Religion and Sex

This article "Religion and Sex" written by Don Lattin in the San Francisco Chronicle, discusses many of the moral issues of the 1960s raised by the film The Graduate. He argues that American culture, starting in the 60s, began to move quickly away from traditions of religion. In fact, sixty five percent of baby boomers believed that individuals should freely associate themselves with certain religions without being influenced by factions such as church groups. Americans' minds have become increasingly consumed with thoughts of sex and promiscuity as opposed to Jesus and the Bible.

As we move further away from the religious society that Lattin hopes for, we begin to lose values and lose sight of what's truly important. In The Graduate, Hoffman's character, Ben, is straight out of college and is quickly bombarded by the new culture of the 60s. Since society seemed to have moved far from tradition, more and more opportunities seemed to present themselves, leaving Ben, and the rest of his generation confused with too many potential directions to turn in.

Lattin argues that, beginning in the 60s, "with flowers in their hair and lust in their hearts", young Americans adopted the sexual revolution, making traditionally promiscuous things seem almost mundane. Homosexuality became more readily accepted along with ideas of extramarital and premarital sex. Polygamy became expected and it seemed that few people like Lattin still held onto traditional beliefs.

Benjamin Braddock never fully breaks Lattin's traditional barriers and never fully allows the new racy society to completely consume him. What is most important about his character is that he was able to "follow his bliss". Although Ben was presented with all of these new opportunities both sexually and in the fast-growing plastic world, in the end, he resorts to tradition.

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Religion and Sex