In the undying scene from the 1967 film The Graduate, the young Benjamin Braddock is at a gruesome party hosted by his parents when he is ambushed by the besuited middle-aged Mr McGuire. Throwing an arm around Benjamin, McGuire guides him through the suburban splendour of the house to the pool. “I just want to say one word to you. Just one word,” begins McGuire. Then, with the air of initiating Benjamin into the great grown-up secret: “Plastics.” A silence falls. Benjamin (played by Dustin Hoffman) eyes McGuire as if he’s deranged and asks, politely: “Exactly how do you mean?” McGuire urges, “There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?”
This classic scene of the 1960s’ generational clash — the materialistic old square versus the spiritual young baby boomer — resonates today. We too find ourselves in a burgeoning generational clash, albeit this time with Benjamin’s boomers as the old guard. So far, the clash has mostly been over issues of money, climate and the amorphous concept of “woke”. But, as in the 1960s, it’s also about something closer to home: career choice. Some major professions — and the boomers in them — are becoming taboo for young people.
For decades from the 1970s, the generational clash lapsed. Boomers had been shaped by the 1960s, so when they started families, they didn’t want to be joyless anti-sex authoritarians like some of their own parents. They tried to understand their children rather than merely discipline them. The parent-child relationship evolved into something akin to friendship.
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