In the late 1960s and early 1970s, American cinemas experienced a new generation of young directors and new, unknown actors, who created the “new” side of Hollywood. At that time, a different approach to film creation was formed, and major studios understood that they needed to change their tactics and pay attention to the younger generation, which became the main buyers of movie tickets in the end Hollywood studios began producing films aimed at young people, inspired by European cinemas. During this time, we can also see changes in censorship laws in the film industry. This era was known as "New Hollywood" and became the time of one of the most famous films in American history. In the era of New Hollywood, directors took a different approach to creating films. However, the term New Hollywood cannot be explained with a single, clear answer. The easiest way to understand this movement is to take a closer look at films created during this era, such as Mike Nichols' The Graduate (1967). To understand why everyone talks about this film when talking about New Hollywood, you have to analyze it and then compare it to Old Hollywood. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay In light of this, The Graduate changed the film industry in many aspects, such as the use of popular music in film. With this in mind, The Graduate's soundtrack was unusual in Hollywood at that time. With the image, it created a new way of telling the film. The songs are well performed and the lyrics provide us with information about the characters' state of mind. The campers in Old Hollywood, where the music was just background music, was unusual. “The sound of silence” is one of the main themes of the film. It can be heard in a few scenes of the film. First, at the beginning of the film, when Benjamin returns home, and then at the end, when Benjamin and Elaine run away from his wedding with smiles. At the same time, the confusion returns to them and the smile disappears with the song playing in the background again. The song gives us more information about the characters' state of mind: confusion and emptiness in a big adult world. It's amazing how much this relates to the main character who actually doesn't change much throughout the entire film. The same song also appears during an early sex scene with Mrs. Robinson. The song plays during the incredible montage and then is replaced by “April Come she will”. During this song, we can see a montage of scenes between the hotel and Benjamin's room. The second song ends with the words "August, die she must", which is a metaphor for Benjamin changing his thoughts about his relationship with a married woman. The way songs were integrated into The Graduate set a new trend in Hollywood, where the soundtrack was just as important as the picture. In my opinion, this is one of the significant aspects that differ between two eras of Hollywood. Another very important song is "Mrs. Robinson", like the title, let's say it reflects Mrs. Robinson. Additionally, this creates the movie's theme of "old generation versus new generation." The conflict between younger and older generations is linked to the social context of New Hollywood. In short, social context is the social and demographic trend of the United States in the post-war period. The generation gap is one of the most important elements ofthis trend. The generation gap in The Graduate is one of the critical elements and no one has shared it like this before. It gives a new vision of storytelling, but it's also a very important social movement at this time in America. As Harris wrote, The Graduate was the first true sexiest blockbuster to exploit the divide of the "generation gap" in the ever-repeated term of the moment between these kids and their parents. Before the 1960s, young people didn't have much say and followed what their parents suggested. However, with historical and cultural changes in the United States, such as the Vietnam War, race riots, and counterculture, young people wanted to have more to say. Times changed and young people were more educated and wanted to be more independent than their parents. Before The Graduate, they were not producing any films, or at least not being featured, which draws attention to the culture of youthful confusion of the 1960s. Throughout most of the film, it can be seen that all the everyone tells Benjamin what to do with his future and no one to ask him what he really wants. Because of this, he felt alienated from society, like most young people of that time. By highlighting the generation gap, The Graduate becomes an icon of New Hollywood. But this would not be possible if Hollywood still had an old industrial context. The industrial context is a change in the conditions of production, in this case an era of the “studio system”. As Geoff King said in his book: "The term conjures up images of the giant studio production system: enormous 'dream factories' in which hordes of contract workers labored to create the films of a period often celebrated as the "golden age" of Hollywood. ' As he explained further, cinema was strictly controlled by the studio system and directors had little say in the films. Even the actors were always the same, with the same character style. That all started to change when the Supreme Court changed how the “Big 5” should operate. Thanks to this legal action, directors had more say in choosing actors and controlling the final look of a film. Mike Nichol smartly took advantage of this opportunity and hired an unknown and not good-looking actor for the main character. In doing so, he admitted that in America not everyone is perfectly beautiful and that New Hollywood should start portraying a typical American person. Stanley Kauffmann realized that “Hoffman's face is itself evidence of change in American films; it's hard to imagine her in leading roles ten years ago,” showing that old Hollywood has made room for new changes. Another new change introduced in New Hollywood was the use of symbolism. The Graduate is full of symbolism for this era. One of the symbolic examples is the word “Plastic” mentioned by Mr. Robinson. This is exactly what young people thought at the time, that their parents' lives were fake, plastic. Another symbolism is water, more specifically a swimming pool. We see that the main character is often in the swimming pool at his parents' house. He's always a little removed from the rest of the world when he spends time there. When he is underwater in a diver's suit, which his parents made him dress up, we only hear his breathing. We can see his parents screaming and excited, but we can't hear them. This gave an impression of their life on the other planet, notably creating an image of youthful alienation, as King realized..