Neil Klugman and Brenda Patimkin are no Romeo & Juliet, but they’re certainly a young couple who start out on a romance with several strikes against them. I’ve always thought the sexual aspect of their relationship figured so prominently in the film because Neil and Brenda’s courtship is fueled by a great deal of sexual chemistry, but at the same time a considerable amount of suppressed hostility. Neil, refined, college-educated, almost passive-aggressive in his aimlessness, contrasts dramatically with the go-getter Country Club types Brenda usually dates. Neil’s humble Bronx background may mirror that of Brenda’s crass but sweet father (Jack Klugman), but his lack of ambition and passivity represents everything her upwardly-mobile family (they've only recently struck it rich through Mr. Patimkin’s plumbing-fixture business) is trying to leave behind them.
In one of my favorite scenes from the film, Jack Klugman (who's really terrific) gives voice to the film's tagline: "Every father's daughter is a virgin," and expresses the elder perspective of the 60s Generation Gap issue.