Classical Hollywood Style

Throughout time, society has been taught and has been used to a traditional way of thinking towards relationships, gender roles, stereotypes etc. These beliefs have been shown in society, especially through film and advertising. These mainstream beliefs have caused cinema to become what it is today, with similar techniques and ideas. One example of this is The Graduate. Although The Graduate may seem to divert from the classic hollywood style, it mostly ends up adhering to the style instead.
Throughout this film, the focus is on a young college graduate, Benjamin Braddock that begins a risky relationship with his mother’s friend, Mrs. Robinson. Mrs. Robinson’s character and her relationship with ben are one of the only aspects of the film that do not adhere to classical Hollywood cinema. However, Mrs. Robinson is still part of the traditional way of thinking in society. She stays home and doesn't work, like most women of this time period, including Ben’s mom. Despite Mrs. Robinson’s character, the rest of the film adheres to the classical Hollywood style.
This film does have all of these aspects. In addition, this film follows the ideas of a white patriarchal capitalistic society. The entire film only has white actors, and the film also entirely focuses on Ben and his journey through life. Ben is the protagonist, and in America On Film, the protagonist is described as “a straight white male seeking wealth or power” (25). This is true, and another aspect of this is that the protagonist usually has a female love interest that is given a minor role. The female strictly exists as someone having sex appeal and is not given a three dimensional role, unlike the