After a bumpy ride with Ben, Elaine, and Mrs. Robinson, we end up with a storybook ending. The guy (Ben) gets the girl (Elaine) and the big bad witch (Mrs. Robinson) loses. In a lot of ways The Graduate is like a fairytale (a very weird and disturbing one). From the start of the movie we have the main character, the perfect son, Ben come home from college. His life is mediocre at best, and he is in need of some excitement. As every fairytale goes, the hero (Ben) wants something and that something happens to be independence, and even being a bit daring. That is where our villain, Mrs. Robinson, comes in. The one person who can make all of our hero's wishes come true, but at an unseen cost. She tricks Ben into having an affair with her, so he can feel independent. All is good, until the love interest, Elaine, steps into the picture. Our brave hero cannot help, but fall in love with her. When there seems to be nothing that stands in the way of them, the villain strikes back. Mrs. Robinson forbids Ben from ever seeing Elaine, and if he does she will expose him. Well, in every fairytale it seems that there is nothing the hero can do to win. When all hope is lost our hero comes up with a brilliant, yet unlikely plan. Ben decides to break up the wedding and win Elaine back. After traveling a long way, his seemingly impossible plan seems to have a chance. When Ben confronts Elaine and tries to win her back who is there of course? Mrs. Robinson, our cunning villain. In a last ditch effort to foil Ben's plans she tries to say, "It's too late". Of course this doesn't stop Ben and Elaine from running into the sunset happily ever after.
So what am I getting at? Is The Graduate, just another (more mature) fairytale, or is there a hidden meaning within all of this.
This is an interesting take on the movie, and one I never would have thought of. I think it's definitely possible that the author of the novel, and in turn, the director were thinking of the story in this way. In fact, the only place where the fairy tale element ceases to exist is the end of the film (depending on how you think their lives turn out).
ReplyDeleteHuh. Hadn't thought of that. You've drawn quite a few parallels while simplifying the movie, so nice job there. It's certainly a different look, it just misses some of the themes of the film.
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