Another weekend means time to introduce the 18-year-old to another notable
movie. Today, THE GRADUATE.

It’s been many years since I last saw this thing. I’ve always thought of it
as one of my favorite movies, a story that struck me personally because I
was the same age as Benjamin when the movie was released. He reminded me of
myself. Unlike Benjamin I was not quite but almost about to graduate from
college, but like him I was unsure of what the future might hold. So
imagine my feeling of empathy when I heard a comment from the kid early in
the movie: “He reminds me of myself.“

The movie holds up after all these years. It looks great, it’s still darkly
funny, Mrs. Robinson remains a sad, sympathetic villain, and the Simon and
Garfunkel songs are just classic and inexplicably perfect for the film. We
both enjoyed watching it. We did have to put the movie on pause once or
twice like when Benjamin’s landlord at Berkeley (Norman Fell) accused Ben
of being an “outside agitator” and I had to explain campus unrest at the
time. “Oh yeah, we read about that in history class.“

But then came the ending. Benjamin is pounding on the glass and the
Robinsons are cursing soundlessly, and Benjamin fights off the crowd by
threatening them with a cross, and all I can hear coming from over there on
the couch is, “oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” And then they
are sitting on the rear seat of the bus with fading smiles on their faces
and I’m hearing “This can’t be the end is it? Is this the end?” And I am
saying, “Watch their faces. What are they thinking?”

The bottom line is the kid loved it and I had a great time enjoying it all
over again. Terrific movie.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

On 1/13/2024 5:22 PM, Bill Anderson wrote:
>
> Another weekend means time to introduce the 18-year-old to another notable
> movie. Today, THE GRADUATE.
>
> It’s been many years since I last saw this thing. I’ve always thought of it
> as one of my favorite movies, a story that struck me personally because I
> was the same age as Benjamin when the movie was released. He reminded me of
> myself. Unlike Benjamin I was not quite but almost about to graduate from
> college, but like him I was unsure of what the future might hold. So
> imagine my feeling of empathy when I heard a comment from the kid early in
> the movie: “He reminds me of myself.“
>
> The movie holds up after all these years. It looks great, it’s still darkly
> funny, Mrs. Robinson remains a sad, sympathetic villain, and the Simon and
> Garfunkel songs are just classic and inexplicably perfect for the film. We
> both enjoyed watching it. We did have to put the movie on pause once or
> twice like when Benjamin’s landlord at Berkeley (Norman Fell) accused Ben
> of being an “outside agitator” and I had to explain campus unrest at the
> time. “Oh yeah, we read about that in history class.“
>
> But then came the ending. Benjamin is pounding on the glass and the
> Robinsons are cursing soundlessly, and Benjamin fights off the crowd by
> threatening them with a cross, and all I can hear coming from over there on
> the couch is, “oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” And then they
> are sitting on the rear seat of the bus with fading smiles on their faces
> and I’m hearing “This can’t be the end is it? Is this the end?” And I am
> saying, “Watch their faces. What are they thinking?”
>
> The bottom line is the kid loved it and I had a great time enjoying it all
> over again. Terrific movie.

The rare oldie for which I remember where I was when I saw it...

I posted this yesterday but it didn't appear on my server. So I posted it again this morning and again it didn't appear on my server. So I went to a different computer/different Usenet client and posted it from there, and still again it didn't appear on my server. And now I've checked Google Groups and there it is -- three times. Sorry everybody. Now I just need to figure out why Giganews isn't showing what I've posted. In fact now that I've checked closely I see I've gotten nothing in Usenet since a James Dean post on the 12th.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

On 2024-01-13 22:22:59 +0000, Bill Anderson said:

> But then came the ending. Benjamin is pounding on the glass and the
> Robinsons are cursing soundlessly, and Benjamin fights off the crowd by
> threatening them with a cross, and all I can hear coming from over there on
> the couch is, "oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"

In the DVD featurette Hoffman remembers the reverend of the church that
was rented was very protective of his building and was afraid the glass
would break when he banged on it with his arms in front of him, so he
outstretched his arms so it wouldn't be so dangerous. He thought it was
funny that every critical analysis he read tried to say it was an
intentional attempt to turn him a Jesus figure.

He also said the cross was used to lock the doors because that was the
only thing around that was handy, there was no deeper meaning than that.

> And then they are sitting on the rear seat of the bus with fading smiles on
> their faces and I’m hearing "This can’t be the end is it? Is this the end?"
> And I am saying, "Watch their faces. What are they thinking?"

Nichols left the camera running long after Ben and Elaine sat down
unbeknownst to them so he could get an extended reaction from them.