Warning: the links are sound bites.I think Ferris Bueller's Day Off is an American classic
I'll just say that right off the bat. You might think I'm a little behind the times, given the movie was released in 1986, but a classic it is and still worthy of attention. For the two people on the planet who haven't seen it, Ferris Bueller is a wise-ass high school kid who manipulates his parents and friends in masterful ways in order to get a day off of school. It's sunny, it's spring, and youthful exuberance is a strong motivator. His best friend Cameron is home sick, and they conspire together to have Ferris' girlfriend Sloane sent home early. The three renegades take Cameron's father's prized car to Chicago for the day, while Ferris' bitter sister and Principal Ed Rooney scour the town looking for the absent Ferris.
Several years before this film, 1981 actually, I was attending a branch of Purdue University in Michigan City, Indiana, which was a 20-minute drive from my house by toll road. Every morning, I would emerge from the toll booth and take the roadway on the right toward Michigan City, and every morning I would emerge from the toll both and wish I could take the left roadway--toward Chicago. I loved that city--the sounds, smells, sights, the Lake--and I fantasized about some day skipping school to experience a lovely sunny day on Michigan Avenue and State Street and the lake shore.
But every day as I emerged from the toll booth, straining to steer to the right, my carpool mates would shake their heads, admonish me for my drifting spirit, and insist that I stay on track. Staying on track was the right thing to do, wasn't it? Veering off track even for one day might cause irreparable damage, wouldn't it? What kind of person just wanders off to Chicago for a day just because it would be fun? I never once went left when I should have gone right, and it's a pity. Spending a day in the city would not have caused irreparable damage. It would not have been a bad thing. And the kind of person who would have chosen that route just for one single day in a series of days would have gained an experience and memory to cherish. If I knew then what I know now, I would have steered to the left on a sunny day in May, and I would have admonished my carpool mates for being afraid to get off track now and then. As Ferris says...
When Ferris Bueller's Day Off was released six years after my experiential tug of war, I felt a sense of regret for not taking that day for myself, the kind of day Ferris created and shared with his friends. Watching this movie now, after years of adulthood, offers a fresh reminder that you have to stop and look around once in a while. Take the left roadway on a sunny day and see where it leads.Here's one more small treat from the film, something Ferris created just for fun.
Comments
I get that "Chicago" feeling in airports. It's a real tug.
I used to get it walking past the train station when I worked in Norwich.
Twice I gave in to it and just got on the London train instead of going to work (and had a spiffy day out each time.
Now I have to catch that train every day the romance has worn off somewhat …
The funny thing is that my mother really loves that movie too. She used to let me cut school every now and then to keep my sanity.
Hee hee. I'm remembering.
Oh, and Ferris? Dead Sexy.
I do tend to get more frustrated about the car as I get older though.
My favourite quote "Um, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night"
Dive, yep. Once the draw becomes routine, it's not such a draw anymore. Breaking the routine is the thing. Exploring a bit.
Sassy, Matthew Broderick does have that certain something, doesn't he?
Ms Mac, that line is in the link for "absent Ferris." It's so high-school.