Harold and Maude & The Graduate: The Taboo of Reversed Gender Role May-December Romantic Relationships in Film

Abstract

There is a common cinematic theme that involves a young person becoming romantically involved with a person significantly older than they are; aptly called the “May-December romance,” one may conjure immediate images of a very young woman with an older male figure. Harold and Maude (1971) turns this stereotype on its head when the main characters of the film – Harold, an 18-year-old young man and Maude, a 79-year-old woman – fall in love with each other. While this may seem to be an especially unusual pairing, there begs the question of why it seems socially unacceptable or strange, and the further inquiry of why it is widely accepted that older men should pursue much younger women. The Graduate (1967), which also depicts an older woman in a May-December romance will be assessed alongside Harold and Maude for their portrayal of older female sexuality and how it relates to young males of their interest.