Mrs. Robinson remains a sad, sympathetic villain, and the Simon and
Garfunkel songs are just classic and inexplicably perfect for the film. We
both enjoyed watching it. We did have to put the movie on pause once or
twice like when Benjamin’s landlord at Berkeley (Norman Fell) accused Ben
of being an “outside agitator” and I had to explain campus unrest at the
time. “Oh yeah, we read about that in history class.“

But then came the ending. Benjamin is pounding on the glass and the
Robinsons are cursing soundlessly, and Benjamin fights off the crowd by
threatening them with a cross, and all I can hear coming from over there on
the couch is, “oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” And then they
are sitting on the rear seat of the bus with fading smiles on their faces
and I’m hearing “This can’t be the end is it? Is this the end?” And I am
saying, “Watch their faces. What are they thinking?”

The bottom line is the kid loved it and I had a great time enjoying it all
over again. Terrific movie.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

[moviePig]

The rare oldie for which I remember where I was when I saw it...

[Bill Anderson]

Another weekend, another notable movie to share with the 18-year-old. This
time it’s THE GRADUATE.

I’ve always thought of this movie fondly because of how much I identified
with it when I was the age of the protagonist. In 1967 I was close to
graduation from college and still uncertain about the direction my life
would take. In many ways Benjamin reminded me of myself. So imagine my
satisfaction when I heard from over on the couch yesterday, “He reminds me
of myself.”

It had been a long time since I had seen the movie. Of course I remembered
all the high points but some of the little things, some of the gags, were
fun surprises again. We both enjoyed the movie even though I had to hit
pause once or twice for an explanation. (When Benjamin’s Berkeley landlord,
Norman Fell, accused him of being an “outside agitator,” the kid needed a
little help processing 1960s campus protests. “Oh yeah, I heard about that
in history class.“)

The kid thoroughly enjoyed this movie; no spells of antsiness like
sometimes happen. And then came the end with Benjamin screaming “Elaine“
“Elaine“ and the Robinsons cursing soundlessly and Benjamin fighting off
the crowd with a sword-sized cross and all I could hear coming from over on
the couch was, “oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”

So there were Ben and Elaine sitting on the backseat of the bus with their
happy faces slowly becoming, what? Thoughtful? Regretful? Terrified?

“Is that the end? That can’t be the end! So what did they do? Did he go
back to school in Berkeley?”

“You tell me, kid.“

[Bill Anderson]

Another weekend, another notable movie to share with the 18-year-old.
This time it’s THE GRADUATE.

I’ve always thought of this movie fondly because of how much I
identified with it when I was the age of the protagonist. In 1967 I was
close to graduation from college and still uncertain about the direction
my life would take. In many ways Benjamin reminded me of myself. So
imagine my satisfaction when I heard from over on the couch yesterday,

“He reminds me of me.”

It had been a long time since I had seen the movie. Of course I
remembered all the high points but some of the little things, some of
the gags, were fun surprises again. We both enjoyed the movie even
though I had to hit pause once or twice for an explanation. (When
Benjamin’s Berkeley landlord, Norman Fell, accused him of being an
“outside agitator,” the kid needed a little help processing 1960s campus
protests. “Oh yeah, I heard about that in history class.“)

The kid thoroughly enjoyed this movie; no spells of antsiness like
sometimes happen. And then came the end with Benjamin screaming “Elaine“
“Elaine“ and the Robinsons cursing soundlessly and Benjamin fighting off
the crowd with a sword-sized cross and all I could hear coming from over
on the couch was, “oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”

So there were Ben and Elaine sitting on the back seat of the bus with

[Bill Anderson]

I posted this yesterday but it didn't appear on my server. So I posted it again this morning and again it didn't appear on my server. So I went to a different computer/different Usenet client and posted it from there, and still again it didn't appear on my server. And now I've checked Google Groups and there it is -- three times. Sorry everybody. Now I just need to figure out why Giganews isn't showing what I've posted. In fact now that I've checked closely I see I've gotten nothing in Usenet since a James Dean post on the 12th.

[super70s]

On 2024-01-13 22:22:59 +0000, Bill Anderson said:

> But then came the ending. Benjamin is pounding on the glass and the
> Robinsons are cursing soundlessly, and Benjamin fights off the crowd by
> threatening them with a cross, and all I can hear coming from over there on
> the couch is, "oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"

In the DVD featurette Hoffman remembers the reverend of the church that
was rented was very protective of his building and was afraid the glass
would break when he banged on it with his arms in front of him, so he
outstretched his arms so it wouldn't be so dangerous. He thought it was
funny that every critical analysis he read tried to say it was an
intentional attempt to turn him a Jesus figure.

He also said the cross was used to lock the doors because that was the
only thing around that was handy, there was no deeper meaning than that.

> And then they are sitting on the rear seat of the bus with fading smiles on
> their faces and I’m hearing "This can’t be the end is it? Is this the end?"
> And I am saying, "Watch their faces. What are they thinking?"

Nichols left the camera running long after Ben and Elaine sat down
unbeknownst to them so he could get an extended reaction from them.