A timeless favorite, "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off," was released in June 1986. It is, in my opinion, the greatest movie of all time.
I will shout this over outraged screams of “The Godfather” or “Pulp Fiction.”
FBDO encapsulates every aspect of a great movie; it is funny without throwing its humor in your face, it is well cast and, most importantly, it is relatable. This movie is on a whole new level of relatable, actually.
You can, of course, relate to Ferris. You can relate to Ferris in the sense that he is the boy that we all strive to be like. He is carefree, happy and sees the true importance in life. Everyone knows him; girls want him, boys want to be him, teachers know strangely intimate details about his personal life. They all think he’s a righteous guy.
Ferris also cares tremendously about his best friend, Cameron.
Cameron is the real reason that this movie is the greatest of all time. Cameron is controlled by expectations and trapped in his paranoia. Aren’t we all? Cameron can’t see past the little, unimportant things, like when he stares at the painting in the gallery so closely that the images no longer make sense.
He is battling throughout the entire movie with himself, and with Ferris, who is the epitome of everything Cameron wants to be. Ferris is, as Cameron states after being rescued from nearly drowning, his hero.
Some people even go so far as to suggest that Ferris never actually existed and that he was just a character that Cameron made up in his head. Some say that Cameron never even got out of bed at all.
He wants to be like Ferris, but, as he tells Sloane, he’s interested in nothin’. He can’t get past the expectations of his parents and society enough to figure out who he really is. Cameron has never been in love—at least, no one has ever been in love with him.
We are all Cameron. And if you didn’t punch your fist in the air when that red Ferrari plummeted down into the woods, you’re watching the movie wrong.
I have seen this movie more than nine times and still notice something else new every time I watch it. The license plate of the Ferrari reads “NRVOUS.” “Danke Schoen” is actually played four times throughout the film. The disguise Ferris wears to pick up Sloane is taken from the mannequin in the corner of his room. You can find meaning in every line of this movie, or you can just watch it to enjoy the adventures of a funny boy who doesn’t want to be trapped in school anymore.
So, let’s all take a day off and tip our hats to Ferris and Cameron. Because life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around every once in awhile, you could miss it.
