Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone?
October 13, 2015 8:24 AM Subscribe
How could anyone possibly screw up Ferris Bueller's Day Off? By turning it into a sitcom.
Save Ferris
The movie made just under $70 million on a $6 million budget, making it one of the top grossing films of 1986. (Others included Top Gun, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and The Karate Kid, Part II).
The 1990 tv sitcom sought to capitalize on that success. Since the movie had been about Ferris taking a day off to 'embark on a one-day bacchanal through the streets of Chicago' with two friends before he graduated high school, the producers decided the show would be a prequel and called it simply, Ferris Bueller. They cast Charlie Schlatter as Ferris, Richard Riehle as Principal Rooney, a pre-FriendsJennifer Aniston as Jeannie Bueller, Ami Dolenz as Sloane and Brandon Douglas as Cameron.
In Fall of 1990, Ferris Bueller was given a Monday, 8:30-9:00pm time slot following The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, another new sitcom. It was up against Major Dad on CBS and MacGyver on ABC.
As in the movie, Ferris' character frequently broke the fourth wall and addressed the audience directly. In the pilot episode Schlatter used a chainsaw to cut the head off a cardboard cutout of Matthew Broderick for the audience, saying that he hated Broderick's performance as him.
Season One (1990-91)
1) Pilot
2) Behind Every Dirtbag
3) Custodian Of the People
4) Without You I'm Nothing
5) Between a Rock and Rooney's Place
6) A Dog and His Boy
7) Ferris Bueller Can't Win
8) Sloan Again, Naturally
9) Scenes From a Grandma
10) Stand-In Deliver
11) Baby You Can't Drive My Car
12) Grace Under Pressure
13) A Night In the Life
They didn't think he was a righteous dude
Alas, Ferris Bueller was cancelled after 13 episodes. It premiered in the same season as Parker Lewis Can't Lose, which has a similar concept but better cast and writing. The New York Times compared the two in a review.
Television Obscurities has a comprehensive analysis.
Film School Rejects: The Strange Time ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ Became a Terrible TV Show. "...the show still could have built an audience if it were funny and entertaining, or if it merely held true to the character. As you can guess, it doesn’t. Schlatter’s Ferris is less of a zen master in sunglasses and more of an outright asshole."
Complex rated it one of the "least funny sitcoms of all time":
Ferris Bueller was replaced by Blossom, which lasted five seasons.
Save Ferris
The movie made just under $70 million on a $6 million budget, making it one of the top grossing films of 1986. (Others included Top Gun, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and The Karate Kid, Part II).
The 1990 tv sitcom sought to capitalize on that success. Since the movie had been about Ferris taking a day off to 'embark on a one-day bacchanal through the streets of Chicago' with two friends before he graduated high school, the producers decided the show would be a prequel and called it simply, Ferris Bueller. They cast Charlie Schlatter as Ferris, Richard Riehle as Principal Rooney, a pre-FriendsJennifer Aniston as Jeannie Bueller, Ami Dolenz as Sloane and Brandon Douglas as Cameron.
In Fall of 1990, Ferris Bueller was given a Monday, 8:30-9:00pm time slot following The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, another new sitcom. It was up against Major Dad on CBS and MacGyver on ABC.
As in the movie, Ferris' character frequently broke the fourth wall and addressed the audience directly. In the pilot episode Schlatter used a chainsaw to cut the head off a cardboard cutout of Matthew Broderick for the audience, saying that he hated Broderick's performance as him.
Season One (1990-91)
1) Pilot
2) Behind Every Dirtbag
3) Custodian Of the People
4) Without You I'm Nothing
5) Between a Rock and Rooney's Place
6) A Dog and His Boy
7) Ferris Bueller Can't Win
8) Sloan Again, Naturally
9) Scenes From a Grandma
10) Stand-In Deliver
11) Baby You Can't Drive My Car
12) Grace Under Pressure
13) A Night In the Life
They didn't think he was a righteous dude
Alas, Ferris Bueller was cancelled after 13 episodes. It premiered in the same season as Parker Lewis Can't Lose, which has a similar concept but better cast and writing. The New York Times compared the two in a review.
