[Film] Happy Ferris Bueller Day (off)

[Stat Brother]

I wonder what Ferris is doing today?

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

terrible film, how it has cult status is beyond me.

 

[Jesus Gul]

The dude who plays eldest son Con in Succession is in Ferris Bueller's Day Off - knew I recognised him

 

[schmunk]

terrible film, how it has cult status is beyond me.

c.f. The Catcher in the Rye - a dreadful book with cult status. How can a book so short (an eye-gouging 234 pages), be so TEDIOUS...?

 

[Bold Seagull]

terrible film, how it has cult status is beyond me.

carpe diem

 

[Stato]

c.f. The Catcher in the Rye - a dreadful book with cult status. How can a book so short (an eye-gouging 234 pages), be so TEDIOUS...?

Nothing wrong with 'The Catcher in the Rye', but you have to read it when you're the right age. Read it after you've had you're own kids and you'll just wish Holden would just realise that all of the others around him are people too, not just non playable characters in his personal video game. As far as Salinger goes, the short stories are where the gold is. 'A Perfect Day for Bananafish' is up there with a couple of Damon Runyan's and Flannery O'Connor's as my favourite short stories ever.

I hate Ferris Bueller. He is a representation of everything that was wrong with the eighties. Style over substance, short-term risk taking with other people's lives, glib charisma mistaken for real worth and a total lack of responsibility for the consequences of actions. He is the embodiment of Maradona's hand of god goal (90s admittedly), of Thatcher's selling off of North Sea Oil and public industry, of Reagan's man of the people act hiding his evil intent. His sister and headteacher were strivers trampled by his selfish psychopathy. He obviously grew up to become Patrick Bateman and his music taste remained just as awful. I may have thought too much about this.

 

[gazingdown]

Nothing wrong with 'The Catcher in the Rye', but you have to read it when you're the right age. Read it after you've had you're own kids and you'll just wish Holden would just realise that all of the others around him are people too, not just non playable characters in his personal video game. As far as Salinger goes, the short stories are where the gold is. 'A Perfect Day for Bananafish' is up there with a couple of Damon Runyan's and Flannery O'Connor's as my favourite short stories ever.

I hate Ferris Bueller. He is a representation of everything that was wrong with the eighties. Style over substance, short-term risk taking with other people's lives, glib charisma mistaken for real worth and a total lack of responsibility for the consequences of actions. He is the embodiment of Maradona's hand of god goal (90s admittedly), of Thatcher's selling off of North Sea Oil and public industry, of Reagan's man of the people act hiding his evil intent. His sister and headteacher were strivers trampled by his selfish psychopathy. He obviously grew up to become Patrick Bateman and his music taste remained just as awful. I may have thought too much about this.

Maybe they needed to make a parallel movie at the time.
Ferris Bueller's Day At School - Ferris is a goody two shoes, goes to school on time, studies hard and does all that his teachers and parents ask him to do.

Hilarity ensues, or something

Also, look forward to the scene at end where he gets home, tidies up and does his homework quietly and efficiently and has an early night ready for school the next day...

 

[Bold Seagull]

Nothing wrong with 'The Catcher in the Rye', but you have to read it when you're the right age. Read it after you've had you're own kids and you'll just wish Holden would just realise that all of the others around him are people too, not just non playable characters in his personal video game. As far as Salinger goes, the short stories are where the gold is. 'A Perfect Day for Bananafish' is up there with a couple of Damon Runyan's and Flannery O'Connor's as my favourite short stories ever.

I hate Ferris Bueller. He is a representation of everything that was wrong with the eighties. Style over substance, short-term risk taking with other people's lives, glib charisma mistaken for real worth and a total lack of responsibility for the consequences of actions. He is the embodiment of Maradona's hand of god goal (90s admittedly), of Thatcher's selling off of North Sea Oil and public industry, of Reagan's man of the people act hiding his evil intent. His sister and headteacher were strivers trampled by his selfish psychopathy. He obviously grew up to become Patrick Bateman and his music taste remained just as awful. I may have thought too much about this.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off isn't about Ferris Bueller, it's about Cameron Frye. In your analogy in a film about Maradona's hand of god, it would actually be about Peter Reid.

Ferris is intentionally almost mythical in good fortune and his own happiness; the beautiful girlfriend, popular, not a care in the world, no consequences is all counterpoint to the cultural awkwardness, anger, undeserved privilege, feeling of neglect or connection with his parents and lack of being able to belong or be happy that Cameron feels. He is the film. He fears the world, his Dad, his place in it and in the end he smashes this symbol of wealth, capitalism, his father's love his Ferrari beyond repair - the only point in the film he appears content is the moment he accepts he and his Dad will have a little chat about the smashed car.

I don't think it's a film about 80s excess at all, quite the opposite, at the heart of it, despite all the American Dream could give him it is about an unhappy awkward anxious teenager who's only real need in the world was his father's love.

 

[Live by the sea]

I wonder what Ferris is doing today?

