WEBVTT - The Graduate 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:04.960 Hello, listeners. Just a quick content warning for this episode 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:09.840 for rape allegations, because in the movie we're discussing today, 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:15.240 a character falsely accuses another character of rape, and we 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:18.480 discussed that pretty extensively toward the middle of the episode, 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:21.520 just so you were aware of that ahead of time. 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:26.600 Enjoy the episode. On the Bechdel Cast, the questions asked 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:30.200 if movies have women in um, are all their discussions 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:34.640 just boyfriends and husbands, or do they have individualism the patriarchy? 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:40.760 Zef invest start changing it with the Bechdel Cast. Hello Jamie, 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:45.680 my old friend. I've come to talk with you again 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.720 so that we can pass the Bechdel test. And here's 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:53.560 to you, Mrs Becktel Cast. The fans love us more 0:00:53.600 --> 0:01:01.840 than we can know. Whoa Mrs Becktel hast thoughts. I 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:07.319 love it? I have like I can't stop smiling. Yeah, 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:12.480 Mrs pectel Cast, that's new name of our show. Who 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:19.240 she married to herself? Wow? Oh my god, I love 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:23.160 that for her. Wow. That literally put like butterflies in 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:27.240 my stomach for some reason. I don't I don't know 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:30.320 what that wow? What would art? We would be? We 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:35.360 would be? Would it be Durante and Loft? Funkele or 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:42.520 Loftus and Durrant Funcle. Durrant Funcle is a mouthful I'm 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:50.640 happy with. I would happily accept Loft Funcle jam Loft Funcle. Whoa, 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:54.920 Oh my gosh, Okay, that means you get two very 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:59.880 carry Fisher God, you're so lucky. Wait did Paul sign Wow? 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.960 I didn't even know about that. Yeah, it was a 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:08.320 well spoiler alert didn't end well because they got divorced. 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:09.680 I don't know that much about it. I just know 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:12.840 that I am a Carrie Fisher's stand for life and 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:17.000 Paul Simon horror feelings so him. Yeah, I think I'm 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:25.160 going to have to kill him. Nope, that's kidding anyway. Hello, 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:31.160 my name is Kate Lynn drunk Funkle. Let's just both 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.000 be our guard Funcle. I think that that's Honestly, I'm 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:38.639 pretty and again like classic rockheads, please correct us, because 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:41.200 I don't have a ton of my Honestly, I'm at 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:43.720 my dad's house right now and he was trying to 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.040 tell me about Simon and Garlf uncle and I just 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:50.760 could not be bothered. I was like, I'm busy, So 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:54.600 he probably could have supplemented this conversation, but Um, I'm 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:58.320 pretty sure Art Garl Funkele was like good vibes, less 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:03.480 talented maybe, and Paul Simon was like almost like Paul McCartney, 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:07.600 like I'm this, I'm I'm very talented, and he was right, 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:11.280 but he was an asshole one of those situations. So 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:13.880 I feel like being of the Funkle variety, and I'm 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.360 sure our girlf uncle is super talented, but he just 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.960 had a good personality and people are like men are assholes, 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:22.320 which brings us to at the time. Also, my name 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:27.160 is jam Loft Funkle and this is the battle cast, 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:31.800 so I guess I'm Kate Kate Kate dr Funkele, I 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:36.000 like der Funkelen. Do you remember the guy Okay, this 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:37.720 is not passing the battle cast? Do remember that guy, 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:43.280 Brian Dunkelman. No, who's that? Okay, this is the worst 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:47.360 story ever. I'm falling asleep already. But he was like 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:52.120 the original host of American Idol pre Ryan Seacrest. He 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:55.600 was like a host of maybe I don't remember like, 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.920 but his name was Brian Dunkleman, and I just remember 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:01.880 him really well because he had a comedy album he 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:04.760 released and it was called American Dunkleman and that made 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:08.640 me laugh. I don't know what he was like, I 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.600 can't picture him, but I was like American Dunkleman. That's 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:20.400 hilarious as Kate dr Funkele or Jam Funcle. So what 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:24.719 the podcast about? So? This is the Bechtel Cast, in 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:28.440 which we examine movies through an intersectional feminist lens, and 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:31.360 we use a little something called the Bechtel Test, which 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.159 we simply use as a jumping off point. But that, 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:38.120 of course, is a media metric created by queer cartoonist 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:42.640 Alison Bechtel, sometimes called the Bechtel Wallace Test. There are 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:45.160 different versions of the test. The one that we use 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:50.719 is this two characters of a marginalized gender have to 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:54.240 have names, they have to speak to each other, and 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:57.200 that conversation has to be about something other than a man. 