Television Obscurities has a comprehensive analysis.
Film School Rejects: The Strange Time ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ Became a Terrible TV Show. "...the show still could have built an audience if it were funny and entertaining, or if it merely held true to the character. As you can guess, it doesn’t. Schlatter’s Ferris is less of a zen master in sunglasses and more of an outright asshole."
Complex rated it one of the "least funny sitcoms of all time":
This series is pure blasphemy in every regard. This unnecessary movie-to-television spin-off completely disrespects the classic film. In the series, Ferris Bueller's Day Off exists within the show universe but is treated with disdain as a film based on the gang's real-life adventures. So it's not even a continuation, but an unholy sequel/spin-off hybrid that just further proved its pointlessness.Life Moved Pretty Fast
To top it off, Charlie Schlatter is the worst Matthew Broderick stand-in imaginable, making up for a complete lack of Broderick's charm and swag with smarmy douchiness.
Ferris Bueller was replaced by Blossom, which lasted five seasons.
Ferris Bueller was (is?) an asshole; if Broderick's replacement played the roll with smarmy douchiness, he captured the character perfectly.
Man I hate that movie.
Let the tar & feathering begin.
posted by the bricabrac man at 8:35 AM on October 13, 2015 [18 favorites]
Man I hate that movie.
Let the tar & feathering begin.
posted by the bricabrac man at 8:35 AM on October 13, 2015 [18 favorites]
Despite my 15 minutes of Ferris-related Internet fame, I have never seen a single frame of this show, because all I've ever heard is how bad it is.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:36 AM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:36 AM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Fox's Parker Lewis was able to French-kiss his girlfriends, while NBC's Standards and Practices only allowed Ferris to say "go for it" if a bunch of student nurses wanted to stage a fundraising carwash.
In Millennial terms, imagine Hannibal starring William Petersen and Brian Cox, with no homoerotic subtext/text whatsoever. That's Ferris. Bueller. Whoo.
posted by infinitewindow at 8:39 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
In Millennial terms, imagine Hannibal starring William Petersen and Brian Cox, with no homoerotic subtext/text whatsoever. That's Ferris. Bueller. Whoo.
posted by infinitewindow at 8:39 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
It disturbs me that something I dismissed in 1990 as not worth wasting a brain cell on is now being presented as a useful history lesson on Metafilter.
posted by Melismata at 8:48 AM on October 13, 2015 [15 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 8:48 AM on October 13, 2015 [15 favorites]
CaseyB: "Parker Lewis Can't Lose was the real TV version of Ferris Bueller. So much better."
QFT. Parker Lewis way out-ferrised Ferris.
posted by signal at 8:48 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
QFT. Parker Lewis way out-ferrised Ferris.
posted by signal at 8:48 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ferris Bueller was (is?) an asshole; if Broderick's replacement played the roll with smarmy douchiness, he captured the character perfectly.
Man I hate that movie.
I agree, in fact I think Ferris comes across as rather sociopathic. That movie dials pretty much every dumb teen movie trope up to 11 ... from the Rube Goldberg contraptions in the "cool teen room," to the morose and unfun best friend, the antics involving a parent's expensive car, the permissive and gullible parents ...
It's interesting to me, how teens depicted in teen comedies almost always have the self-assurance of adults. To me, it shows a profound imaginative deficit in Hollywood to think that one cannot base a good teen movie around leads with convincingly realistic childishness.
I periodically re-watch Risky Business, which I never fail to enjoy ... it is a much, much better and more artful film about a teenage douchebag.
posted by jayder at 8:49 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Man I hate that movie.
I agree, in fact I think Ferris comes across as rather sociopathic. That movie dials pretty much every dumb teen movie trope up to 11 ... from the Rube Goldberg contraptions in the "cool teen room," to the morose and unfun best friend, the antics involving a parent's expensive car, the permissive and gullible parents ...
