Bookbag: Whit Stillman's Barcelona and Mutual Incomprehension

This comparison between the final scenes of Barcelona and The Graduate goes out to Nick and Priyanko, whose favorite movies those are:

Ted explains the advantages of life with a European. "You see, that's one of the great things about getting involved with someone from another country—you can't take it personally. What's really terrific is that when we act in ways that might objectively be considered incredibly obnoxious or annoying, they don't get upset at all. They just assume it's some national characteristic." Fred assents: "Cosa de gringos."

[In The Graduate,] as Hoffman and Ross sit down in the back of the bus, excited by her escape from a conventional marriage, they find they have nothing to say to one another. They stare forward as Simon and Garfunkel sing "The Sounds of Silence." Their marriage will be as mired in silent incomprehension as their parents' marriages, the fate they are running away from...

In Barcelona's last shot, the European women are inside enjoying their hamburgers and fantasizing about their American mates' sexual peculiarities. The American men are outside, sipping beer and appreciating "what's really terrific" about mutual incomprehension, nodding silently as music starts to play.

From Doomed Bourgeois in Love: Essays on the Films of Whit Stillman.

UPDATE: From the same, Laura Weiner on the inherent conservatism of irony:

In short, the best ironists in Metropolitan are the hyper-conventional members of the SFRP; the least effective ironist is the intellectual radical and outsider, Tom.

And Mary P. Nichols on manners and civility:

As to Tom's declaration of his crush on Serena Slocum and his lack of interest in anyone else, events prove that Tom, for all his intended honesty, was far from understanding his real feelings. The strictures on excessive candor may not be "just a social convention," as Cynthia insists, or even a prudent response to an awareness that the truth may hurt, as Audrey realizes, but a recognition that the truth may not be so simple a matter that it emerges with mere "honesty and openness."