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:02.159 And ideally it's a sub stantial conversation. You know, it's 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:07.560 two or more lines of dialogue, and it is plot relevant. 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:12.280 Plot relevant. You say, yeah, okay, well a spoiler alert 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:17.839 not here, not in this one, Oh my god, aggressively 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:21.560 not so. But but that said, I think that this 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:23.640 is going to be a fascinating conversation. We've been getting 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:27.359 requests for this movie for some time, because I'm pretty 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:29.520 sure this podcast has been going on for as long 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.680 as this movie has been out, is that correct? Yeah? 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:39.279 Decade decades, fifty five years correct? Um, Today we're covering 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:45.760 feminist masterpiece The Graduate. Oh my goodness, so much to 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:50.159 talk about. What is your history with The Graduate? The Graduate? 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:54.040 And I, Um, I definitely didn't see it before college. 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:55.719 I feel like I had to watch this as a 0:05:55.760 --> 0:06:00.320 part of a film class or something. I will say 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.320 I've never been a particular fan of this movie. I 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:05.440 mean I haven't seen it, and at least at least 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:08.240 since before we've been doing this show. I've never watched 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:11.560 it critically before. I just always have kind of been 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.680 like my recollection of my reaction to it was like, 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.880 I really like and Bancroft, but this movie is boring 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:20.440 to me. Like I just didn't. I just thought it 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:23.440 was boring. And I thought that and and and in 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:25.880 my defense, I was right. I thought the lead character 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:28.599 was really boring. And then looking when you look at 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:30.440 it critically, you're like, well, he's a lot of things, 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:33.200 but um, but I was just like, this is so 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.480 boring to me. I just didn't like it. But I 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:39.960 will say I am a big Mike Nichols fan. I 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:44.880 absolutely love Mike Nichols. He directed two of my favorite 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:48.560 movies ever, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf and Um The 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:53.120 Bird Cage, and he's an icon. I really admire his 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:56.560 work Rest in Power. I know this is one of 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:59.760 his most famous movies, but it's just not one of 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:03.279 my favorite. And then rewatching it for this, I was like, what, 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:05.840 this is kind of like a mine field for us, 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:11.600 because obviously it's like you can't like leverage two values 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:13.120 against a movie like this. But I feel like it 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:17.120 really does open a lot of doors for discussion with 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:21.720 like how like young boomers were perceived when they were 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:24.520 coming of age, and like because we know how that 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:29.280 story ends, it's like it's it's just it's just it's interesting. 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:32.640 Much like Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon's marriage, it doesn't 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:36.880 end well, right, and so so looking back on it, 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:39.400 I think this will be a fun discussion. But yeah, 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:42.880 I will say still kind of just like even criticisms 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.400 aside of which I have, you know, plenty, I just 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:48.920 think it's kind of a boring movie. Caitlyn, what's your 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:51.640 history with this movie? I don't disagree. I saw it 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:54.320 in college, probably for the same reason. Either I had 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.320 to watch it for a film class or it was 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:58.400 just one of those things it's where it was like, 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:00.920 it's a great American class, It's like I need to 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:04.080 have seen it. So I watched it probably when I 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:07.960 was like a freshman or sophomore, and I only watched 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:13.600 it that once. And I finally understood the reference that 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.480 Wayne's World two makes at the end of that movie, 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:22.160 because it's spoofs. You're talking high salutant brain stuff. Yeah exactly. 