In the late 1960s and early 1970s, American cinemas experienced a new generation of young, unknown directors and actors, whose creators they created the "new" side of Hollywood. During that time, a different approach to creating films was formed, and large film studios realized that they had to change tactics and show some interest in the younger generation, who became the main buyers of movie tickets in the late 1960s. Hollywood studios began producing youth-oriented films, inspired by European cinemas. During this period, we can also see changes in censorship laws in the film industry. This period was known as "New Hollywood" and became the time of one of the most famous films in the history of America. In the New Hollywood era, directors took a different approach to creating films. However, the term New Hollywood cannot be explained in a clear answer. The easiest way to understand this movement is to take a closer look at the films created during that time, such as Mike Nichols' The Graduate (1967). To understand why everyone mentions this movie when talking about New Hollywood, you need to analyze it and then compare it to Old Hollywood. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't 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 the film. With this in mind, the soundtrack to The Graduate was unusual in Hollywood at the time. Together with the image, it created a new way of narrating the film. The songs were well played and the lyrics gave us information about the characters' state of mind. Campers in old Hollywood, where the music was just background music, this was unusual. "The Sound of Silence" is one of the main themes of the film. We hear it in some scenes of the film. First at the beginning of the film, when Benjamin is walking home and then at the end, when Benjamin and Elaine run away from her wedding with a smile. In the same scene the awareness of the confusion returns to them and the smile disappears with the song playing again in the background. The song gives us more information about the characters' state of mind: confusion and emptiness in a big world of grown-up people. It's amazing how it's tied to the main character who doesn't really change much throughout the entire movie. The same song also appears during an early sex scene with Mrs. Robinson. The song plays during the stunning montage and then is replaced with “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 mind about an affair with a married woman. The way songs were incorporated into The Graduate created a new trend in Hollywood, where the soundtrack was just as important as the film. In my opinion it is one of the significant aspects that differentiate the two eras of Hollywood. Another very important song is "Mrs Robinson", like the title, let's say it reflects Mrs Robinson. Furthermore, it is creating the theme of the film "the old generation versus the new generation". The conflict between the younger and older generations is linked to the social context of the New Hollywood. In short, the social context is the social and demographic trend of the post-war United States. The generation gap is one of the most important parts of this trend. The generation gap in The Graduate is one of the critical parts and no one shared it like thisBefore. It's bringing a new vision to storytelling but it's also a very important social movement at that time in America. As Harris wrote, The Graduate was the first truly sexy blockbuster to capitalize on the fractured “generation gap” at the end of the endlessly repeated moment between those kids and their parents. Before, in the 1960s, young people didn't have much to say and followed whatever their parents suggested. However, with the historical and cultural changes that occurred in the United States, such as the Vietnam War, race riots, and counterculture, young people wanted to have more to say. Time changed and young people were more educated and wanted to be more independent than their parents. Before The Graduate there was no film, or at least no prominent one, that drew attention to the youth confusion culture of the 1960s. Throughout most of the film we can see that everyone tells Benjamin what to do with his future and no one asks him what he really wants. For this reason he felt alienated from society, like most young people of that period. Highlighting the generation gap, The Graduate becomes an icon of New Hollywood. However, this would not be possible if Hollywood still had the old industrial context. The industrial context is a change in the condition of production, in this case, an era of the 'studio system'. As Geoff King said in his book, the term conjures images of the giant studio production system: enormous “dream factories” where hordes of contract employees toiled to create the films of a period often celebrated as “the age of gold” in Hollywood. ' As he further explained, it was tightly controlled by the studio system and the directors didn't have much say in the films. Even the actors were always the same with the same character style. Everything started to change when the Supreme Court changed how the “Big 5” should work. Because of this lawsuit, directors had more say in choosing actors and controlling the final look of a film. Mike Nichol cleverly exploited this opportunity and hired an unknown, good-looking actor for the main character. With this, he admitted that in America not everyone is of perfect beauty and that New Hollywood should start portraying a typical American person. Stanley Kauffmann realized that "Hoffman's face in itself is evidence of change in American films; it is difficult to imagine him in leading roles ten years ago", which shows 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 that time. 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, made of plastic. Another symbolism is water, more precisely a swimming pool. We can see that the main character is often in the swimming pool of his parents' house. He's always a little distant from the rest of the world when he spends time there. When he is underwater in the diving suit, which his parents made him wear, we can only hear his breathing. We can see his parents screaming and excited but we cannot hear them. This gave an impression of what they were like on the other planet, particularly creating an image of youthful alienation, as King realised. Another key point of the same metaphor is the scene where Benjamin drifts on his raft. His parents appear with the sun behind them, which is another example of the gap between him and the adult world. The extraordinary work done during the assembly helped.