Observing “The Graduate” through Visual Pleasure and Female Spectatorship
During the late 60’s, shifting social and sexual civil movements began to question the values of American Society. In 1967, The Graduate directed by Mike Nichols, became a groundbreaking film. It portrayed the decadence and corruption of the older generation through the eyes of Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) an innocent 21 year old graduate who is seduced by Mrs. Robinson (Ann Bancroft), a mature married woman.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss The Graduate regarding female spectatorship and visual pleasure through cinema. These two counterpoints were developed by female film theorists Miriam Hansen and Laura Mulvey. In Hansen’s (1988) essay ‘Valentino and Female Spectatorship’ she talks about films explicitly addressed to female spectators and the discourse of female desire. While Mulvey’s (1975) essay on ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ is a critique of patriarchal cinema and conventions of the male as the agent of “the look” and the image of woman as an object of spectacle and narrative.
The film starts with Benjamin’s arrival to Los Angeles airport. The first shot is a close up of his expressionless face. Afterwards, there’s a long sequence of Ben riding the electric walkway following another close up of his reflexive face as he kneels the back of his head on the fish tank in his room. During this time Ben is introduced in a very close way to the spectator. Close shots make the audience feel intimate with the character and his feelings. If Mulvey (1975) states that the male is the agent of the look and the image of woman is an object of both spectacle and narrative, this part of the film shows an opposite example because in this case, Ben is being looked at by the spectator.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss The Graduate regarding female spectatorship and visual pleasure through cinema. These two counterpoints were developed by female film theorists Miriam Hansen and Laura Mulvey. In Hansen’s (1988) essay ‘Valentino and Female Spectatorship’ she talks about films explicitly addressed to female spectators and the discourse of female desire. While Mulvey’s (1975) essay on ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ is a critique of patriarchal cinema and conventions of the male as the agent of “the look” and the image of woman as an object of spectacle and narrative.
The film starts with Benjamin’s arrival to Los Angeles airport. The first shot is a close up of his expressionless face. Afterwards, there’s a long sequence of Ben riding the electric walkway following another close up of his reflexive face as he kneels the back of his head on the fish tank in his room. During this time Ben is introduced in a very close way to the spectator. Close shots make the audience feel intimate with the character and his feelings. If Mulvey (1975) states that the male is the agent of the look and the image of woman is an object of both spectacle and narrative, this part of the film shows an opposite example because in this case, Ben is being looked at by the spectator.
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