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:26.320 I was like, oh, I now understand what Wayne's World 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:30.040 two had been spoofing all along, and so that was 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:33.920 my main connection to it, isn't it but heavily referenced 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:37.920 in American Pie as well, like Stiffler's Mom. Like I 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:41.040 feel like there's like Mrs Robinson references in regards to 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:44.920 Stiffler's Mom an American Pie another feminist classic. Obviously, I 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:49.000 don't remember if it right. I don't remember if it 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:51.560 is like directly referencing it or if it's just like 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:56.880 homage kind of thing. Couldn't I can't say, but um, yeah, 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:00.840 I mean this movie certainly has a major cultural influenced 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:05.600 the whole like plastics thing, Like I kind of forgot 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:09.720 about that that. Yeah, like it's I mean, this movie 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:14.680 is super influential. I had a good time reading about 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:18.640 the production history and like sort of how because there's 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:20.720 just there's a lot of interesting production stuff going on 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:25.559 as well. Ultimately, yeah, this movie, uh is well, we'll 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:27.240 get into it in just a second. It's not my 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:31.000 fav really at all. I do feel like there's like interest. 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:32.720 I'm trying to think of nice things to say at 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:35.360 the beginning. I love Anne Bancroft, I love Katherine Ross, 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:39.679 I love Mike Nichols. I think the cinematography is interesting 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.080 at times and other times maybe not so much. So 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:46.960 maybe that wasn't nice. I think there's some interesting editing choices. 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.800 I think, yes, some of the montage. The montages are fun. 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:51.920 You know what one thing I was thinking and I 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:54.520 was like, maybe is this ground zero for this trope. 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:56.880 Do you remember when we were like, for whatever reason, 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:59.280 we did a couple of coming of age movies. They 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:01.720 were like me of age movies about young women swimming 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:04.120 pooling the swimming pool. At Yes, I had the same 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:07.120 thought that was this where the swimming pool like rich 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:09.960 kid goes into a swimming pool to really think about 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:13.319 the fact that they're an adult. Now vibe is that? 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:19.440 Do think maybe this movie pioneered that trope? Perhaps Wow, 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:23.280 because it happens in what happens in eighth grade, it 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:27.400 happens in anything, It happens in Ladybird, it happens in 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:32.599 something else, not necessarily a rich it's not always a 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:34.960 rich person, but it happens that a person with a 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:38.760 pool's house. It's a white person going underwater to reflect 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:42.840 about their past, present in future. Now, what the hell 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:45.679 is that all about? I get I get it. It's 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:48.600 a metaphor. It's a metaphor um. But I was like, 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:52.200 maybe this is the where it started. Could be question mark. 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:54.440 I don't we don't really know about many years that 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:57.360 came before this because we're just really young, so kind 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.360 of hard to say, um, what was happening? Yeah, but yeah, 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:03.440 I think this is like this is wild too, because 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:07.720 it was like putting me in my my caffy act 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:11.840 cast bag of just like wanting to talk about second 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:15.920 wave feminism and like the you know, complicated politics of 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:19.160 second wave feminism and also this movie coming out before 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:21.840 Roe V. Wade another. Just lots of things to discuss, 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:25.240 so shall we get into it. Let's do it. Here's 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:31.240 the recap. We meet Ben Braddock played by Dustin Hoffman. 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:36.040 He is returning to Los Angeles. Ever heard of it? 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:41.480 He's twenty years old? Question mark, he's thirty years old. Okay. 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:43.920 I learned about this from at the time of scholarly 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:48.360 journal Wikipedia. That yeah, Dustin Hoffman was just shy of 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:52.120 his thirtieth birthday when filming this movie. There's six years apart, 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.080 and Bancroft was thirty five when this movie was shot. 0:11:55.760 --> 0:12:00.680 And Bancraft absolute fucking legend. The casting for this was 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:04.640 weird because it was like they clearly I feel the 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:07.280 makeup choices were to make her look older, But when 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.800 Mike Nichols was given the opportunity to cast older actresses, 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.040 he said no, And You're just like, but what I mean? 