In the classic 1967 film "The Graduate," recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) returns to his upper-middle class life of cocktail parties and swimming pools. At a party celebrating his graduation at his parents' house in Pasadena, Benjamin is visibly uncomfortable as his parents' friends congratulate him on his academic success and ask him about his future plans. Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), the wife of his father's law partner, asks Benjamin to drive her home, which he reluctantly does.
Arriving at her home, she pleads for Benjamin to come inside, saying that she doesn't like to enter a dark house. Once inside, she forces a drink on him, and later exposes herself to him. Benjamin blurts out: ""Mrs. Robinson, you are trying to seduce me."
The line has become one the most classic in Hollywood's history.
My friend Mitch told me a similar thing happened to him. He, too, grew up in an upper-middle class suburb LA. Everyone had a comfortable house in the hills, with a swimming pool. As a student, he'd earn money by doing yardwork and cleaning pools. One of his neighbors, Dr. Brady, a famous Bel Aire dentist, would hire him. His wife, Bonnie Brady, was a bored housewife. She'd invite Mitch over under the pretense of doing chores, and then invite him to swim and relax as she suntanned on poolside.
She wasn't a knock-out, said Mitch. She had a short pixie haircut, one of the styles of the time, and a slender body. Fairly small breasts, but that, too, was more the style of the 1970s. She was the kind of woman who had "Our Bodies, Our Selves" on her bookshelf in plain view, and a white plastic vibrator by her bed, and who didn't hesitate about walking around in topless, or in a see-though sarong.
She'd rub suntan lotion on her legs, often parting them, trying to give Mitch a good look. Mitch, shy, or affraid Mr. Brady woudl return at any moment for his golf clubs, tried not to look. Of course he did, but he never made a move. So one day, Mrs. Brady did. As Mitch was swimming toward the pool laddar, Mrs. Brady stepped over him, offering him a full view of what she had to offer.
All Mitch could think to say to break the awkward tension was: "Mrs. Brady, you're trying to seduce me."
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