The Graduate "One Word: Plastics"

[SuperFunkDoctor]

stop FUCKING saying who brought you here you FUCKING MORONS!!!!!!!! gtfo

[szaki]

Yes, now plastics are a hazard/poison in the world!!!!

PVC especially!!!!

200 million tonnes of plastic manufactured annually around world== @ 61.5 pounds of plastic per person per year

Oceans are full of it, fish are dying.

[AuroratheWhale]

The future becomes the past.

[AmaneSuganami]

second best scene

[kuo2002]

I went to a plastics shop the other month, acryllic is fucking exspensive, holy shit he wasn't kidding.

[educationalnut]

Plastics. That one word says it all

[matte218]

I think that line resonates the same now if not more. I just graduated highschool a year ago and i can still relate to this movie, especially this beginning scene. the fact that Mr. Maguire seems to think plastics (of all ridiculous things) is something profound and dignified to suggest to Ben makes me laugh every time. It may not be about plastics anymore but this is still one of the funniest scenes i've eve seen in a movie.

[darbonify]

@matte218 Do you know what role plastic plays in the modern world? It's HUGE. Everything is plastics. Everything. And yeah, it mostly comes from oil...

[Jonathunor]

Civilisation V brought me here

[the0th]

@Jonathunor

congratulations. you can now build a research lab.

[ThatVidyaChick]

:42 i looooove the frame when he says "plastics" every part of the meaning of this meaning comes to attention. it's just great. you see them having the conversation, and the result of "plastic" in the frame behind him. just brilliant.

[htchumberto]

this video is holy art

[flattopSF]

Three words:

Pacific. Trash. Vortex.

[LADYDEACON]

right now i just feel like dustin hoffman in this movie. i just graduate from literature, and ALL the comments i get are exactly like those: What are you gonna do? Where ere you goint to work? Are you working now? Are you looking for work? What are you planning to do? Do you have any plan? So, what's next? I mean PLEASE GODDDDDDDDD i knoe i'm gonna find work, i knoe i have A PLAN, but its TOO FUCKING SOON OK?????? i fucking hate society and yet i have to live with it

[porlapatilla1]

@LADYDEACON Literature??? Forget about getting a job!!!

[LADYDEACON]

@porlapatilla1 thank you, for your support

[Startmenu4]

@LADYDEACON You got a degree in literature but you don't know how to spell "know"?

[LADYDEACON]

@Startmenu4 ahhhhh, i studied HISPANIC LITERATURE, i'm mexican, i live in MEXICO, i speak spanish, i write in spanish, so my degree is en SPANISH AND HISPANIC LITERATURE, forgot to mention that...

[Startmenu4]

@LADYDEACON oh sorry then, I was just trying to be a clever asshole on the internet :)

[caughtinthemelody]

"Ben"

"Mr. McGuire"

"..Ben"

"...Mr. McGuire"

[BlackMagnumFilms]

This scene just defines satire.

[rfvlz]

Why is it important to have this video appearing in first place when someone searches simply "The Graduate"?

[thebjm1967]

Dustin Hoffman was HOT. i love this book and movie so much. Ben was so sexy!

[SuckMyTXPO]

Plastics computers= Lightwave Logic

[Agent1W]

Supposedly, it's the stuff of a space age! We're gonna put a man on the moon with plastics! Given that it's 1967, I'm not surprised lol.

[ViniciusFiocco]

he was right.

[seheart]

HIST 264 AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BROUGHT ME HERE!

[Gamesandgiants]

The Goblin Male Joke brought me here....

[OGsergio06]

Civilization 4 brought me here

[MrphilipLP]

ben... Mr. Maguire

ben... Mr. Maguire

lol

[TheSkuLLcomedyShow]

I got three words...Made in China.

[OClockedManITA]

PLA - STICS

[mlodico44]

I got my degree in Plastics Engineering in 1973. A poster of this scene hangs in my office. I have always said: "I took the advice Dustin Hoffman didn't".

