« United States: Arrogance, Bigotry, and Conformist | Main | Renegade Cowboys »

Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson..

The Graduate has to be my favorite road film. Although a lot of it is not based solely on the road, Benjamin Braddock is on a journey to find what is missing within him. Confused on what to do after graduating from college, he finds himself in an affair with Mrs. Robinson, a family friend, only to find out he is in love with her daughter. The road is a major part of this movie seeing as the daughter, Elaine, moves away to go to school and Benjamin must do what is in his heart and follow her across the country. Despite many set backs (Elaine finding out about the affair, her father banning Benjamin from seeing her, Mrs. Robinson sending threats his way), Benjamin travels worlds away to confess his love to Elaine in hopes of marriage. The final scene in the movie consists of Benjamin driving his red convertible quickly down the road in hopes of stopping Elaine from marrying someone else. When he finally arrives, after some turmoil, he and Elaine hop on a bus and ride their way out of town with no one to stop them from being together and starting their life together, on the road.

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.