Finally got around to seeing this, and I have a quick question. I have not idea what the critical canon canon regarding this film has to say, but am I alone in thinking that the film is an indictment of the baby boom generation, and its near-sociopathic levels of apathy toward anyone's interest but their own? The only person in the entire film I was able to identify with was Mr. Robinson, when he calls Ben out on being a disgusting person. It was pretty funny in places, though I really wish I could've seen it in a vacuum, unencumbered by the 40 hojillion parodies I've already been exposed to.
Made this for some thread.
Back in the 1960s there briefly existed an "anti-elitist" movement that managed to get some movies altered for certain markets.
I love the music. I think it's a comment on bored housewives. The film that is.
It's interesting to me that although this movie was made in the late 60's, there are no hints of hippies, flower-power, or the upcoming summer of love. Ben is certainly not a rebel, even though he resists his parents' expectations of him to conform. It is just a matter of time before he enters the corporate world. For me, Mrs. Robinson is the only character I cared about. I felt her plight much more than Ben's...a beautiful, intelligent, artistic woman who lost her dreams in the drudgery of an upper-middle-class life. That is what I see this film being about---how life-crushing and mind-numbing the suburban way is.
"I'm talking about seeing beyond fear, Roger. About looking at the world with love."
The music, the opening credits sequence, the hilarious awkwardness in the first Mrs. Robinson scenes and the wedding brawl were highlights of the movie. The rest was slow.
For years, everbody told me what a great movie it was, and I had to see it. When i finally did, I was disappointed. The music and acting was good, but after viewing it I was like: "so what?"! I felt the same way with Easy Rider. I'm a big Nicholson and Hopper fan, but the movie didnt do anything for me.
I dont know if this is because I wasnt born yet and didnt live through the whole flower-power shit?
Ben: "We've laid in a gala reception for your fair-haired boys tonight. All of Twin Peaks' best and brightest."
Jerry: "We're holding it in a phone booth?"
Easy Rider was terrible, and it had a lousy ending, especially with that ridiculous acid trip scene. The only good thing was seeing Dennis Hopper, whose character I liked in 24.