The Graduate ends with this scene of Ben interrupting the wedding of Elaine and the generic frat guy that she went on one date with. It’s a great way for the film to end, thematically speaking. For one, Elaine has been on exactly one date with both of these guys, but we root for Ben because he’s the protagonist of the movie and we naturally want to take his side. Plus, we know that he at least loves Elaine. The final shot of the movie shows how perfect the ending is. Ben and Elaine get on the bus and they’re so stoked that they ran away from the wedding and they’re glad to be together at least. But, as the shot goes on and on, they slowly realize that they don’t know each other, have just estranged Elaine’s entire family, and their situation is much less than ideal. Essentially, neither of them have any idea of what they’re doing. As “hello darkness my old friend” begins playing, the movie ends with the same humor that it had throughout the rest of it.

Now, that last scene that I linked above is SUPER important, because every movie that you’ve ever watched that has included a scene of someone interrupting a wedding to declare true love has ripped off that last part of The Graduate. Trust me, you’ve seen a move with that part in it. But here’s the thing, all of those movies have entirely missed the point of why that scene was poignant.

For one, besides Shrek, when have the romantic parts ended with the girl marrying a guy she doesn’t know? It doesn’t happen much. The movies show this successful relationship that is going up to the point of marriage and the girl throws it away for the guy doing a big romantic gesture. That’s not how love is supposed to work. Aren’t you supposed to marry the tried and true person over the guy you only know as the one doing those weird things? Essentially, why is a girl going to throw away work she put into both a relationship and planning a wedding for “Hey here’s a song we both like”? She probably wouldn’t.

The second part I’m uppity about is that part after the wedding. So, you’re a woman who just threw away two years of her life with a dude and a multi-thousand dollar investment in an awesome wedding to be with Owen Wilson. Doesn’t that weigh on your soul a bit? Why is it a happy ending? Essentially, the guy just came along and ruined a girl’s relationship with the groom’s entire family and also strained it with her own family. That’s not a happy ending! That’s kinda shitty really.

You know what makes me the most upset? Wayne’s World 2 has what is essentially a shot-for-shot remake of this scene and falls into the same traps that other movies do. And I love the Wayne’s World movies.