I was just thinking of Elaine again in anticipation of tonight's rerun and thought of an interesting parallel to the movie "The Graduate" The character Ben in the movie is young like Carter (well, a bit younger) and has an affair with Mrs. Robinson, the older woman...then falls in love with her daughter Elaine...the movie was directed by Mike Nichols...did the ER writers have this in mind when coming up with the name "Elaine Nichols" for Carter's Mrs. Robinson-like lover...? This of course inspires the further question of how seriously we are to take their affair if she is indeed meant as a Mrs. Robinson-like figure. Just a thought...and feel free to speculate on the quantity of time on my hands...

-- nancy (tbc@po.cwru.edu), March 02, 2000

Answers

Since I'm reading your response, I'll NOT speculate on the quantity of time on your (or my) hands! I didn't take the affair too seriously when a famous actress was signed on to play the character for only a few weeks. I do think the "Elaine" connection is interesting, but in "The Graduate" there was a much (20 or more years) age difference than with Carter/Elaine. Also, back when that movie first came out, the age difference was--in my mind at least--a bigger deal than today. Just some thoughts.

-- Diana (Dilynne@juno.com), March 05, 2000.