It's interesting to me, how teens depicted in teen comedies almost always have the self-assurance of adults. To me, it shows a profound imaginative deficit in Hollywood to think that one cannot base a good teen movie around leads with convincingly realistic childishness.
I periodically re-watch Risky Business, which I never fail to enjoy ... it is a much, much better and more artful film about a teenage douchebag.
posted by jayder at 8:49 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Everyone knows that Ferris Bueller was just a figment of Cameron's imagination anyway.
posted by jozxyqk at 8:52 AM on October 13, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by jozxyqk at 8:52 AM on October 13, 2015 [10 favorites]
It was up against ... MacGyver on ABC.
I was wondering how it was possible that I was completely unaware of this. That explains it.
posted by jeffamaphone at 8:53 AM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
I was wondering how it was possible that I was completely unaware of this. That explains it.
posted by jeffamaphone at 8:53 AM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Let the tar & feathering begin.
You're pissed off because he ditches and doesn't get caught, is that it? Your problem is you. Worry about yourself, not about what your brother does. That's just an opinion. There's somebody you should talk to...
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:53 AM on October 13, 2015 [55 favorites]
You're pissed off because he ditches and doesn't get caught, is that it? Your problem is you. Worry about yourself, not about what your brother does. That's just an opinion. There's somebody you should talk to...
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:53 AM on October 13, 2015 [55 favorites]
One of the parts I miss about the 80s the most is the proliferation of Rube Goldberg-style devices like Ferris's slumbering dummy. We don't see stuff like that (Goonies, Pee Wee, Back to the Future, Ernest, etc) as a short hand for "this character is clever and inventive but lacks focus" any more. Now it's usually some sort of con scheme the main character pulls in the first 15 minutes of the movie.
We used to build stuff in America, dammit!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:59 AM on October 13, 2015 [43 favorites]
We used to build stuff in America, dammit!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:59 AM on October 13, 2015 [43 favorites]
I was wondering how it was possible that I was completely unaware of this. That explains it.
To be the best, you have to beat the best.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 9:00 AM on October 13, 2015
To be the best, you have to beat the best.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 9:00 AM on October 13, 2015
Cool Papa Bell: Despite my 15 minutes of Ferris-related Internet fame, I have never seen a single frame of this show, because all I've ever heard is how bad it is.
To me, learning if it's really as bad as everyone says is the appeal. :D
posted by zarq at 9:01 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
To me, learning if it's really as bad as everyone says is the appeal. :D
posted by zarq at 9:01 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's amazing Aniston survived that wreck.
posted by chavenet at 9:04 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by chavenet at 9:04 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Despite my 15 minutes of Ferris-related Internet fame, I have never seen a single frame of this show, because all I've ever heard is how bad it is.
Please splain
posted by clockzero at 9:04 AM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Please splain
posted by clockzero at 9:04 AM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Please splain
There's a rule -- the first rule, actually -- that you do not talk about it.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:06 AM on October 13, 2015 [7 favorites]
There's a rule -- the first rule, actually -- that you do not talk about it.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:06 AM on October 13, 2015 [7 favorites]
@clockzero, all is splained in the link I posted in my comment above (after not noticing that CPB referenced it earlier in the thread...)
posted by jozxyqk at 9:06 AM on October 13, 2015
posted by jozxyqk at 9:06 AM on October 13, 2015
You're pissed off because he ditches and doesn't get caught, is that it? Your problem is you. Worry about yourself, not about what your brother does. That's just an opinion. There's somebody you should talk to...
I can't speak for bricabrac, but I hate that movie because it's basically like, Isn't it awesome what you can get away with when you have the combined privileges of being white, male, and rich?
posted by the_blizz at 9:16 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I can't speak for bricabrac, but I hate that movie because it's basically like, Isn't it awesome what you can get away with when you have the combined privileges of being white, male, and rich?
posted by the_blizz at 9:16 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
My wife never understood why I got so excited when The Kube showed up on E.R.