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:16.240 I love a Bancraft. I feel like she is so 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:18.440 amazing in this role. But then like he could have 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:22.079 cast Ava Gardner and you're just like, so why not 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:25.040 do that? It boggles the mind. We can't ask. Oh, 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:28.360 maybe it's because you know, there's a huge bias in 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:33.240 Hollywood against older actors who are women. Maybe I totally yes, 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:35.920 and I feel like it does. But it like speaks 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:38.960 to that moment specifically too, because I feel like now 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:41.360 it's kind of like a bit more of a reverse 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:45.520 where it's like I cannot think of many modern examples 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:50.840 of a younger actor, especially a woman being aged up. 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:54.240 I feel like it happens in the reverse all the time, 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.480 and like your whole thing with like every woman needs 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:01.800 to look about thirty seven years old rule. Yeah, I 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:05.720 feel like Sandra Bullock, who is sixty or nearsick like 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:10.240 she's some age an icon, a legend, I mean, an 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:15.120 absolute icon. She's older than you would probably think she 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:18.720 might be, but I feel like she's still playing roles 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:22.559 for like forty year old women early four. Yeah, it 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:26.000 does feel like and this certainly wasn't, as far as 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:28.200 I know, a thing in the sixties. I just thought 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:31.720 it was interesting that, like, there's obviously, I mean, in 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:35.679 the casting process, the writing process, a ton of sexism 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:38.920 at play here. But I just it was like it 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:42.200 was a it was a flavor of sexism I hadn't 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:44.600 seen in a while. I was like, wow, aging like 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:48.320 it almost feels like and I don't have I don't 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:51.280 this is my working through this in real time, but 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:55.880 like it feels like, Okay, well I I literally refused 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.520 to have an actor over forty on screen, but I 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:03.160 need a forty ish year old character, So let me 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:05.600 age up a woman in her mid thirties. And you're 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:10.199 just like so much work for what? Like it's just 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.120 I mean, it's all a lot of work. And to 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:16.079 be clear, we're not saying that, like, you know, any 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:21.320 actor over forties should you know, like if if as 0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:23.800 far as like cosmetic surgery goes orything is still look younger, 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.480 like live your life. But I do feel like there 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:29.880 you can't ignore the fact that there is that pressure 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:35.880 now for anyways women aging. We can't have it. It's 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:40.160 against the law. It's immoral and illegal. Yeah it's not right. 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:46.840 Uh okay. So Ben Braddock is Dustin Hoffman. He is 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:51.240 returning to Los Angeles after finishing college. His parents are 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:55.080 throwing him a like welcome back party with all of 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:59.680 their family friends and none of his friends that are 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.800 his age. Anyway, I don't think he has any friends, 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:05.960 I mean, which is well, we'll talk about that, but like, yeah, 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:08.680 I don't I don't think I think that's one of 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:12.720 benjam means problems he doesn't have friends could be so 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:17.040 despite him doing very well in college, he expresses all 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:20.480 these anxieties and doubts. Shout out to the movie doubt 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:28.040 about thank you for that. Of course, he expresses all 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:32.000 these anxieties about his future. And that's when a family 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:38.080 friend is like plastics and Ben is like okay. Ben 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:40.520 gets away from the party and goes into his room 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:44.560 where Mrs Robinson played by and Bancroft. I've heard of her, 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:47.840 I've heard of her another family friend. She comes in 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:51.080 thinking it's the bathroom. They chat for a moment, and 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:54.360 then she asks Ben to drive her home, which he 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:58.560 reluctantly does. She then invites him in to her house 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:02.240 under the pretense that she's scared to go in alone 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:05.800 in the dark. He reluctantly goes in. She's offering him 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:10.440 a drink. She's really trying to keep him there. We're 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:14.000 in a danger zone. Oh yeah, what is this top gun? 