[bluecollarlit]

@mlodico44 ...I imagine that's a nice Conversation Piece. Surely some teen once in a while must ask, "What does that mean?" A couple of years ago I introduced a scene from "All The President's Men" to a guy approx. 20 yrs old: "OK, Robert Redford's in this part,..." I began, & The kid asked, "Who's Robert Redford?" ...

[ChrissieE5]

Mr. Maguire was a true visionary: PLASTICS

[Ostee1]

DOESNT the GEORGE CARLIN stand up routine on THE PLANET (the small part about "platstic"!) abstracly reminds anybody of this scene?? Almost like a meaningful equivalency! at least to me... Great!

[sababs]

hahaha, i love this movie.

[vgonz022]

now it's genomics

[goldieboylover986]

i think anybody can relate to this movie. its about that freaky experience one get after school is all over. all you can think of is: "... now what?"

[TheKinchdedalus]

This video reminds me of the first debate between Russ Feingold and Ron Johnson

[mundanelifeof]

this movie is timeless. i can relate to it now in my life that i'm in my last semester of school. i have no fucking idea what i'm doing. "it's a little hard to say" what the heck i will do with my future.

[pughparkour]

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

[campex]

@pughparkour

-Sputnik

[HappyCaddy]

Civ 4. :D

[gerrythrash]

Dammit. I should have gone into plastics. 

[SCHRUBBE1966]

i love the plastics thing. Plastics, one word, plastics. Hilarious.

[jsrosa1282]

The actor who played Mr. McGuire is a fellow named Walter Brooke. TV fans know him best as District Attorney Frank Scanlon from 'The Green Hornet.'

[tuore]

Civilization 4 <3

[Oneofthosecoolkids]

how could anyone not get this?

[awesomeJoz]

They are using this as an in-game joke for the Goblins in World of Warcraft.

[Rawego]

antidisestablitarianismatrousi­ouslessness - there, i've coined a term.

[Autostade67]

Ben IS a bit of a clueless dilletante...but his angst has no text...he's hardly going to run to the barricades at Kent State in three years or get muddy at Woodstock or join a consciousness raising circle at Big Sur...he doesn't even know what the #$%$# he doesn't want. Check out "Goodbye Columbus" - a good companion piece to this film. At the least the "drifty" lead character entertains various socio-political approaches he could take before rejecting everything.

[shazzarshi]

Dustin has a really really great voice here

[YourFaceWillDie468]

@shazzarshi I know, right! A deep, appropriately nasal baritone. His voice is so underrated. I'd take him over Peter Coyote any day.

[starguy2718]

So let me get this straight: Ben has just graduated from college, and he is told "plastic...there's a great future in plastics; think about it."

What was his major in college? Obviously, it wasn't Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or anything similar, otherwise he would already know about plastics.

So, we are to conclude that Ben is an over-educated, clueless diletante.

[magua4]

@starguy2718 your stupid, of course he knows what plastics is you are way off the mark as far as the point of this scene.

[starguy2718]

@magua4 So you have no logical, coherent response to statements such as, "What was his major in college?", so you resort to an ad hominem attack ("your [sic] stupid').

Stop acting like and Obama libtard, or do us all a favor and STFU.

[SuperKLC]

Everything in modern life has something to do with plastics. They are everywhere.

[tomvogeljr]

Perhaps there's a better future in cork? Apologies for the plug (pun intended) but this film is what I think of whenever I hear the word plastic.

[scallhero]

Holden caulfield anyone? Chris mcandless?common subjects?

[gypsyeyes008]

as a college student, i watched this film for the first time and i have to say, this film couldn't have come to me at a more perfect time in my life. it was like destiny or something.

[mishy121]

just saw it at 'retrolove movies' im in love with Benjamin :S

[jjadgemini88]

this is hilarious!!!

[serden31]

The first thing that came to mind when I heard Mr. Maguire tell Ben to get into "Plastics", I thought of plastic surgery. This era was around the time Cosmetic Surgery was beginning to modernize. What do you all think?

[howsaboutno]

"Ben", "Mr Maguire", "Ben", "Mr Maguire" excellent dialogue, the party scene at the beginning is one of the greatest scences in a film it captures Ben's akwardness perfectly!

[Bobaklives]

Such a timeless, iconic scene.