You can see The Kube for a split second in the "The Finest Hours" trailer, looking incredibly badass.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 9:20 AM on October 13, 2015
You can see The Kube for a split second in the "The Finest Hours" trailer, looking incredibly badass.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 9:20 AM on October 13, 2015
I can't speak for bricabrac, but I hate that movie because it's basically like, Isn't it awesome what you can get away with when you have the combined privileges of being white, male, and rich?
Ferris Bueller is an unrepentant piece of shit. The movie is still perfect.
posted by 256 at 9:21 AM on October 13, 2015 [7 favorites]
Ferris Bueller is an unrepentant piece of shit. The movie is still perfect.
posted by 256 at 9:21 AM on October 13, 2015 [7 favorites]
Columnist George Will's review. "It is clear that the greatest movie of all time is now showing in theaters everywhere."
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:24 AM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:24 AM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
I don't love Ferris Bueller (the movie) because Ferris. I love it because Jennifer Grey was perfect.
posted by Mchelly at 9:29 AM on October 13, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 9:29 AM on October 13, 2015 [9 favorites]
I thought she wore too much makeup.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:41 AM on October 13, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:41 AM on October 13, 2015 [8 favorites]
JoeZydeco: I thought she wore too much makeup.
As Mchelly said, perfect. Without it, she would have looked…you know, rational.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:49 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
As Mchelly said, perfect. Without it, she would have looked…you know, rational.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:49 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I thought she wore too much makeup.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure 'too much makeup' wasn't a thing in the 80's.
posted by el io at 9:59 AM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
Yeah, I'm pretty sure 'too much makeup' wasn't a thing in the 80's.
posted by el io at 9:59 AM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
Was I the only one that memorized lines from this film?
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:02 AM on October 13, 2015 [16 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:02 AM on October 13, 2015 [16 favorites]
I agree, in fact I think Ferris comes across as rather sociopathic.
The secret is that Ferris Bueller's Day Off was the prequel to American Psycho.
posted by acb at 10:05 AM on October 13, 2015 [10 favorites]
The secret is that Ferris Bueller's Day Off was the prequel to American Psycho.
posted by acb at 10:05 AM on October 13, 2015 [10 favorites]
There's a rule -- the first rule, actually -- that you do not talk about it.
Ah, you're the one who wrote that! I'm very glad I asked because I was about to say some rather pointed things about that interpretation which I will now keep to myself.
posted by clockzero at 10:07 AM on October 13, 2015
Ah, you're the one who wrote that! I'm very glad I asked because I was about to say some rather pointed things about that interpretation which I will now keep to myself.
posted by clockzero at 10:07 AM on October 13, 2015
I imagine Jenniffer Anniston thinking to herself "If I survived Ferris Bueller, I can survive any shitty rom com". Can't prove her wrong.
Other than visually being an early 90s time capsule ("oh god those shirts", said the guy that would probably wear them, if he could find them on Kube sizes), Parker Lewis was still perfectly watchable when it was rerun here some time ago. This was just... bad.
posted by lmfsilva at 10:15 AM on October 13, 2015
Other than visually being an early 90s time capsule ("oh god those shirts", said the guy that would probably wear them, if he could find them on Kube sizes), Parker Lewis was still perfectly watchable when it was rerun here some time ago. This was just... bad.
posted by lmfsilva at 10:15 AM on October 13, 2015
To me, it shows a profound imaginative deficit in Hollywood to think that one cannot base a good teen movie around leads with convincingly realistic childishness.
Breakfast Club.
posted by scalefree at 10:31 AM on October 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
Breakfast Club.
posted by scalefree at 10:31 AM on October 13, 2015 [6 favorites]
Every now and then, I think about what a sequel to Ferris Bueller would look like. College wouldn't be a decent setting - you can do anything in college. The movie is essentially intended to be about wish fulfillment in the face of oppressive authorities (parents, principal, siblings) and who oppresses people in college?
