The Graduate: Subjectivity, Attraction, and Character Roles Featured analysis by Eva Chang1,2,3,4 1 Department of Art History, 2Book and Media Studies, 3Cinema Studies 4 Second-year undergraduate of Woodsworth College, University of Toronto The Graduate follows Benjamin Braddock and his subsequent misadventures after he returns home from college, as he desperately attempts to find purpose in his future. Accompanying him on these misadventures are Mrs. Robinson, an older family friend who seduces Ben into a friends-with-benefits relationship, and Mrs. Robinson’s daughter, Elaine, who Ben ultimately falls in love with—but not before his taboo relationships are exposed. Evidently, the plot is absurd and bombastic, and Ben gets himself into messy and explosive situations that culminate into the film’s message of meaninglessness in Ben’s contemporary society. This theme is further explored by the fluidity of the characters’ decisions and interactions, which are seemingly contrived and excessive. But fluidity manifests in more than just their interactions: it manifests in their perspectives and roles. Notably, Ben, as the protagonist, manipulates his perceptions of Mrs. Robinson and Elaine, to the point that they change roles in the film’s physical plot, driven by his attraction and interest towards them. Ben’s thoughts and feelings create a subjective world around him, and that world is dominated by attraction. His view of both himself and the other characters is hindered by his ideas of romance and love, and ultimately proves that he can only fit them into his own story, into shallow roles that lack a deeper understanding of their personalities and backstories. Attraction, then, serves as a focal point in the plot: sex and love determine drastic decisions, driving the main conflicts of the story. The characters’ dialogue employs the word “attraction” quite a few times when referencing the three focal characters, determining Ben’s perspective of Mrs. Robinson, Elaine, and himself.
Establishing Roles Though Ben does not physically meet Elaine in the first act, Mrs. Robinson invites him to look at her portrait. He immediately gauges her by appearance: “Elaine certainly is an attractive girl, isn’t she? I don’t remember her as having brown eyes” (13:57). He is attentive to her looks, proved when he pinpoints the minor detail of her eye colour. However, because of her lack of physical presence in the first act, she remains as a side character in Ben’s narrative, only appearing through dialogue. Ben’s circumstances in the first act do not allow him to know Elaine any better or allow him to see her as fitting into a major role in his life—but he is sure of his attraction to her. Mrs. Robinson, on the other hand, plays a central role in the first act, acting as a supporting character. Ben also sees her as attractive, but with a caveat. During their first foray together, he says, “oh no, Mrs. Robinson. I think – I think you’re the Screenwriters’ Perspectives Vol. 3 No. 1 2022
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