[essertpitay]

Little did I know I would end up...in plastics ! Not too sure it is the future though...

[blanhbla]

i think that the "controversy" over the plastics line makes the film better. The fact that people can think and wonder and consider other possibilities that what is simply presented is a compliment to this movie. plastic could just be plastic in this case but the fact that it could also stand for phoniness or conformity empowers the message of the film.

[glaubercostabrito]

@blanhbla hey, good analysis. very smart.

[MikeUSmith85]

kids, kids… it's a joke. it's an akward, funny scene.

this isn't the biodegradability blogspot.

great, now I've joined the war.

[slowcurl]

He's a fresh graduate. He's freaked out about his future. Doesn't really know what he wants out of life. Get a job in plastics! It's the miracle material that will save us all (at least that was the ideal in the 50s and 60s). Get a job in plastics, you get the money, and your future is set. It also means a life of safe, predictable boredom, not unlike the one Mrs. Robinson is suffering from.

[boomkilla12345]

Plastics are also artificial, not man made. It's a job that is dull and lifeless, not anything that he desires.

Great analysis =)

[incomprius]

@boomkilla12345 dude, artificial means manmade.

[Leonesse1]

More than that, "plastics" also symbolizes being fake, being phony, allowing yourself to be made into anything so as to fit in. In the 70's, someone could be referred to as being "really plastic" meaning a person wearing a heavy persona and hiding his real self. Plastics means also, therefore, wearing a false face portrayed by the "grown ups" in this movie, who all appear to live shallow lives (note vapid conversations and materialism), contently homogenized and hypocritical.

[rock20233620]

what is so significant about this scene, i really need to know plz help

[99socks]

Here's another word: recyclable. Plastics aren't, many do not biodegrade, they are made from fossil fuels. Some can be made into other items, but not recycled like glass or aluminum. As reusable, long-term storage containers they are ok; but glass, metal, and wood are much better for the environment.

[eatpie342]

glasses don't biodegrade usually, and plastics can be very beneficial to their specific applications

[TheEloeo]

I think you guys are just over-interpretating.The point is that back in 60's plastic was quite a new thing and the guy meant that in the future it might be a good industry,so he wanted Ben to invent in plastic.

[nplcfrcty]

@TheEloeo come on mate, people have invented plastics since 1855. it's more than a hundred years till the movie produced...

[txsgrl720]

Interesting that it means nothing to an 18 year old. It took me a minute to understand that and it makes sense. Saying "Plastics" to a guy just graduating college in 1967 was like saying "Disco" in 1977 and "Microsoft" in 1987 and "Internet" in 1997.

[mikeybyotch]

@txsgrl720 You sound like Malcolm Gladwell but great point

[compvm33]

...i'd heard the same as crosswire; plastics represented the phony conformist world of the establishment...just my .02...

[hollypollies]

Plastic is refer to naplam bombs which was used during the Vietnam War Era. It was just a way to refer to the War without actually mentioning the war itself. Making bombs equals making a lot of money.

[suzkstein]

No it was really PLASTICS. Seriously if anyone had invested in the Plastics industry in the 60's they'd be very wealthy today.

[metamorphisis180]

idk if i'm stupid but ive watched this movie idk how many times becuz its one of my favs, but anyway can som1 tell me what he means by "plastic,' i just dont understand and i'm 18

[TheBlewis]

Perhaps not stupid but growing up in a different age... though I can't say much as I'm just 19. The older man is telling Benjamin that there is a great future in the plastics industry. It's funny as the man is taking himself far too seriously and as Benjamin's reaction shows, being rather ridiculous.

[CrossWireStudio]

Plastics represents everything that's fake in the world, everything the main character hates and wants to get away from.

[nickbelane69]

plastic is plastic! just fucking ordinary plastic!!!!!!!!!!!

[007jas]

Yep. But some people don't seem to see that. Plastics. Represents everything phony.

[bonomo012]

The line "One word"plastics" was almost cut from the film because even before1967 Nichols thought it might sound too dated. But then he decided that sounding dated was a big part of the humor.

[PeterFirthFan]

Crap movie, Hoffman was far too old.

