Seduced

I watched The Graduate again last night. I'm not sure how many times I've seen that movie, maybe fifty, maybe a hundred times. I just love that movie. Besides being a great story, I love the soundtrack. Everybody loves the soundtrack. Simon and Garfunkel at their best. In fact I'm listening to the soundtrack recording as I write this. I first saw The Graduate in 1967 with my girlfriend, Bonnie. We were on a double date with my friend Dave and his girlfriend. Being about ninety nine percent sure I was a homosexual, I still plodded onward dating girls. I figured that until I actually tried out a girl I wouldn't be able to get past that last one percent. So every weekend Dave, his girlfriend, my girlfriend Bonnie, and I, would double date. Dinner, a movie, and then necking in a forest preserve parking lot. I never got beyond kissing with some tongue. Meanwhile, in the back seat, Dave and his girl seemed to be enmeshed in much more. Poor Bonnie, she must have been mighty frustrated. I never, ever made a move past kissing. Oh, I fumbled with her bra clasp once, but gave up over the complexities of unhooking that thing. After all, there was nothing in there that I wanted.

So I watched the Graduate again. Each and every time I see that movie I notice some little thing that I hadn't noticed before. With the passage of time the movie becomes more and more a period piece. This viewing I noticed the pay phones were all dial type, not touch tone. Yes, pay phones. And I caught one line clearly this viewing that I never seemed to notice before. One of the graduation party attendees comes up to Ben and his father and comments on Ben's new Alfa Romeo. "Is that your new car out there Ben, the little red wop job?"  Written and filmed fifty years before the 'Me Too' movement, there was no problem showing Mrs. Robinson seducing Ben. She's the wife of Mr. Robinson, the business partner of Ben's father. A woman supposedly twice his age with some power over him. Although, she is punished in the end. The film is also not bothered by the fact that Ben turns into a stalker, following Elaine to school and later invading her wedding. In fact we cheer him on. I Don't know why I latched onto such a heterocentric movie, why I love it so much. But I do. I guess Mrs. Robinson seduced me.