The Graduate

Written as a novel by Charles Webb in 1963 then, in 1967, produced as a movie starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels, and Murray Hamilton.

I've seen the movie a dozen times and still love it. The story of Benjamin Braddock, a disillusioned college graduate who doesn't know what he wants. He only knows he doesn't want what he has. We never find out what he was like before he went off to college. We meet him after he has graduated and has come home to figure out what he will do next. He is uncomfortable with everyone, including his parents and their lifestyle. As he puts it, he wants his life to be different.

Everyone who knows the story of The Graduate knows all about Benjamin's affair with Mrs. Robinson; his father's, business partner's wife. The good looking middle aged woman who, in no uncertain terms, offers herself, sexually, to Benjamin.The movie progresses. Benjamin makes some questionable decisions. He creates a lot of stress for his family and the Robinson family. ...

The movie follows the book pretty close with a few changes here and there that only affect the plot in superficial ways. The Benjamin Braddock in the book comes across as much more unhinged than the Benjamin in the movie. Dustin Hoffman plays the part of Benjamin brilliantly but not at all like the Benjamin in the book. Hoffman's version has the young man acting naive, awkward, upset, yet very polite to everyone. The Benjamin in the book seems like he is long overdue for some time in a padded room wearing a straitjacket.

The book was written in 1963, which could explain Benjamin's behavior toward women in the story. He is condescending and rude. Constantly telling the women in his life to shut-up, sit down, and to be quiet. Remember, he's the good guy.. I don't think his attitudes toward women would fly today, or anytime after 1970.

Storywise, the most notable difference between the movie and the book is that the movie does not explore the affect Benjamin's MAJOR indiscretion has on his mother and father. That scene is not in the movie, but it is in the book; Benjamin's father, still trying to keep it together and guide his son out of his troubles, meets with Benjamin, where his anger, shame, and disappointment is expressed clearly with a good slap across the face. It was a needed scene, in my opinion, but, for some reason, the movie left it out.