[kbak90]

everybody is fake. he's sick of his boring life of suburbia his parents gave him

[rochestas]

I think he's just unsure of what to do with his future and everything just seems... lame. I'm not sure it has anything to do with suburbia.

[janvanlathum]

plastisch

[FredHamiltonParadise]

Plastics was a growth industry. The old coot was right.

[climhazard01]

i dont get it. plastics??

[funnyapples1]

i don't get what plastics mean in this scene??

[sgtOOX]

invest in plastics

[CountryRoadTrip]

It's about the generation gap in the 60's. Plastics represented phoniness, materialism, corruption. Everything that Ben has anxiety over. He wants his future, as he tells his father, to be ....different. He won't be satisfied with the life his parents and their friends have.

[princesstootsweet3]

@CountryRoadTrip I totally agree. And not just typical phoniness, materialism, and corruption, but the phoniness, materialism and corruption that is the "American dream" which is shown through Mrs. Robinson's character as not being all it's cracked up to be, despite it's "plastic" exterior which seems to be without flaw and very stable.

I am in LOVE with this movie.

[Beastwheat]

...lol whut?

[dubbaCallday]

This was at a time when plastics were quickly replacing other materials like wood, glass, metal, etc.

[joshdesk]

Read "CountryRoadTrip's" comment two down from you and you'll know.

[HVASMS]

Credit cards i guess.

Plastic is a slang term for it.

[usetheforce100]

funniest film ever! must see!

[cooperzee]

I think you may have meant prophetic, not fortuitous. Regardless, I do agree that Nichols is brilliant.

Another of his works, " Wit ", is a must see.

[mbdfilms]

one of the best lines ever. & so fortuitous. great writing. mike nichols is a genius director too. check out "Carnal Knowledge" if anyone hasn't seen it yet.

[KhaosMuffins]

That line alone makes me want to watch this movie.

[Ballerfella2007]

Dustin was really 29 yrs old when he did this movie as a newly minted college graduate.

[InToonamIsLegacy]

wat a douche

[silkina]

can somebody upload this movie on youtube? I am dying to see ittt!!! :(

[coralarch]

silkina- grab the DVD. I promise, you will watch this movie countless times. I've seen it 1000+ times and never get sick of it. The dialogue, acting, songs, message- a perfect film. Pray to God that nobody ever tries to do a "remake"!!

[silkina]

I think I might have to, I've not watched it yet! But everyone tells me its a classic. I love Dustin Hoffman so I'm dying to see it :]

[coralarch]

Run, don't walk, to the nearest DVD store for this rare and wonderful cinematic experience . Brilliant acting, great dialogue, etc etc = perfection! Funny, sad, wry, caustic- this film is all of these things.The magic is that in real life, Mrs Robinson and Ben were almost the same age, but on film, they manage to convince us of "the generation gap". The film's message about superficial values and hypocrisy is timeless.

[Cousigreeno]

lol for some reason I was under the impression that he was talking about the plastic surgery industry. Great scene though

[coralarch]

cousigreeno, that's cute!:) Actually, he was very topical. Plastic anything was huge in the mid 60s, jewellery, kitchenware, etc etc.

[silkina]

I don't think I can imagine a remake of this. Wouldn't be right! lol

[coralarch]

The thought of a remake makes me feel quite ill. Look what Hollywood did to "the Ladykillers" & "The Wicker Man"- shudder!

[silkina]

okay wow I have not seen any of those either. haha I need to get me a few DVDs!

[coralarch]

Whatever you do, save your money and your sanity and do NOT get the remakes!!! LOL No, seriously, some films are just so perfect tnhat it;s a crime to think you can improve onh them.

[stitch462]

Hilarious

[carpenter11]

I would've laughed if the name of the video was different. :S

[slobbernuckle]

Dustin, was a handsome younger guy

[thoughtchallenge]

Would have fit right into a Seinfeld episode.

[WiscGirl54]

hah, so true

[Fredjim187]

I love this film - completely encompasses middle class repression.

[estelle715]

"Plastics" one of the best movie lines of all times!

