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The Graduate Analysis: Audiences and Film Criticism

&NewLine;<p>Film reviews are&comma; more than anything&comma; a reflection of their audience&period; Where most films aim to entertain their respective audiences&comma; film reviews aim to inform their readers&period; Both mediums call for the author or director to anticipate what the audiences’ want&comma; while also providing an individual style&period; Since the audience plays such an integral role in film reviews&comma; it stands to reason that different audiences will influence reviews in different ways&period; In this essay&comma; I will look at the public analysis of <em>The Graduate<&sol;em> in comparison to critical reviews&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The two primary distinctions can be seen in &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;mass-market” and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;highbrow” sources&period; Mass-market film reviews come from sources that reach a much larger audience and attempt to appeal to the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;average” tastes of the public&comma; while highbrow reviews are aimed at smaller niche groups&comma; who often have&comma; or at least purport to have&comma; more refined tastes&period; The similarities and differences between these two groups are particularly evident in the reviews for <em>The Graduate<&sol;em> &lpar;1967&rpar;&comma; a film directed by Mike Nichols&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><em>The Graduate<&sol;em> tells the story of a bemused college graduate named Ben who&comma; upon returning home from school&comma; finds himself thrust into an affair with a much older woman&period; As the story progresses&comma; Ben &lpar;played by Dustin Hoffman&rpar; falls for a girl closer to his own age&comma; only to discover that she is the daughter of his seductress&comma; Mrs&period; Robinson&period; While some aspects of the reviews are very similar&comma; there are several glaring differences between the reviews of the mass-market and highbrow sources&period; Due in large part to the difference in readership expectations&comma; mass-market reviewers evaluate <em>The Graduate<&sol;em> through individual performances and overall plot&comma; while highbrow reviewers focus on Nichol’s quality as an auteur and the broader social context of the film&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>While film reviewers from both groups do not focus exclusively on actors or directors&comma; mass-market reviewers put more emphasis on acting performances while highbrow reviewers emphasize directing strategies&period; Mass-market sources have a readership that&comma; in general&comma; are not attracted to films for the director alone&comma; nor do they try to analyze the film as a reflection of the director&period; Rather&comma; they are drawn to certain films based on story and star power&comma; which is reflected in the mass-market reviews&period; For example&comma; <em>Sun-Times<&sol;em> reviewer Roger Ebert summarizes the entire plot in his review&comma; even to the point of revealing the ending &lpar;Ebert&rpar;&period; Along with summarizing the plot&comma; Ebert evaluates each of the main characters’ performances for the reader&period; He states that Dustin Hoffman is &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;so painfully awkward and ethical that we are forced to admit we would act pretty much as he does” &lpar;Ebert&rpar;&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>He continues to say that Anne Bancroft’s portrayal of Mrs&period; Robinson is &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;sexy&comma; shrewish&comma; and self-possessed enough to make the seduction convincing” &lpar;Ebert&rpar;&period; The <em>Sun-Times<&sol;em> review gives its readers an extensive summary of the entire plot and detailed descriptions of the characters and actor performances&period; The <em>Time Magazine<&sol;em> review evaluates the film in a similar fashion&period; The plot is again described in its entirety&comma; revealing how &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Benjamin revs up his psyche…and heads to Santa Barbara to break up the wedding” &lpar;Fuerbringer&rpar;&period; The performances are also analyzed&comma; with Hoffman described as an &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;original&comma; likable actor” and Anne Bancroft as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;sly and predatory” &lpar;Fuerbringer&rpar;&period; Since mass-market readers primarily go to films based on their interest in the plot and appreciation for certain actors and actresses&comma; the reviews primarily appeal to these aspects of <em>The Graduate<&sol;em>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;04&sol;the-graduate-mrs-robinson-today-170419-tease-02&lowbar;21469d20804f296ab1547bc43dc0c92e-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"analysis of The Graduate" class&equals;"wp-image-1914"&sol;><figcaption class&equals;"wp-element-caption"><em>The Graduate <&sol;em>&lpar;1967&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Highbrow reviews do evaluate performances&comma; but they also put heavier emphasis on auteurship and certain aesthetic qualities that are not attributed to the actors&period; Whether praising the film or criticizing its weaknesses&comma; highbrow reviewers appeal to readers that expect a more in-depth analysis of the creative