The Graduate

American cinema in the 1960's was the decade in which more cynical, violent and sexually explicit films were being released. During the 1960's, there was a decline in the production code which previously determined the contents of films released at the time. This is significant for 'The Graduate' as it was released in the late 60's, 1967, when increasing amounts of nudity/sexual imagery was becoming normalised in major motion picture films. The poster for 'The Graduate' portrays an image of Dustin Hoffman's character standing over the deliberately eroticised female leg in the foreground. The leg is a symbolic code for the themes surrounding eroticised and over sexualised representation of women in the industry at the time. However, this period in film shown a breakthrough of women empowerment on screen as more traditional ideologies became more faded. This is shown in posters such as 'Kiss of the vampire' (1963) in which the female characters are presented as powerful, dominant figures holding control over male figures. Van Zoonen's feminist theory supports this idea; the leg would represent the social change surrounding representing women in non traditional roles. 60's are often seen as the start of women's sexual liberation, aided by events such as the contraceptive pill in 1960. While posters like Kiss of the vampire represent women as feared, The Graduate represents them as controlling and plays with the idea of the male gaze, first mentioned by Laura Mulvey. the male gaze is the idea of women being a desirable object for the male eye, usually passive. However, The Graduate turns this theory around in which the 'female object' uses this to control, manipulate and self knowingly provoke feelings in the male. While the poster reveals a stereotypical representation of women, the actual film abandons stereotypes and places the female lead in a position of power. In the context of the film, the female lead is able to control and manipulate the male lead with just her body. This therefore presents her as powerful and perhaps is used to resonate with the women who feel like they are used in society only for their bodies and instead to show how gullible males actually are. David Gauntlett would suggest that the female in the poster plays as a role model in the sense of her thoughts towards men, in that they are gullible, easily manipulated and weak.