The Graduate Movie Essay

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The Graduate: Critical Analysis The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols in 1967, is about a discouraged college graduate who finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter. Throughout the duration of the movie it was clear to the audience that this film exemplified the 1960s counterculture amongst the younger generation. The effects of the Vietnam War and the countless opportunities for youths put a twist on modern day reality during this time. The Graduate identifies the anxieties of the 1960s American youth through both theme and symbolism. During the time The Graduate was being filmed, American society was drastically changing. The movie perfectly portrayed America’s youth of the 1960s during the rise of the Vietnam War. America’s youth were strongly against the battle, in which their fathers, brothers, and even husbands were losing their lives over. The idea of antiwar gave this generation something to feed off of. It was a rebellious stage where thousands of people joined in their creation of the “counterculture.” Defined by Webster’s Dictionary, counterculture is a culture with lifestyles and values opposed to those of the established culture. The counterculture opposed many of the traditional values of the middle-class society and challenged the traditional institutions…show more content…
First starting with the fish aquarium, then going to Ben’s backyard pool, then it is raining the night Ben’s secret is told to Elaine, and it even reappears when Ben races off to find Elaine at college to apologize. The scene when Ben is at the University of California, Berkley, and he is overwhelmed with all of the students, he sits down by a water fountain. Then, the song “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” by Simon and Garfunkel plays in the background. The water seems to be present in the scenes where Ben is very uncertain of his future and at this point of the movie, Ben is still unsure of what is going to happen

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