Read my latest story, "The All-Nighter", at 52|250.

Over the past two weeks, my film classes have been watching The Graduate. I’ve tried to use the movie to help my students gain an understanding of the 1960s in the US and as an introduction to existentialism. (Admittedly, the latter goal was really only in reach of my more advanced students, but I think it’s important to provide discussion topics at varied levels when faced with classes that contain students with disparate skills.) It took a lot more work than I expected to guide my students in the direction of the first goal, however.

In retrospect, I should have anticipated that students who are working towards a middle-class existence would have a difficult time seeing characters who have been given such material comfort as having something to be unhappy about. I had to use specific lines of questioning that focused on looking beyond wealth and possessions. Discussions of particular characters’ motivations, however, were often derailed by arguments about their lack of morality. Of course, confusing analysis and judgment is hardly a uniquely Chinese problem.

One difficult in interpretation that did seem particularly Chinese, on the other hand, came up a few times when discussing the Braddocks’ various parties. A number of my students interpreted them solely as efforts to introduce Benjamin to potential employers.

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