So for this to work, Ferris needs to be an adult white male with all the things that an adult white male thinks are holding him back - boss, wife, kids. The boss fills the principal role, the wife fills the friendly but naive parent role and the kid (s) fill the little sister role. Ferris takes a day off to do fun shot in Chicago with his mistress and high strung co-worker. He totally gets away with it. In the end, the wife is no wiser, the kids enter into a secret and unspoken deal wuthering him about being sneaky and the boss has to ride home on public transport. The one redeeming feature: boss modeled on the Koch brothers so it's satisfying seeing him be knocked around.
Anyhow, that sounds awful but I suspect that's exactly why is never been done. The movie only works because he's in high school. A sequel would have to happen the next day or something.
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:45 AM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
So for this to work, Ferris needs to be an adult white male with all the things that an adult white male thinks are holding him back - boss, wife, kids. The boss fills the principal role, the wife fills the friendly but naive parent role and the kid (s) fill the little sister role. Ferris takes a day off to do fun shot in Chicago with his mistress and high strung co-worker. He totally gets away with it. In the end, the wife is no wiser, the kids enter into a secret and unspoken deal wuthering him about being sneaky and the boss has to ride home on public transport. The one redeeming feature: boss modeled on the Koch brothers so it's satisfying seeing him be knocked around.
Anyhow, that sounds awful but I suspect that's exactly why is never been done. The movie only works because he's in high school. A sequel would have to happen the next day or something.
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:45 AM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
Also, since I'm a masochist and I have the pilot episode on to see what this was all about:
It looks like they MOVED THE SETTING FROM CHICAGO TO SANTA MONICA? What the fuck
posted by cobra_high_tigers at 10:46 AM on October 13, 2015
It looks like they MOVED THE SETTING FROM CHICAGO TO SANTA MONICA? What the fuck
posted by cobra_high_tigers at 10:46 AM on October 13, 2015
It's disconcerting how much Broderick looks the same. It's been 30 years!
posted by Chrysostom at 11:24 AM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 11:24 AM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
So for this to work, Ferris needs to be an adult white male with all the things that an adult white male thinks are holding him back -
If you take out the wife and kids angle, Office Space is Ferris Bueller 2.
posted by dr. boludo at 11:29 AM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
If you take out the wife and kids angle, Office Space is Ferris Bueller 2.
posted by dr. boludo at 11:29 AM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
Parker Lewis is the perfect high school comedy show(*), even to the point of the Ferris Bureller (TV show) cast making a cameo to wonder out loud how Parker Lewis could get away with being so cool.
(*) The Adventures of Pete and Pete is right up there as well, but I'm not sure it really qualifies as a high school comedy, strictly speaking.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 11:37 AM on October 13, 2015
(*) The Adventures of Pete and Pete is right up there as well, but I'm not sure it really qualifies as a high school comedy, strictly speaking.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 11:37 AM on October 13, 2015
Was I the only one that memorized lines from this film?
Don't worry Joe, we all think you're a righteous dude.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:53 AM on October 13, 2015 [9 favorites]
Don't worry Joe, we all think you're a righteous dude.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 11:53 AM on October 13, 2015 [9 favorites]
The secret is that Ferris Bueller's Day Off was the prequel to American Psycho.
American Sickie?
posted by Grangousier at 12:14 PM on October 13, 2015
American Sickie?
posted by Grangousier at 12:14 PM on October 13, 2015
So for this to work, Ferris needs to be an adult white male with all the things that an adult white male thinks are holding him back -
American Beauty?
posted by philip-random at 12:15 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
American Beauty?
posted by philip-random at 12:15 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ah, you're the one who wrote that! I'm very glad I asked because I was about to say some rather pointed things about that interpretation which I will now keep to myself.
Don't leave us hanging. Let's hear it. Out with it!
It's not gospel, and I didn't even invent it. No offense could possibly be taken.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:46 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Don't leave us hanging. Let's hear it. Out with it!