[obbytoo]

Argg..middle class people -.-

[stalzz]

plastics were the future economy in 1967...now we're burdened by them forever.

[derbyhits]

maybe you should come up with some new material then??

[lethalfang]

2009 version: renewable energy

[keithstah]

plastics means " plastics "...he's talking about plastic. Haven't you ever had that talk with a friend of a parent, or even with one of your parents, when you get the " I've got one word for you.... " occupation tips ???..." There's a future in accounting, my boy "  or " With the way the world is headed you can't go wrong steering towards a career in ______ " (fill in the blank, based on the 70's, 80's, 90's, etc.....

[kellencolewright]

2008 version: "welfare"

[ih8allemos]

absolutely!!!

[beetleborg72]

And now thanks to plastics, we have a huge mass of it in the Pacific Ocean contaminating our sea food supply.

[TheOriginalEntz]

and by huge he means size of continent spread out in a soup-like consistency.

[xXNitey]

does anyone know exactly what "plastics" means in this scene. i need to know for my history of film class

[Hackiesacker007]

lol what a coincidence. I also need to know for my history of film class...

[pildskadden]

I think it's supposed to mean that Ben should look for a career in the plastics industry - bearing in mind this is the 1960's. Anyway,that's how I've always understood this scene. It's such an empty-minded advise, to a guy like Ben who's so worried about his future - in a much bigger sense.

[runannrun]

plastics could also mean be "fake". everyone at that party = plastic, thats what i got out of it anyway. theyre not really living, and all they really have is their money. they lead totally different lives at home and in public, like ben found out with mrs robinson. but plastics could also mean the plastics industry too hah :P

[BlueSkies360]

2008 version: "emerging markets" :))

[vssnair]

'67 was the year I graduated too (in Electrical Engineering)Plastics had just been started as the material of the century.From milk bottles to Buckets..from Cyringes to heart valves..car tyres to airplane parts..you can never live without plastics

[deibid2003]

To watch this movie online, enter here:

blogger-films.blogspot.*com/20­08/10/graduate.html

[Tronicoz]

civ iv!

[azeero888]

Vilken jäkla skitscen..

[nixonreborn]

lol. that man was a genius or a profet or somehting, plastics did great after that. i mean, before it, they were barley ever used. it was subliminal investment advice i tihnk

[theshowwithzefrank]

could someone please tell my why this quotation is so symbolic? I just don't understand it.

[BenjaminLee]

It's symbolic because he realizes the phoniness of suburban life, the life he is destined for. They're all plastic, all fake, like Barbie dolls.

[rarebanana]

wrong plastic companies made $ because they made napalm bombs out of plastics. Napalms were used in the Vietnam War.

[rosephilip]

why does it have to be symbolic

[somewhereintyme]

because it WAS

[WiscGirl54]

because WHAT was?

[RodCornholio]

What made this so real is that nearly all of us have been in a situation just like that. We identify with the characters.

[devilsadvocate22289]

one of the most symbolic scenes in the entire film...I love it!

[emotionalknapsack]

lol this is classic. I can bet when one day I bring my husband-to-be home, my dad is going to pull him aside and have this talk with him haha.

[jimmibear]

So prophetic, wasn't it? Everything in American Culture is plastic.

[JustusFriedolin]

ur mother is made out of plastic too

[magniasini]

Plastics

how do you mean that sir?

lmao classic

[betterlookingbyfar]

lot of money in plastics. you think about it.

[lispified]

well, the guy was totally right. do you know how much plastic crap the world creates and consumes?

[shoegal1490]

this film is so powerful. I feel like i can identify with it in someway.

[Yoshiarecool]

Sounds better coming from Leonard Nemoy

[JamesDunn1987]

Ah, we have a Civilisation 4 player among our ranks...

[Ghangis24]

LOL i saw this quote in civ 4 and was confused until i saw this.

[Generic1125]

LOL, love this scene. Somebody was asking me about my future the other day since I'm graduating this year and I told them "......One word...............Plastics...­...'nuff said."

[Raulbikcube]

"I don't want to buy anything, sell anything or process anything" line works in that situation as well. Congrats btw.

[PlasticNerd]

A great future indeed!!!!