Portrayals of Femininity in Nichols' The Graduate.
by Eda Gokcen
Mike Nichols' award-winning 1967 adaptation of the novel The Graduate written 4 years prior by Charles Webb, depicts two arguably contrasting portrayals of femininity through the mother and daughter Robinsons caught in a disturbing, complex, and brilliantly satirical love triangle with Benjamin Braddock. Dustin Hoffman's character is the perfect depiction of the younger generations' anxiety about their future and the existential dread tied to the question of what we all want to be when we grow up. While highlighting Ben's loneliness and lack of control through motif symbolisms of water and glass, Nichols also depicts one of the major themes within the New Hollywood films of the 1960s and 70s being the generational gap between the baby boomers and their more traditionally minded parents. Mrs. Robinson and Ben's affair reflects this gap and distance as it never progresses into anything other than physical connection, lacking a sense of real human connection and shared understanding as Ben makes several desperate and yet unsuccessful attempts to achieve this. On the other hand, the affair also provides a commonality between these generations later emphasized by Elaine's similarities to her mother in subtle but effective and thought-provoking ways.
In essence, the two women of this timeless piece of Hollywood cinema exist only in relation to the central character of a young man and his struggle in the transition to adulthood. However, this simple narrative of a psychologically complex love triangle could be seen as a representation of much wider observations on humanity and philosophies of life, beyond the American society of its time. Perhaps one of the simplest readings of the two women and their portrayals of femininity in the film is the "madonna and whore" dichotomy commonly seen in Classical Hollywood with films like
Shot from The Graduate (1967) Trailer, Mrs Robinson sits beside Ben.
Mrs. Robinson's initial portrayal is the antithesis of Ben, confident and in control as she knows what she wants, which is him, and how to pursue this desire by seducing him. The satirical yet awkwardly uncomfortable sequence of this seduction takes place in the Robinsons' house primarily in the living room. The set design here reflects the materialistic suburban lifestyle of Ben's parents and Mrs. Robinson's generation while also subtly highlighting the instinctive desires of both characters. Mrs. Robinson takes on a femme fatale persona, dressed in dark, slim-fitting, animal-printed costumes in the backdrop of a mise en scene that evokes a jungle, in which she is preying on the insecure, aimless, and nebbish Benjamin. The second half of this sequence takes place upstairs in Elaine's bedroom where Mrs. Robinson appears naked in front of Ben, trapping him inside and leaving him shocked, confused, and unsure of where to look or what to say. The camera imitates this helpless state Ben finds himself in by depicting the visible changes in his blunt and expressionless face seen throughout the opening, as well as the cause of this shift in his character with reverse point of view shots as he takes glimpses at the much older naked female body before him. This is one of the most direct examples of Nichols paying homage to his influences from the French New Wave cinema, as (Kirshner, 2012) notes
"Benjamin's triple-take cut of the naked Mrs. Robinson, for example, parallels the construction of Jeanne Moreau's leap into the Seine in Jules and Jim."
Emerging in the late 1950s, the movement was a rejection of conventional cinema and was characterized by its idea of auteurism and use of stylistic experimentation, most notable through innovative editing techniques such as the jittery jump cuts Nichols employs to reflect the inner emotions and thoughts of the central character Ben.
Moreover, Nichols uses motifs of water often portraying Ben behind or trapped inside the fish tank in his bedroom or his parents' backyard pool, while also using blocking to keep him stuck and stagnant in the left-hand side corners of the frame mirroring the diver figure inside his tank. The graphic match cut from a shot of him getting out of the pool to a shot of him jumping into the hotel bed with Mrs. Robinson is the perfect example demonstrating the first turning point within the film where Ben finally starts to feel in control like an adult. The cut not only conveys Ben's leap into freedom and escapism from the parental and societal expectations that overwhelm and burden him by moving to the right-hand side of the frame, but it also reflects Nichols' influences from the experimental work of a new generation of French filmmakers at the time. This artistic and experimental cut follows a montage of Ben's summer of drifting accompanied by Simon and Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence and April Come She Will from the soundtrack which was the first to be an already released album as opposed to a score written for the film. This nontraditional choice at the time was "overtly youthful"
as (Kirshner, 2012) states, continuing that the film "crystallized the elements of the emerging New Hollywood"
through its sense of style, substance, and attitude. The youthfulness and rejection of conventions established by previous generations here are not only depicted through the extensive use of the unique soundtrack but also the various techniques employed in the montage such as the graphic match cut which creates a sense of ambiguous fluidity between the family life and secret life of Ben.
Graphic match from The Graduate of Ben getting out of the pool and into Mrs. Robinsons' bed.