It's not gospel, and I didn't even invent it. No offense could possibly be taken.
Well, first off, it's completely at odds with the spirit of the movie. FBDO is about very mild rebellion, not being a dull chump, enjoying life even when you're supposed to be going about your drudgery in an orderly fashion; it's about breaking out of the strictures of your life, so in an emotional sense, one could say it's about joy and emancipation.
So if the whole thing is just unrealized wish fulfillment taking place in Cameron's head, it's about the futility of hoping for some kind of emancipation from the things that bore us, waste our lives, make us suffer. That just seems perverse and sad to me. Narrative twists are like driving: sure, an unexpected turn can be extremely surprising, but that doesn't mean you're going anywhere interesting.
posted by clockzero at 1:32 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's not gospel, and I didn't even invent it. No offense could possibly be taken.
Well, first off, it's completely at odds with the spirit of the movie. FBDO is about very mild rebellion, not being a dull chump, enjoying life even when you're supposed to be going about your drudgery in an orderly fashion; it's about breaking out of the strictures of your life, so in an emotional sense, one could say it's about joy and emancipation.
So if the whole thing is just unrealized wish fulfillment taking place in Cameron's head, it's about the futility of hoping for some kind of emancipation from the things that bore us, waste our lives, make us suffer. That just seems perverse and sad to me. Narrative twists are like driving: sure, an unexpected turn can be extremely surprising, but that doesn't mean you're going anywhere interesting.
posted by clockzero at 1:32 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
That's interesting! I would never have read it as futility, but I can see how one could.
Virtually all of the movies that feature a character inside his own head or ones that have imaginary friends are often about breaking out, discarding the need for the fantasy. Walter Mitty really does become the hero. The Narrator kills Tyler Durden and comes back to being himself ("You met me at a very strange time in my life"). John Nash learns to live with the voices in his head, rather than letting them control him.
That's how I see Cameron when he smashes the car and the music swells and he insists on taking the blame. So, the opposite of futility and finally the start of real growth.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:56 PM on October 13, 2015
Virtually all of the movies that feature a character inside his own head or ones that have imaginary friends are often about breaking out, discarding the need for the fantasy. Walter Mitty really does become the hero. The Narrator kills Tyler Durden and comes back to being himself ("You met me at a very strange time in my life"). John Nash learns to live with the voices in his head, rather than letting them control him.
That's how I see Cameron when he smashes the car and the music swells and he insists on taking the blame. So, the opposite of futility and finally the start of real growth.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:56 PM on October 13, 2015
God. Whoever linked that George Will review of Ferris Bueller's Day Off ugh, thanks for nothing. It forced me for just a microsecond to contemplate what the meager joys and disappointments of going through life BEING GEORGE WILL must be. I want to give my mind a scalding hot shower now.
posted by newdaddy at 2:20 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by newdaddy at 2:20 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I thought she wore too much makeup.
My sister wears too much makeup.
posted by chimaera at 2:21 PM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
My sister wears too much makeup.
posted by chimaera at 2:21 PM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
In many ways I think casting is what redeemed the cinematic Ferris Bueller's character. Even in the movie, boredom has curdled many of his virtues into arrogance.
The most prominent example is when he castigates Cameron for messing up the phone call to the principle then twists Cameron's guilt to convince him to steal his father's car. Whether opportunistic or premeditated, it is somewhat chilling. It also illustrates the character's limitations. Ultimately, Ferris is convincing because he believes the urban legend that you can run miles back on an odometer by running the car in reverse. This naivete sets up the climactic moment in the garage.
What makes the movie interesting is that Ferris' Machiavellian potential is revealed, but his ebullient emotional life belies his disinterested machinations. He has the skills necessary to become Patrick Bateman or Gordon Gekko, but he hasn't crossed the threshold that makes him irredeemable. In the TV version, one could easily see the character progressing down that path. TV Ferris hasn't been put to the test, but it's clear he would be found wanting.
