1. Ben Braddock- The Graduate
First and foremost we have Ben from The Graduate. I know it's an obvious choice, this being a post-grad list and all, but Ben practically invented P-GE. Even though this film was made over 40 years ago, it still rings true today. Well maybe not all of Ben's story (ahem, scene above), but the very beginning of the movie is eerily familiar to everyone who has completed his or her higher education. Surrounded by people asking him what he's going to do now, Ben is so obviously uncomfortable that the audience begins to cringe too. Who from the class of 2010 hasn't felt like this?
2. Harold Chasen: Harold and Maude
OK, I know that Harold is only 19, but what he experiences in this gem of a film is equivalent to graduating from school (he just graduates from the school of life). Harold is morbid, to say the least. He constructs several fake suicides, drives a hearse and attends funerals...for fun. He's twisted, but all of that changes once he meets the vivacious Maude. Maude is almost 80, and she has lived enough to fill 10 lives. She steals cars, dances in fields and shows Harold how much fun being alive can be. Thanks to Maude, Harold's ennui dissipates, and he goes on with life, dancing and playing the banjo to Cat Stevens ("If you want to sing out, sing out!").
3. Rory Gilmore- Gilmore Girls
As a devotee of this beloved TV show, I can't help but think of the younger Ms. Gilmore when wondering about life after college (and no, I'm not going to mention that trite disappointment Post-Grad Survival Guide...it was a solid effort by Alexis Bledel, but I think Rory's experience can resonate with more people.). Rory was a super star at Yale; she edited The Yale Daily News and got great grades. She had job offers at small papers, but she decided to go for the top and apply for a fellowship with the holy grail of newspapers, The New York Times. Imagine the audience's shock when Rory, perfect, over-achieving Rory, didn't get the fellowship. Granted this was during the show's final season when the creators of Gilmore Girls got into a tiff with the network and left the series and the plot in the lurch, and many die-hard GG fans chose to think that this season doesn't exist. I, however, liked some parts of the storyline, and I think that Rory's career heartbreak was poignant and realistic. She shook out in the end, getting to ride around on Barack Obama's campaign bus (this was back in 2007) and write about him. Her P-GE was short-lived but keenly felt.
What I love most about these characters is the fact that, in the end, things worked out, in their own way. Ben, Harold and Rory's stories all end differently, but they do leave room for the future because, once you've graduated, the future is all you've got.
