Enshrined as an American classic, The Graduate is nearly a perfect film. Each scene is intensely memorable, but none more so than its finale, which involves the film's main protagonist Benjamin (a brilliant Dustin Hoffman) seeking to interrupt the forced marriage of Elaine Robinson (Katherine Ross), who he believes is the love of his life. This final scene contains a myriad of qualities found all too common in real world weddings. Controlling parental wrath is embodied here in the great acting of Ann Bancroft and Murray Hamilton, and the stifling California wedding environment is perfectly realized by director Mike Nichols. Ross's character Elaine is also representative of real world weddings, displaying an upsetting and unsettled emotional malaise (at least prior to Ben's arrival). This scene serves as an important warning to viewers about how marriages can quite often express the desire of an unrelated third party, and how critical it is to follow one's own heart.