a quick drink before you go

 

Towards the end of the movie The Graduate, the song "Mrs. Robinson" plays - I noticed today it has the Bo Diddley beat.

(Or, anyway, I thought it was the Bo Diddley beat.  But I Googled, asking "AI," and he - or she - or - it - told me I was right!  It said the version of the song on the album is more in a folk-rock style, but the version in the movie does, indeed, use the Bo Diddley beat.

        Yay!  I liked being right!  Then I thought, Oh, I shouldn't allow myself to enjoy being "right" too much, I don't want to turn into one of those people yelling about 'liberals' on the Internet. - ['I'm right I'm right Imright!!!!!!!"])

------------------------ Below is a description of one of my favorite scenes from this movie; if you think it might be a "spoiler" and you would rather be surprised later when you see the movie, then stop reading here, & join us tomorrow.

It isn't that much of a spoiler - this movie is not a thriller or horror movie - if you watch it from the beginning, you are going to kind of know where it's going....

Benjamin Braddock drives fast back to the L.A. suburb where the Robinsons live, because Elaine's parents are trying to keep her away from Ben and make her marry someone else, but Ben and Elaine are in love. 

So he drives there, goes to their house, hurries up the stairs, looking for Elaine, and gets to her bedroom and goes in and finds her mom, Mrs. Robinson in there, packing clothes in suitcases.

Mrs. Robinson shows no surprise at seeing him and says, with unnervingly calm aplomb, "Hello, Benjamin," while walking past him.

She picks up a telephone receiver.

Benjamin:  Where is she?

Mrs. R. (into the phone) - Hello, get me the police, please.

Ben:  Where is Elaine?

Mrs. R, to Ben:  I'll be with you in a moment Benjamin.

Mrs. R, into the phone:  Do you have a patrol car in the vicinity of 1200 Glenview Road? (pauses to listen) - Good.  We have a burglar here.

(pause) - Just a second, I'll ask him.  (she tilts her head back a little, from the phone receiver and addresses Benjamin) - "Are you armed?"

He just stands there and stares at her.

Mrs. R (into the phone) - No, I don't believe he is.  Thank you.

And hangs up.

Ben:  What have you done to her?

Mrs. R:  I think we have everything quite under control now Benjamin.  Would you like a quick drink before you go?

Ben:  You can't stop me from seeing her, Mrs. Robinson, I'll find her.

Mrs. R:  I'm sorry we won't be able to invite you to the wedding, Benjamin, but the arrangements have been so rushed.

Ben (getting mad) - What the hell have you -

[sound of car skidding to a hasty stop, outside]

Mrs. Robinson (sighs) then says:  I don't think you'll have time for that drink after all.

--------------------------------------------------

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presence

 

There's a thing called screen presence.  Anne Bancroft has it, in The Graduate.

Bette Davis has it, in All About Eve.

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"swaggerer"

 

        In the movie The Graduate, the main character, Benjamin Braddock (portrayed by Dustin Hoffman) has an Alfa Romeo "Spider" - an Italian sports car, that his dad gave him for his college graduation present.

(Nice, right?)

       Saw this movie a few times over the years, but there's a line in it near the beginning that I never noticed before this week.  The guy says it kind of fast, and there's party chatter in the background.

"That your car out front?  That little red wop job?"

        

        Whoa!  Way to slide a racial epithet into the conversation in a smooth, genial way.  Really, every time I've seen that movie, and I never noticed that before.

  I Googled it, just to make sure it's still a word that exists because I've never heard anyone say it except Archie Bunker on "All In The Family" and the party guest in The Graduate.  It comes up when you Google:  it says 'wop' is an "ethnic slur."

(They say ethnic slur; I say racial epithet.

Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe.)

------------------------  [Internet] ----------- "Wop" is an offensive ethnic slur used against people of Italian birth or descent.  It can also refer to the popular 2011 hip-hop dance song by J. Dash....

+  Ethnic Slur:  Used in the United States since the early 20th Century to insult Italian-Americans.

+  Etymology:  Derived from the Neapolitan dialect word guappo (meaning a swaggerer, brawler, or tough guy), which came from the Spanish guapo.

...

+  Military Abbreviation:  Historically used in World War II records to designate a wireless operator.-------------------- [end / Internet excerpt]

        Great, now we have to Google "wireless"...it's some kind of radio, right?

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a little worried

 

The poster for the 1967 movie The Graduate said, "This is Benjamin.  He's a little worried about his future."

It's an invitation to wonder how "Benjamin" will work this out. ...

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are you here for an affair, sir?

 In The Graduate, when Benjamin Braddock takes Mrs. Robinson up on her offer to see him if he wants to call her, they meet at the Taft Hotel in Los Angeles.

        The clerk behind the counter asks Benjamin, "Are you here for an affair, sir?"

Benjamin (astounded) - What??!

        Of course, the clerk meant "affair" as in an event, like a wedding reception or whatever.

----------------------------- Benjamin is very nervous and shy and awkward and out of his element - (his "element" being school and his parents' house....)

As he and Mrs. Robinson sit at a table in the bar, he tries to order her a drink when a waiter walks by - putting up his hand with two fingers extended, to catch the waiter's attention, but he doesn't say anything and the waiter doesn't see his signal, and keeps walking.

Benjamin (apologetically, to Mrs. R.) - "He didn't see me."

Mrs. Robinson (calmly, firmly commanding) - "Waiter." (waiter turns around and comes over, attending to her) - "I will have a martini."

Yes.  Yes, indeed she will.  And there will be no two ways about it.  (lol)

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days of August

 

4 things that happened and live murkily in my memory - two of them during the month of August:

December, 1967 -- the feature film, The Graduate appeared in theaters.

August 26 - 29, 1968 -- the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, accompanied by massive anti-war protests.

August 15 - 18, 1969 -- Woodstock, 3 Days of Peace and Music in upstate New York.

September 24, 1969 -- the trial of the Chicago 7 began.

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police riot

 

Jerry Rubin

Abbie Hoffman

Tom Hayden

Bobby Seale

Judge Julius Hoffman

        The Trial Of The Chicago 7 is on Netflix.

        Recommended.

                It could be good to watch this back-to-back with Best Of Enemies - that debate documentary with Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, also on Netflix.

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