Movie Ferris floats in a cloud of sprezzatura, mugs for the camera, and plots with the audience like the best movie sociopath, but he takes no pleasure in harm. It is the affect that the character is played with, not his overt action that make him likable.
Then there is the car. Ferris understands Cameron well enough to manipulate him, but Ferris, whose malaise is boredom, can't empathize with the raw pain that Cameron feels. At the critical moment in the garage we see Ferris, who has bridled at banality of privilege, suddenly helpless in the face of suffering which cannot be continued.
Ferris is distraught because he has made a mistake which has imperiled his friend. He doesn't realize that Cameron has been emancipated by the experience. Ferris desperately grasps at ways to return to normal, while Cameron paradoxically spirals out of control and toward the possibility of happiness.
Its a really powerful scene, and one that hinges on the audience's estimation of Ferris' inner life. If we believe that he had used the story about the odometer to trick Cameron, it would play out differently for the audience. Similarly, if we believed that Ferris' offer to take the fall for Cameron was simply a dodge to delay judgement until he could think up a new plan, the audience would rightly see him as an asshole.
The script decides the first question for us, Ferris wouldn't have set the car up to run in reverse if he didn't believe it would work. Like interaction with the garage attendant, Ferris has failed because he is naive.
The second point is Movie Ferris' crucible. He has and will continue to do everything possible to not get caught. He may have organized his plan so that he would take the fall for any mishaps, but he clearly didn't intend to let that happen. Does the audience really believe he would take responsibility to save his friend? If they do believe he is for a moment hopeless and helpless and sincere, it has everything to do with how the part was played.
posted by ethansr at 2:25 PM on October 13, 2015 [15 favorites]
The most prominent example is when he castigates Cameron for messing up the phone call to the principle then twists Cameron's guilt to convince him to steal his father's car. Whether opportunistic or premeditated, it is somewhat chilling. It also illustrates the character's limitations. Ultimately, Ferris is convincing because he believes the urban legend that you can run miles back on an odometer by running the car in reverse. This naivete sets up the climactic moment in the garage.
What makes the movie interesting is that Ferris' Machiavellian potential is revealed, but his ebullient emotional life belies his disinterested machinations. He has the skills necessary to become Patrick Bateman or Gordon Gekko, but he hasn't crossed the threshold that makes him irredeemable. In the TV version, one could easily see the character progressing down that path. TV Ferris hasn't been put to the test, but it's clear he would be found wanting.
Movie Ferris floats in a cloud of sprezzatura, mugs for the camera, and plots with the audience like the best movie sociopath, but he takes no pleasure in harm. It is the affect that the character is played with, not his overt action that make him likable.
Then there is the car. Ferris understands Cameron well enough to manipulate him, but Ferris, whose malaise is boredom, can't empathize with the raw pain that Cameron feels. At the critical moment in the garage we see Ferris, who has bridled at banality of privilege, suddenly helpless in the face of suffering which cannot be continued.
Ferris is distraught because he has made a mistake which has imperiled his friend. He doesn't realize that Cameron has been emancipated by the experience. Ferris desperately grasps at ways to return to normal, while Cameron paradoxically spirals out of control and toward the possibility of happiness.
Its a really powerful scene, and one that hinges on the audience's estimation of Ferris' inner life. If we believe that he had used the story about the odometer to trick Cameron, it would play out differently for the audience. Similarly, if we believed that Ferris' offer to take the fall for Cameron was simply a dodge to delay judgement until he could think up a new plan, the audience would rightly see him as an asshole.
The script decides the first question for us, Ferris wouldn't have set the car up to run in reverse if he didn't believe it would work. Like interaction with the garage attendant, Ferris has failed because he is naive.