practice that takes place outside of the frame&period; In the <em>National Review <&sol;em>article &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Film Chronicle&comma;” Richard Corliss focuses heavily on Nichols’ directing style&period; He states that in <em>The Graduate<&sol;em>&comma; Nichols is &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;forcing his story upon us with a muscular cinematic tone” &lpar;Corliss 459&rpar;&period; He also describes Nichols’ work as a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;gratuitous homage” to many other directors&comma; including &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Francois Truffaut&comma; Agnes Varda&comma; and Orson Welles” &lpar;Corliss 460&rpar;&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Unlike the reviewers from mass-market sources&comma; Corliss writes for an audience that is more likely to have seen the works of Welles or Truffaut&comma; and more likely to appreciate the director as the source of the film’s artistry&period; His review also puts emphasis on the visual style and form of <em>The Graduate<&sol;em> by comparing certain elements of the film to Citizen Kane&period; He references the use of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;deep-focus to clarify and isolate the characters…long takes and little camera movement&comma; &lbrack;and&rsqb; mastery of blocking actors and directing dialogue” &lpar;Corliss 460&rpar;&period; Rather than focusing on visual style&comma; <em>Esquire<&sol;em> writer Alfred Sheed criticizes Nichols as a storyteller&period; He states that <em>The Graduate<&sol;em> &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;is a cartoon&comma; not a real story&comma; and a cartoon demands a certain tightness and consistency of intention” &lpar;Sheed 39&rpar;&period; Sheed attributes the film’s &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;cartoonish” qualities to Nichols’ directing and blames him for the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;lackluster variations on the original theme” &lpar;Sheed 38&rpar;&period; The prominence of visual style and auteurship in these highbrow reviews is a reflection of the refined&comma; or at least more discriminating&comma; tastes of their readerships&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Along with the concept of auteurship&comma; highbrow reviewers stress the importance of the underlying social context in <em>The Graduate<&sol;em>&period; While the film makes few direct references to historical events of the time&comma; it serves as an observation of the American youth in the 1960’s and the relationship between younger and older generations&period; Wilfred Sheed recognizes Ben as a singular youth being pulled in different directions by his parents’ generation&period; When Ben returns from college&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;corruption is offered to him” and subsequently a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;woman seduces him” &lpar;Sheed 38&rpar;&period; Despite its place in popular culture and the social setting of 1960’s America&comma; Sheed criticizes the main topic of the film by simply stating that &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;American youth is a frigging bore” &lpar;Sheed 39&rpar;&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>While Sheed does not find American youth to be an interesting topic&comma; he does stress the importance of 60’s youth culture in the plot&period; Richard Corliss also addresses the social setting of the film&comma; but views it in a much more positive light&period; While Corliss does recognize the themes concerning generational differences&comma; he focuses more heavily on the aspects of the film that are uniquely American&period; For example&comma; Corliss references the generational gaps by summarizing one of Ben’s problems&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;&lbrack;He&rsqb; never trusts anyone over thirty” &lpar;Corliss 460&rpar;&period; However the review puts more emphasis on the national unity within the film&period; <em>The Graduate<&sol;em> is described as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;the most American movie of 1967&comma; because its strengths and weaknesses are ours&period; It shows us the United States of the Sixties in the fond&comma; exaggerated way the screwball comedies of the Thirties revealed their own era” &lpar;Corliss 1960&rpar;&period; The Highbrow reviewers evaluate the film as both a reflection of social settings in America in the 1960’s&comma; and an observation of American youth&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>While the disparities between mass-market and highbrow reviews are much more glaring than their similarities&comma; they do share a few similar views of <em>The Graduate<&sol;em>&period; The most obvious similarity is the inconsistency within each group to either praise or pan the film&period; As one of the highbrow reviewers&comma; Wilfred Sheed describes the film as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;cute and trivial” and criticizes Dustin Hoffman for &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;consciously holding back too much” &lpar;Sheed 39&rpar;&period; Similarly&comma; the <em>Time Magazine<&sol;em> review criticizes the screenplay for being &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;alarmingly derivative” &lpar;Fuerbringer&rpar;&period; Alternatively&comma; the <em>Sun-Times<&sol;em> review praises <em>The Graduate<&sol;em> for being &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;the funniest comedy of the year” &lpar;Ebert&rpar;&period; Also in a similar fashion&comma; <em>The New York Times<&sol;em> praises the film for being &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;funny&comma; outrageous&comma; and touching” &lpar;Crowther&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The other important similarity between the mass-market and highbrow reviews is the recognition of a vast shift in tone during the film&period; <em>Harper’s Magazine<&sol;em> reviewer Robert Kotlowitz denounces the film&comma; believing that Nichols and his screenwriters &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;open <em>The Graduate<&sol;em> with a real hero living in a real world and conclude with a parody-hero living in a parody-world” &lpar;Kotlowitz 156&rpar;&period; The <em>Time Magazine<&sol;em> review notes that the film &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;which begins as genuine comedy&comma; soon degenerates into spurious melodrama” &lpar;Fuerbringer&rpar;&period; Regarding this shift as a hybrid of narrative and technical form&comma; the <em>Esquire<&sol;em> review states that &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;in line with a growing Hollywood tradition&comma; it puts the ideas in one part and the pretty photography in the other” &lpar;Sheed 38&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Though the reviews for <em>The Graduate<&sol;em> are similar in certain observations&comma; they focus on very different concepts when analyzing the film&period; The &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;mass-market” reviews focus on the interest of their readers&colon; star power and plot summary&period; The masses want to know what films are good and which stars perform well&period; The &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;highbrow” reviews also focus on the interest of their readers&colon; auteurship and social context&period; Highbrow readers want to know which films best exemplify the artistic talent of the director and also stay relevant to the times&period; This collection of vastly different media sources provides diverse perspectives on <em>The Graduate<&sol;em> to appeal to their respective audiences’ expectations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><strong>Corliss&comma; Richard&period; &&num;8220&semi;Film Chronicle&period;&&num;8221&semi; Review of <em>The Graduate<&sol;em>&period; <em>National Review<&sol;em>&period; 7 May&nbsp&semi;1968&colon; 459-60&period; Print&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><strong>Crowther&comma; Bosley&period; &&num;8220&semi;Movie Review &&num;8211&semi; The Graduate&period;&&num;8221&semi; Review of <em>The Graduate<&sol;em>&period; <em>The New&nbsp&semi;York Times<&sol;em>&period; 22 December 1967&period; Web&period; 20 September 2011&period; &lt&semi;<a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;movies&period;nytimes&period;com&sol;movie" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" aria-label&equals;"undefined &lpar;opens in a new tab&rpar;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener">http&colon;&sol;&sol;movies&period;nytimes&period;com&sol;movie<&sol;a>&gt&semi;&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><strong>Ebert&comma; Roger&period; &&num;8220&semi;The Graduate&period;&&num;8221&semi; Review of <em>The Graduate<&sol;em>&period; <em>Chicago-Sun Times<&sol;em>&period; 26&nbsp&semi;December 1967&period; Web&period; 20 September 2011&period; &lt&semi;<a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;rogerebert&period;suntimes&period;com" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" aria-label&equals;"undefined &lpar;opens in a new tab&rpar;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener">http&colon;&sol;&sol;rogerebert&period;suntimes&period;com<&sol;a>&gt&semi;&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><strong>Fuerbringer&comma; Otto&period; &&num;8220&semi;Cinema&colon; The Graduate&period;&&num;8221&semi; Review of <em>The Graduate<&sol;em>&period; <em>Time Magazine<&sol;em>&period;&nbsp&semi;29 December 1967&period; Web&period; 20 September 2011&period; &lt&semi;<a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;time&period;com&sol;time&sol;magazine" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" aria-label&equals;"undefined &lpar;opens in a new tab&rpar;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener">http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;time&period;com&sol;time&sol;magazine<&sol;a>&gt&semi;&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><strong>Kotlowitz&comma; Robert&period; &&num;8220&semi;Capote&&num;8217&semi;s Killers&comma; And Others&period;&&num;8221&semi; Review of <em>The Graduate<&sol;em>&period; <em>Harper&&num;8217&semi;s <&sol;em><em>Magazine<&sol;em>&period; March 1968&colon; 155-56&period; Print&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><strong>Sheed&comma; Wilfred&period; &&num;8220&semi;Films&period;&&num;8221&semi; Review of <em>The Graduate<&sol;em>&period; <em>Esquire<&sol;em>&period; April1968&colon; 38-39&period; Print&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>For more essays like this one&comma; check out the&nbsp&semi;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;">Philosophy in Film Homepage<&sol;a>&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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