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Mamatulip: He's a regular high school senior who ditched class in favour of spending a gorgeous spring day painting downtown Chicago red. With his girlfriend, Sloane, and best friend Cameron in tow, he dines at a swanky restaurant, hijacks a parade to perform atop a float, takes in a Cubs game and tours the town in Cameron's father's prized '61 Ferrari GT California. He leads his clueless principal on a clumsy, fruitless chase across town, nearly puts his sister in the clink and, by the end of the day, has most of the town believing he's on his deathbed.He is a truant, a rebel; he is, without a doubt, the undisputed King of Skipping School. For a little while, he was The Sausage King of Chicago.
He is Ferris Bueller, Hero.
Chag: He's an irregular high school senior who ditched class in favor of spending a gorgeous spring day doing the lamest things possible. With his girlfriend, Sloane, and best friend Cameron held hostage, he dines at a swanky restaurant, hijacks a parade to perform atop a float, takes in a Cubs game and tours the Art Institute of Chicago. He subjects his helpless principal to a wild goose chase across town, nearly puts his sister in the clink and, by the end of the day, dupes most of the town into believing he's on his deathbed.
He is a jerk, a poseur; he is, without a doubt, an undeniable amateur at skipping school. For a little while, he was The Most Unbelievable Teenager in Cinematic History.
He is Ferris Bueller, Zero.
Mamatulip: He may have very well been an undeniable amateur, but he pulled it off - just like a hero would. He saw all those sights and had all those people going, and in the end, the only person who caught him was his sister, who, despite her vigilant attempts to rat him out, stuck up for him when it counted - and that's definitely worth something.
And, re: him playing hooky in favor of doing "the lamest things possible." Spending a gorgeous spring day at home in your underwear, watching Thundercats reruns and eating Froot Loops from the box? That's lame. Painting the Windy City red with your two best friends and a sweet, sweet ride? Is not.
Chag: Watching Thundercats in my underwear actually sounds like a fun time to me! But all kidding aside, Bueller? Hero? You do realize that he didn't actually earn that beret with the 32nd Armor Regiment emblem, right?
I'm sorry, but I feel Ferris spent the most unimaginative, boring day possible. It's like he stopped off at the Chicago Visitors Center, picked up a map from some blue-haired lady at the counter, and went out to paint "downtown Chicago red" as you put it. Woo hoo! Let's go to the Sears Tower! Yeah, right. My man was in high school. What high school student is really interested in doing these things? Especially when he's got a honey like Sloane?
Sloane.
If I were Ferris, I would have just invited Sloane over to my house and enjoyed Ferris Bueller's Day In. Yo, Sloane! The question isn't "What are we going to do?", the question is "What aren't we going to do?", baby!
Mamatulip: You may be right about that, but I really don't think John Hughes was going for 'triple X' when he wrote Ferris Bueller, you know? I mean, call it a hunch, but I don't think his vision for the movie included it hitting the shelves at Adults Only locations across the nation, ya perv.
Look. I'll be the first one to admit that Ferris Bueller's Day Off errs on the unrealistic side – I remember seeing it for the first time and wondering afterward if the director expected us to take it seriously. But what I've always liked about the movie – and what I think a lot of other people liked about it, too – is that it was fun. It may have been a bit bogus at times, but it was entertaining. I mean, here's this guy, this cocky, high school senior with an ego and some nerve, who throws caution to the wind and goes for it. He puts everything on pause – parents, school, grades; responsibilities – for one glorious, spontaneous day and just lives it up, in a very grandiose – and yes, heroic – sort of way.
"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." That's kind of the crux of the entire movie, and I don't think it's lame at all. On the contrary, I think it's kind of cool.
Chag: No, I'll tell you what you liked about the movie. You saw a high school kid that was loved to the point of worship by nearly everyone, save the principal and his sister. You saw a high school kid that thumbed his nose at authority and got away with it. It was every high school kid's dream – to be loved and to do whatever he/she wanted. And that's why every kid that grew up in the '80s loved the flick. It's not so much that they wanted to be Ferris; they just wanted to be liked by everyone and to be able to do what they please. I guarantee you if you had been initially exposed to this film when you were thirty, your feelings for Ferris would be totally different. You would see that he was pretty lame. A zero.
"Life moves pretty fast." Sometimes it's better to take it easy and hang out with your friends than to go on a city-wide scavenger hunt.
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So what do you think? Is Ferris a hero or zero? Have your say in the comments!