The second point is Movie Ferris' crucible. He has and will continue to do everything possible to not get caught. He may have organized his plan so that he would take the fall for any mishaps, but he clearly didn't intend to let that happen. Does the audience really believe he would take responsibility to save his friend? If they do believe he is for a moment hopeless and helpless and sincere, it has everything to do with how the part was played.
posted by ethansr at 2:25 PM on October 13, 2015 [15 favorites]
I thought this would be one of those internet things where somebody cuts up existing footage to make it look like a bad 90's TV show. And then it wasn't, and I'm horrified to learn that this exists.
Might as well take this moment to pitch my Ferris Bueller spinoff movie, which follows the parking garage guys (played by Key & Peele) on the even more incredible adventure they have while borrowing the car. You're welcome, Hollywood.
posted by davejh at 6:11 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Might as well take this moment to pitch my Ferris Bueller spinoff movie, which follows the parking garage guys (played by Key & Peele) on the even more incredible adventure they have while borrowing the car. You're welcome, Hollywood.
posted by davejh at 6:11 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think most of us have memorized lines from that movie.
"Cameron is so tight that if you stuck a diamond up his ass, in two weeks you'd have a diamond."
Exhibit A that just rolled out of my head.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:16 PM on October 13, 2015
"Cameron is so tight that if you stuck a diamond up his ass, in two weeks you'd have a diamond."
Exhibit A that just rolled out of my head.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:16 PM on October 13, 2015
Contrarian Blogger Attacks Much-Beloved Pop Culture Item
posted by Chrysostom at 8:23 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 8:23 PM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
My 80's movie mashup has Bueller and Cameron and Tyrone (or whatever her masculinized name was) dementedly cannibalizing radioactive corpses after a nuclear holocaust has rendered truancy moot: Feral Bueller's Day After.
posted by Chitownfats at 8:54 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Chitownfats at 8:54 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
That George Will review is something else. He's someone whose schtick has become so predictable and ossified that it's disorienting to see him doing something as outside-the-box-of-his-schtick as writing about FBDO.
And wow, the overall aura of oldness that review has. I feel like there's a real historical distance evident just in the style of writing alone.
posted by jayder at 8:56 PM on October 13, 2015
And wow, the overall aura of oldness that review has. I feel like there's a real historical distance evident just in the style of writing alone.
posted by jayder at 8:56 PM on October 13, 2015
grumpybear69, I had no idea that existed. And I was a real fan of Party Girl the movie. That was almost a parody of "TV execs ruining a thing." That was amazingly horrible.
posted by queensissy at 9:27 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by queensissy at 9:27 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Virtually all of the movies that feature a character inside his own head or ones that have imaginary friends are often about breaking out, discarding the need for the fantasy.
Counterpoint: Brazil. In the end the fantasy is all he has left.
posted by scalefree at 9:47 PM on October 13, 2015
Counterpoint: Brazil. In the end the fantasy is all he has left.
posted by scalefree at 9:47 PM on October 13, 2015
Free post idea, zarq: the MULTIPLE tv versions of Animal House.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:48 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 9:48 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Counterpoint: Brazil. In the end the fantasy is all he has left.
Indeed ... but ...
I'll point out that the hero, Sam, actually does have a real success and growth a few scenes earlier -- remember, he falsifies Jill's records, listing her as deceased. They believe they've escaped and get romantic ("Care for a little necrophilia?"). Sam pushes his old life aside and wins!
But it's a false climax. He's arrested and tortured and that's when he retreats back to the fantasy world he previously discarded, because yes, now it's all he has left.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:47 PM on October 14, 2015
Indeed ... but ...
I'll point out that the hero, Sam, actually does have a real success and growth a few scenes earlier -- remember, he falsifies Jill's records, listing her as deceased. They believe they've escaped and get romantic ("Care for a little necrophilia?"). Sam pushes his old life aside and wins!
But it's a false climax. He's arrested and tortured and that's when he retreats back to the fantasy world he previously discarded, because yes, now it's all he has left.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:47 PM on October 14, 2015
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My wife never understood why I got so excited when The Kube showed up on E.R.
posted by CaseyB at 8:33 AM on October 13, 2015 [29 favorites]