The audience is introduced to a different side of Mrs. Robinson in the next turning point of the film where Ben "boyishly questions her"
(Winn, 2007) about her past, seeking more than just the physical aspect of their relationship. This conversation is exactly what Mrs. Robinson seeks to escape and hide from as she momentarily "falls into the fathomless depths of isolation"
(Winn, 2007) as it is revealed that her life was chosen for her, embodying the very thing Ben fears for himself. Although it is Ben who unknowingly demolishes the strong and confident femme fatale persona, Kirshner (2012) adds that only the audience has access to "Mrs. Robinson's only display of vulnerability"
as she faces away from him and towards the camera. As their conversation progresses to reveal her strong feelings about Ben and Elaine's relationship, Ben realizes that their affair is an expression of her shame and self-loathing which she doesn't want introduced to her daughter as he states, "Mrs. Robinson you lie there and tell me I'm not good enough for your daughter"
. Moments later, the infamous shot depicting Ben trapped inside the seductive legs of Mrs. Robinson from the previously discussed scene in her living room is repeated in the hotel, this time with Ben above her. He is no longer trapped as Mrs. Robinson drops her strong façade and reveals her true, miserable self to him and he can leave the hotel, and move on with his life. However, the sexually experienced woman notices this threat to her only means of escape from her wasted and unfulfilling life and begins putting on her pantyhose carefully and slowly to gain back her control and dominance over Ben, turning this simple piece of costume into an effective prop. This enhances the importance of mise en scene in understanding the portrayal of femininity Mrs. Robinson represents at the beginning of the film and wishes to hide behind. In a sense, it is her own choice to sexualize and objectify herself in the name of this femme fatale persona and portrayal, but once this temporary image is torn down the real objectification of the character is revealed. Mrs. Robinson has no first name, she is merely an object possessed by her husband and has no individual identity of her own due to her tragic past she tries desperately to bury deep down.
In contrast, Elaine is seen as the virginal, pure, and ideal portrayal of femininity by Benjamin who spends the entire third act of the film stalking and attempting to win over her, which he eventually does, revealing much about the level of choice she has over her own life. In this sense, Elaine and her mother ultimately share the same fate of being stuck in a man's world. Representing the traditional feminine ideal of the 1960s, she conforms to her parents' expectations to marry a man of her own social class and upbringing and leave university without questioning what is asked of her. However, unlike her mother, she can choose to run away from her pressurized marriage to Carl, she is "educated and more independent than her predecessor"
(Wyllie, 2013). In relation to Ben, she represents freedom, and his ticket out of the "plastic" and tragic suburban life led by his parents' generation who expect him to follow their lead. Additionally, Kirshner (2012) notes that "the women are also marked by their association with water" explaining a few examples such as "the tears on Elaine's face at the strip club that spark Ben's relationship with her"
. However, the most crucial association of Elaine with water is during Ben's journey to find her as he drives his red Porsche across Oakland Bay Bridge. The camera zooms out from the car to a wide establishing shot of the bridge, with the mise en scene emphasizing his contrast as a red dot in a vast, cold, blue landscape, signifying his escape from the fish tank that is his parents' pool and his affair with Mrs. Robinson. He returns the favour for Elaine by preventing "Elaine's permanent descent into the tank by crashing her wedding to Carl Smith"
as Whitby (2021) states. During this sequence depicting Ben's creepily dedicated pursuit of Elaine, the song Scarborough Fair plays a number of times, creating a hypnotic mood reflecting Ben's internal world. Further, the title of the album for the film's soundtrack "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme"
also included in the lyrics of this song is said to be the ingredients for a love potion from the Medieval Era, which would only increase the creepiness of Benjamin's pursuit and Elaine's lack of choice.
Shot from The Graduate (1967) Trailer, Elaine at her wedding.
When Ben crashes her wedding to Carl, he is once again entrapped in the transparent glass barriers of the church imitating a trapped fly inside a lamp as he makes a final risky decision screaming for Elaine. To his pleasant surprise, Elaine responds by screaming "Ben" back as they hysterically run away from the wedding and the expectations of their parents' generation, resembling Bonnie and Clyde (Penn, 1967) in true New Hollywood fashion. Kirshner (2012) adds to this by stating "Not only does The Graduate flout the Hollywood convention of the hero getting there in the "nick of time," but also, more subversively, Benjamin and Elaine renounce the conventional morality regarding the sanctity of marriage. Finally, it puts an exclamation point on Mrs. Robinson's tragic narrative arc. "It's too late," she hisses at Elaine. "Not for me!" Elaine shouts back. Arguably, this is the confirmation that Ben is in fact returning the favour of bringing freedom to Elaine as she does for him, and their happy ending is guaranteed as they jump into the bus full of judgemental faces resembling their parents and the disapproving older generation. The bus moves off and the camera lingers on just long enough for the excited young couple's expressions to change from ecstatic to uncertain as the reality hits that they may have escaped their parents and the burden of their expectations for them but this is by no means a representation of their complete freedom without a plan for their future. This daunting remnant perhaps signifies the greatest similarity between Elaine and her mother, that they are both mere possessions of men in their life and it is simply Benjamin rather than Carl that she will belong to as a symbol of escape. However, Nichols leaves their future up to the interpretation of his audience, the very audience that has the ability to change Elaine's future to give her the freedom she deserves. The suggestion is that Elaine symbolises every young girl in each successive generation, and her future hinges upon our collective treatment of the women of our society.
Shot from The Graduate (1967) Trailer, "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?".
In conclusion, although centered around the film's central character Benjamin, both Elaine and Mrs. Robinson are complex characters of their own, representing different generations of the American middle-class woman and neither one's approach to womanhood is better or worse. They have certain similarities but the extent and longevity of these are left unclear by Nichols, whose aim is to simply showcase the American society and the middle-class culture at the time, capturing the perpetual struggle between generations. Mrs. Robinson's most iconic and remembered portrayal in the film is her initial façade of a rebellious and sexually liberated woman challenging the societal norms at the time, however "when one considers her in terms of gender representation it is clear that she is not compelling because of her achievements, but because of her status as something of a monster"
(Smith, 2011). Nichols laces this monstrous predatory nature of Mrs. Robinson's seduction of Ben through a heavy dose of satire, creating a highly praised, artistic, and charming film from a disturbing story. However, considering a reversal of the gender roles at play in The Graduate, it's hard to tell if this satire would save it from being noted down in history as a problematic piece of cinema such as
by Eda Gokcen
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