The Graduate/YMMV

• Adaptation Displacement: Yes, it is based on a novel. (By Charles Webb: his Ben is a good deal stronger than movie-Ben)
  • Ben in the book is a blond jock. No wonder they auditioned Robert Redford for the role, and no wonder Mel Brooks was confident Dustin Hoffman would fail his audition, and be available to work in The Producers.
• Non Sequitur Scene: The diving suit scene.
  • There is also a bizarre moment when the camera stops focusing on Ben and zooms in on a gorilla in the background.
• Bittersweet Ending
• Designated Hero: Much of Ebert's re-review is about realizing 30 years after the fact that there's absolutely nothing good or admirable about Ben.
• Iconic Character, Forgotten Title: The Graduate has been referred to as "the Mrs. Robinson movie".
• Jerkass Woobie: Mrs. Robinson, and to a certain extent Ben.
• Memetic Mutation: [bangs on church window] ELAIIIIIIINE!
  • What about "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me, aren't you?"
  • Don't forget: "Just one word: Plastics."
• Misaimed Fandom: Kids from the 1960's cheered Ben. Twenty years later, they cheered for Mrs. Robinson, when they realized What an Idiot! Ben was. Roger Ebert notes this in his re-review.
• Moment of Awesome: Ben fighting people off with a cross in the wedding scene. Dude, sweet.
• Retroactive Recognition: Richard Dreyfuss has a bit part as a resident of the boarding house.
• Straw Man Has a Point: The film is much like Mike Nichols' films - they're more subversive that they seem to be at the time. For example, the advice "Plastics"? It's good advice.
  • The part about plastics was unintentional - shortly after the movie was released, new advances in plastics production (that the script writers were highly unlikely to know about) caused the industry to grow at an extremely rapid pace. The fortuitous timing did result in the entire plastics industry becoming a Periphery Demographic.