Loved that film . So many classic fun teenager type films made in the 1980’s , pretty in pink , outsiders , St Elmo’s fire , mannequin , about last night etc

Far better than most of the films made nowdays .

 

[Stato]

Ferris Bueller's Day Off isn't about Ferris Bueller, it's about Cameron Frye. In your analogy in a film about Maradona's hand of god, it would actually be about Peter Reid.

Ferris is intentionally almost mythical in good fortune and his own happiness; the beautiful girlfriend, popular, not a care in the world, no consequences is all counterpoint to the cultural awkwardness, anger, undeserved privilege, feeling of neglect or connection with his parents and lack of being able to belong or be happy that Cameron feels. He is the film. He fears the world, his Dad, his place in it and in the end he smashes this symbol of wealth, capitalism, his father's love his Ferrari beyond repair - the only point in the film he appears content is the moment he accepts he and his Dad will have a little chat about the smashed car.

I don't think it's a film about 80s excess at all, quite the opposite, at the heart of it, despite all the American Dream could give him it is about an unhappy awkward anxious teenager he's only real need in the world was his father's love.

This reinterpretation has developed over the years, but if you saw it back in the middle of the decade of the individual, it's intent and impact were obvious. Nobody was celebrating Cameron. He was a supporting player. All it's fans were Ferris fans. I'd say to you what I say to everyone who argues this interpetation: Read up on John Hughes's politics.

 

[Bold Seagull]

This reinterpretation has developed over the years, but if you saw it back in the middle of the decade of the individual, it's intent and impact were obvious. Nobody was celebrating Cameron. He was a supporting player. All it's fans were Ferris fans. I'd say to you what I say to everyone who argues this interpetation: Read up on John Hughes's politics.

Reading up on John Hughes's politics is like not listening to The Smiths because of what Morrissey has become later in life.

Everyone related to Cameron in that film because everyone wished they could go and do what Ferris was doing but never did. We all felt the fear and anxiety Cameron feels throughout the film. That isn't a reinterpretation, without Cameron there is no jeopardy.

 

[Stat Brother]

Blimey with the amount of fun sponges on this thread, I guessing we've just been knocked out of Europe.

 

[Live by the sea]

John hughes was a genius script writer . He had a thing about Molly Ringwald , she was his muse . So sad he died so young . His films will live on , many of them classics.

 

[Jesus Gul]

Loved that film . So many classic fun teenager type films made in the 1980’s , pretty in pink , outsiders , St Elmo’s fire , mannequin , about last night etc

Far better than most of the films made nowdays .

Rumblefish, The Outsiders, Breakfast Club

 

[Stato]

Reading up on John Hughes's politics is like not listening to The Smiths because of what Morrissey has become later in life.

Hughes didn't become conservative with age. He was always conservative. Where there were messages in his films, they were conservative. That's not inherently a problem, and some of his films are great fun. I'm just suggesting that an eighties republican would have been less likely to make a critique of the ideals of capitalist America, so subtle that it's true message was only found by film geeks decades later, than he was to make a big fun celebration of the individual sticking it to the established order.

 

[Tiger Barb]

can I just add Weird Science to the list

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Loved that film . So many classic fun teenager type films made in the 1980’s , pretty in pink , outsiders , St Elmo’s fire , mannequin , about last night etc

Far better than most of the films made nowdays .

St Elmo's features some classic stuff. Rob Lowe gets some girl pregnant and cheerfully bins off the relationship to go off playing his sax and travelling or similar, all smiles and the heartthrob hero. Very much of its time. You just wouldn’t get away with that misogynistic film making now.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Hughes didn't become conservative with age. He was always conservative. Where there were messages in his films, they were conservative. That's not inherently a problem, and some of his films are great fun. I'm just suggesting that an eighties republican would have been less likely to make a critique of the ideals of capitalist America, so subtle that it's true message was only found by film geeks decades later, than he was to make a big fun celebration of the individual sticking it to the established order.

No one really knew about Hughes's politics until much later - so looking for all these conservative messages is a reinterpretation anyway. Films like Vacation literally lampoon the ideas of living the dream, the idea of a father not being about to take his kids to Disneyland, it's brilliant because ultimately it's just a film about being a good Dad and husband.

Caddyshack as well completely ridicules the exclusive golf club culture to the extent Trump could be a character within the film.

I don't really know enough have John Hughes further than that, but my personal affection of his films and my own politics would suggest he is taking a huge satirical swing at his own views with his films rather than trying to convey meaningful political messages.

 

[Badger]

I don't mind Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I've always found it quite entertaining. Although, I was too young to see it when it came out, so I missed the cult following.

The Breakfast Club, on the other hand, is really not very good. I don't understand how there is so much love for that.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I don't mind Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I've always found it quite entertaining. Although, I was too young to see it when it came out, so I missed the cult following.

The Breakfast Club, on the other hand, is really not very good. I don't understand how there is so much love for that.

100% on The Breakfast Club, that stupid fugging dance Emilio Estevez does is almost as appalling as the OP's taste in film and television. Just awful.