Summer has come early to the mid-Atlantic of the US with a stretch of blue skies, warm temperatures, and low humidity. Stepping indoors to work after a walk outside in this rare, perfect weather feels just Wrong. Post-June of 1986 (or June 5, 1985, according to the movie) one might ask oneself: what would Ferris Bueller do?
There are many philosophies, sayings, practices, stories, memes, and what-have-you that encourage us to seize the day and savor the moment (perhaps even…to savor the view…). But Ferris Bueller grabs the day with a great big bear hug. He sees only possibilities and no regrets.
Is that a sound policy for all occasions? Maybe not. But every once in a while, it wouldn’t hurt to encounter the world with confidence, optimism, and joy.
Anyway, hello, welcome, and thank you for stopping by. For new visitors, here’s what this situation is all about:
With Savor the View, we’ll watch, think, and talk about movies and the things that matter. A special welcome and thanks to our regular crew!
Each Monday, I share brief, spoiler-free remarks and questions to frame viewing a movie on our own.
Each Thursday, I share post-viewing questions to poke at the issues, ideas, quandaries, inspirations...whatever...that movie might have summoned (spoilers, ahoy!).
Paid subscribers can talk it all out in a weekly Discussion Thread.
Overview
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986): John Hughes wrote and directed this sort-of companion film to The Breakfast Club, with high school students once again finding themselves amidst the adult-enforced structures of contemporary suburban life. In fact, here, a Simple Minds poster adorns the main character’s bedroom, calling back to the signature song from the earlier movie.
The summer of 1986 featured a few Hollywood bangers – including Top Gun and Aliens, no less – that would leave lasting legacies. It would be a weird world if Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise), Ellen Louise Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), and Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) all lived in it together. But I love that I live in a world where I can visit each one of them whenever I want a cinematic kick.
Criticism of this escapist fantasy is easy. For sure, the real lives of high schoolers – then and now – seem more like that of the struggling Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck) than the carefree Bueller. But, for me, that’s what makes the fantasy a valuable escape: even if I’m not having fun during my morning commute, somewhere, someone is – and I’m assured that maybe some other time, I can too.
The universal/general
Conventional stories have protagonists – characters we as viewers follow as they face challenges and, ultimately, as they transform in response to those challenges. Who in this film are we following? What are their challenges? Who is transformed?
Conventional stories also have certain stock kinds of characters. The trickster, for example, has appeared across centuries and continents in an array of forms to subvert the status quo. Does it do anything for you to consider Ferris as part of this larger storytelling tradition?
The specific/unique
The movie starts with a weather forecast. What mood does this create for viewers?
Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) periodically breaks the fourth wall by talking into the camera as if he were talking directly to the movie’s viewers. Why? How does this shape your connection to this character? What point of view is he inviting you to share?
The viewer is always present
It seems apt to ask again, as with The Breakfast Club last week: Has this film aged well? Or not? In what ways?
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