At
first it was amusing, then it was outrageously funny, but it didn't
stop there. It was shocking, unnerving and unbelievably disturbing. I
saw the end coming before it happened, and I hoped that I was wrong,
but I wasn't. The film lead me by the nose, right to a place I didn't
want to go and it did so without mercy. In the end, I believe I was
just as divided, as the opening audience must have been.
Classic
Movie Trailers – The Graduate (1967)
I
recognize, that there are two sides to this story. I see a young man,
being swept along by the situation. I see a childlike innocence,
ignorance and selfishness. I can also see the desire to follow your
heart, whatever the cost.
In
the end however, I think part of growing up is thinking about others,
instead of yourself. At some point, common decency should stand, even
in the face of amorous love. As firm as my moral position on the
film is, I'm sure others are just as firm against it. Though I'll
never agree, that the ending of “The Graduate” is a pleasing one,
I have to concede that it is a good film.
Entertainment
is at its best, when it illuminates life. It should teach us about
other people in an honest way, even if we don't want the lesson. I've
never thought, that stories should bend over backwards, to show us
what we want to see. They should show us a proper resolution of the
events, even if it's challenging, and even if it's debatably
inappropriate.
If
you've taken the time to watch “The Graduate”, all the way to the
end, I'm confident that you felt something. You might have been
smiling ear to ear when the credits rolled, or you might have wanted
to throw your shoe at the screen. Ultimately though, if you had a
significant emotional reaction, the film did its job. If it made you
think about right and wrong, or if it made you start a conversation
with your neighbor, then it left you with something substantial and
in my opinion, that's all it had to do.
The
cinema, shouldn't always affirm our positions. If we constantly see
our own views on screen, we risk losing sight of the others, and
we're not given the chance to stop and think. I'd rather leave my
theater seat incredibly angry, than to leave it bored any day of the
week. For that reason, I'm glad I saw “The Graduate”, even though
I never want to see it again.
Earlier,
I was of the opinion that as time has gone on, entertainment has
gotten bolder. The number of things you can show on screen, or put in
a book and talk about, may have increased over the years. With this
movie however, I've found that even if that's true, a film from 1967
can still shock you. I didn't applaud “The Graduate” itself, but
I have to applaud its courage.
----------------
See
"The Graduate" on Netflix!
B.
A. Seals -Memorial Day 2015
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