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:20.720 Because danger zone alert the way that I do pretty 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:23.640 clearly remember how I didn't remember the specifics, but I 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.720 remember like what happens towards the beginning of the movie, obviously, 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:28.760 because that's where all the famous lines of the movie 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:30.920 are kind of in the first ten minutes, but it 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.520 does make the rest of the movie extremely difficult to 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:38.040 talk about because it starts with, well, let's let's get 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:41.000 to it, I suppose. So she's not taking no for 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:44.080 an answer. He's trying to leave, and then he's like, 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:47.520 Mrs Robinson, you're trying to seduce me, aren't you? And 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.880 she's like, no, I'm not. I mean I'll go hey, 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:54.720 and then there's the shot of him like framed around 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:59.360 her leg and it's it's iconic but headless woman of 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:04.640 Hollywood Hannon right exactly. So she denies trying to seduce him. 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:07.720 But then and then she shows him a portrait of 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:11.840 her daughter, Elaine, who is close to his age. Is 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:13.840 that a rich person thing? Or is this movie like 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:16.560 Weirdo where they're like, yeah, I have a had a 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.359 painting commission of my daughter. It's in her bedroom. They're like, 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:22.240 why don't I have a painting of myself in my 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:26.440 for It's it's interesting, I don't know what rich people 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:30.399 are are doing, Like, is that a sixties thing? Is 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:32.440 that a rich people thing? Is that a pervert thing? 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:37.720 We don't know. We simply don't know. So Mrs Robinson 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:40.359 is all like, no, I'm not trying to seduce you, 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:42.720 and then she does get naked in front of him. 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:47.520 Ben continues to be very uncomfortable and he runs out, 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:50.440 but on his way out of the house, he runs 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:57.840 into Mr Robinson. Mrs Robinson's her husband, and he's like, Ben, 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:02.960 you should relax, take go, load off, have a few flings. 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:07.040 Even you're young, get out there and fuck. Every adult 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:12.000 in this movie thinks Ben is so interesting, amazing, irresistible, 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:16.840 and you're just like, I'm lost, I'm lost, what are 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:20.520 you talking about. It's so funny because I do think that, like, 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:24.000 as I was watching this movie, it his character, which 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.560 we'll talk about, you know, but like his character scans 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:30.400 to me the way that like back in the day, 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:34.920 boomers would talk about millennials, where it was like you're 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:38.960 just moving back in with your parents, you're so entitled, 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:41.560 you're mooching off the blah blah blah, which was like 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:45.280 a fallacy. We were just um, you know, excluded from 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:49.280 ever being able to own property, but and suffocating under 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:53.560 our student loan debt. But sure we were lazy, came 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.480 of age during a recession, but that the boomers caused. Sure, 0:18:56.600 --> 0:19:01.720 but fine, but it just is funny because Ben is 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:04.720 doing the big that they would go on to say 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:07.360 that we were doing. But he's actually doing the thing. 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:11.440 He's like just hanging out by the pool every day 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:15.240 and doing anything. He's living this like I would say 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:18.320 it's hedonistic, but he's so boring that it's like, I 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:20.560 can't even call it that in good his life seems 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:25.400 creepy and boring. True. Well, yeah, I suppose let's continue. 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:33.919 Let's um. So Ben considers this and then jumps in 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:36.760 the swimming pool and has one of those swimming pool 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:40.760 coming of age moments, which I guess causes him to 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:45.760 change his mind. Has in a scoopa suit, which is interesting. Yeah, right, 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:49.520 I think the first Usually it's just a bathing suit, 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:52.520 but for him, there's some equipment involved. He's rich. He 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:57.840 needed a whole breathing apparatus. Kind of funny. He needed 0:19:57.880 --> 0:19:59.920 to sit down at the bottom at the bottom of 0:19:59.920 --> 0:20:02.120 the pool for a long time and have a long 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:04.080 think about whether or not he was going to have 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:06.679 sex with Mrs Robinson. Yeah, that's how you that's how 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:12.400 you know he had to think about it. Sco Okay, 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:15.240 this movie has its moments. I didn't hate Dustin Hoffman 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:18.480 falling into a pool in a scuba suit. There are 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:22.960 some funny satirical moments that I appreciated, I mean, Mike 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:27.960 Nichols Man, but those were only very small punctuation marks 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:35.240 in an otherwise