is that the two leads--Hoffman and Ross (well, maybe she's a "supporting")-- are not at all glamorous but rather plain-looking Joes and Jills.
shareNot at all. Try watching Harold and Maude...
shareThe Graduate came during the peak of the cultural revolution. It is interesting to note that the novel had the main character as a tall and athletic blonde. Originally the film planned to cast Robert Redford, so the casting of Hoffman was risky but ultimately served as reinforcing the theme of alienation from the expectations of the WASP world around him.
shareI thought Ross was good looking.
shareMe too, I always thought she was beautiful, and one of the few women who could carry off the minimal makeup look fashionable around 1970. Most women photographed poorly without at least some makeup, but she had those big dark eyes and looked as good in the minimal makeup roles as the glam ones.
She also made some really good films, like "Butch Cassidy" and "The Stepford Wives".
Final Countdown
shareTrue for Hoffman, but definitely not Ross-- that woman was gorgeous.
I think the main character's sense of ennui and alienation was what was unusual in a romcom back then.