Ferris Bueller does not exist - he is made up by Cameron just as the Narrator in Fight Club makes up Tyler Durden. Cameron creates Ferris in order to be the man he isn't - charming, smart, a girlfriend who is infatuated with him, popular, with parents that love him. Notice how Sloane is the only character who speaks to both Ferris and Cameron. It explains how Ferris did all those crazy things - fake out the school and his parents, become the center of the parade, and drive in reverse to take away the miles. In the end, Cameron destroys his absentee father's car and his alter ego attempts to step in as usual to take the blame, but what does Cameron say ? "No Ferris, I got this." I'm telling you - it's beyond awesome and you'll never watch Ferris Bueller the same again. Oh, and notice how Ben Stein is reading off names and goes directly from Bueller to Fry's name - you telling me there are no kids with names from B-F ? This theory is mind blowing !
I've heard this theory before, but it just doesn't hold any water. In order for it to fit, Ferris would have to be a mass hallucination, not just specific to Cameron. The fact that Sloane is the only character who speaks to both Ferris and Cameron during the film is irrelevant. What's important, is that many other people speak to and have contact with Ferris, whether Cameron is around or not - his parents and sister being the big ones. Plus, there are many other characters who, while we don't see any direct contact within the span of the film, are implied to know Ferris personally - like the principle, many kids at school, etc. All of these people would have to share Cameron's hallucination of Ferris for this theory to even begin to make sense. I suppose if you stretch it, you could claim that most of these people who "know" Ferris, just know Cameron's alter-ego of Ferris. However, this could not explain Ferris' family (and most likely the principle). Sorry, it just doesn't work.
Well, if I end the movie a bit early and start it a bit late then it could possibly work. Sounds fun, but I didn't really care for the original in the first place. Ferris Bueller was a bit of a jackass and Cameron was too afraid to move. There's a whole lot better movies that came out of the 80s.
Yeah, I loved this movie until I had some really interesting discussions and read a couple articles about it. And the conclusion I have come to is that Ferris is a complete Dbag who never learns a lesson. He just gets everything handed to him, and in the end, his narcissism is only reinforced and never addressed.
It's been a while since I've seen it, but if I remember correctly, this concept is actually touched on in the movie. Cameron says basically the same thing to Ferris. Not that he's a d-bag, but that everything is so easy for him (Ferris). I think it's a great movie, definitely one of the 80's classics. John Hughes was brilliant.
Yeah, Ferris does have it easy. But for a 'Good guy' type, he needs a character arc and he doesn't have one. Cameron is the real star of the movie, as he has a full circle emotional arc with an actual payoff. It is a classic in the sense of its popularity and definite style, but for me, I'm more of a Breakfast Club kinda guy.