pretty insufferable movie. Anyway, Okay, So he 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:39.160 changes his mind and calls up Mrs Robinson and invites 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:42.320 her to the Taft Hotel where he is currently just 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:47.439 hanging out at. They get a room. He's nervous and 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:49.520 she's like, is this your first time? And he's like, 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:54.960 um no, oh my god. He has this like I mean, 0:20:55.440 --> 0:20:58.399 and I do feel like there's at least some self 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:02.800 awareness and commentary this. I want to believe that. Sometimes 0:21:02.800 --> 0:21:07.680 it's very unclear, but like whenever he's like his masculinity 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:14.560 is questioned, he like like gets very angry, gets very angry, 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:20.040 very upset, and I don't I don't like him. I 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:24.280 don't like him. I think he's so he's like, no, 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:27.359 I've fucked before. And then the lights go off and 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.640 this is the start of a secret affair that they have. 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:35.280 We get a montage of mostly just him being boring, 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:38.080 which I know is like I think the movie knows 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:40.679 he's like just kind of hanging out and being boring, 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:42.879 but it's like it's just boring. But I think the 0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:45.479 movie is telegraphing to us, oh my gosh, look at 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:49.199 this poor, rich white kid with his college degree and 0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:52.200 look how aimless he is. Don't you feel bad for him? 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:55.359 And it's like, yeah, of course I don't, right, But 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:58.720 it's like, but that's all that's like in retrospect, to 0:21:58.920 --> 0:22:01.359 like it is such a weird thing because I feel 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:06.280 like there's similar vibes that at least I've gotten from 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:10.560 like some Gen X teen movies, where it's like the 0:22:10.680 --> 0:22:15.679 underlying messages like my parents like give me anything I want, 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:18.879 and I feel so suffocated when it's like when I 0:22:18.960 --> 0:22:21.280 when you like fast forward to generations that like, well 0:22:21.320 --> 0:22:24.800 that wouldn't be so bad, really what it? You know? 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:28.760 Like it like rings super hollow and shitty in retros, 0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:31.480 But yeah, it's like I know that we're he's I 0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:34.240 just am like this character is unbelievably boring, to the 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:36.159 point where when he gets to Berkeley and they're like, 0:22:36.200 --> 0:22:38.240 are you a like a rabble rouser? And You're like, 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:40.959 are you kidding me? For the most boring man alive. 0:22:41.080 --> 0:22:48.840 He wishes he's literally just a garden variety stalker. Like, sorry, okay, 0:22:48.920 --> 0:22:52.760 so we get this montage. Also, meanwhile, his parents are 0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:55.320 on his case about what he's doing with his life 0:22:55.440 --> 0:22:58.480 and how do you spend your time, Ben, But they're 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:00.560 also like, we get it. You should have a beer. 0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:03.320 You deserve it. You're awesome, you're amazing, But like, have 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:06.840 you thought about going to school? No? Okay, And it's 0:23:06.920 --> 0:23:11.280 like these parents are absurdly chill, like everyone is rooting 0:23:11.280 --> 0:23:13.520 for him so hard. Yeah, and I'm sort of like 0:23:13.920 --> 0:23:16.840 kick him out. Truly. There's a moment where his dad 0:23:16.920 --> 0:23:20.600 is like, get off your ass and go to grad school. 0:23:20.800 --> 0:23:24.359 And then I'm over here like it is not worth 0:23:24.880 --> 0:23:28.400 the money right where it's like it's he's super privileged 0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:31.240 that like that is and it's it's like heavily applied that, 0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:33.520 like he's not going to pay for grad school and 0:23:33.560 --> 0:23:37.439 in the sixties, if mom, like why doesn't he just 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:42.200 what is he even doing? Do you whatever? I just 0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:44.719 feel like it's it's fine to be, you know, I 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:47.359 get like twenty one aimless, don't know what you want 0:23:47.400 --> 0:23:50.439 to do with your life? Fine, relatable, but you know, 0:23:50.840 --> 0:23:54.200 you gotta do something, you gotta do something like something 0:23:54.240 --> 0:23:57.240 and just you have every privilege and the just do something. 0:23:57.440 --> 0:24:02.280 Get into pottery, Ben, I don't know why I said pottery. Hey, 0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:08.080 you know that's that's something. It's something. Okay. So he's 0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:10.360 again just like lying in a in the pool most 0:24:10.400 --> 0:24:12.600 of the time, and then Mr Robinson comes over at 0:24:12.640 --> 0:24:15.240 some point and he's like, hey, my daughter Elaine will 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:18.399 be home from Berkeley soon. You should take her out. Ben. 0:24:19.040 --> 0:24:22.439 Then I think a few months pass. The affair between 0:24:22.480 --> 0:24:26.240 Ben and Mrs Robinson is still going on. It's still secret. 0:24:27.080 --> 0:24:30.080 At one point Ben is like, hey, Mrs Robinson, can 0:24:30.160 --> 0:24:33.480 we have a conversation for once, and then she tells 0:24:33.560 --> 0:24:38.200 him about her unhappy marriage and how they only got 0:24:38.240 --> 0:24:44.040 married because she got gregnant with their daughter Elaine. I 0:24:44.080 --> 0:24:47.560 do kind of appreciate that she, I mean, the dynamics 0:24:47.560 --> 0:24:49.760 of this relationship there's a lot to discuss, but like 0:24:50.160 --> 0:24:52.000 I do kind of she does seem to know that. 0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:56.000 Intellectually he has a flop and and she's like, I 0:24:56.040 --> 0:24:58.240 don't want to have conversations with you. I don't need 0:24:58.280 --> 0:25:00.600