I’ve noticed that more commonly accepted or documented theories seem to be popular at Lost Narratives (using well-known or cult movies also seems to be of more interest to viewers). For this reason I will take a moment to explore John Hughes’ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and the belief held by some fans that Ferris is not real but is in fact a figment of Cameron’s sub-conscious. There are too numerous a site to reference the original theory to, so I will link the YouTube video by “ClassyHands” that ties the premise to Tyler Durden From David Fincher’s Fight Club (1999).
Ferris Bueller is a flake when it comes to his schooling. Though an obviously smart teen he has hidden issues of truancy from his parents. On his day off he concocts a plan to spring his girlfriend, Sloan, from school, steal Cameron’s father’s Ferrari and take the three of them on a trip. It is the reserved character Cameron who ends up being the emotional focal-point of the film, feigning suicide and eventually destroying the car in a fit of rage.
Cameron is a hypochondriac with possible social anxiety. Ferris is outgoing, charming, and everyone loves him. Ferris has a beautiful girlfriend and a family that adores him. It is unlikely that the two would be friends, much less best friends. their situation conveniently brings them together: They are both faking illness to play hooky from school.
In many ways Ferris is the exact opposite of Cameron. It could also be said that Ferris is exactly the way that Cameron wants to be. In Fight Club Tyler explicitly states to Edward Norton’s character the nature of their bisected personality.
“All the ways you wish you could be, that’s me. I look like you wanna look… I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not. “
Note the scene where Cameron struggles with the day off, leading Ferris to explain all the fun they had and the things they did. Like Tyler Durden, fans claim Ferris is a creation of the psyche to help Cameron grow and become the person he wants to be.
When the three discover the mileage on the Ferrari has increased significantly Cameron has a meltdown and drops himself to the bottom of a pool. It is Ferris who saves him and at that moment Cameron accepts a new way of life. He wants the pretty girl, his family to love him, to be outgoing and charismatic. In the end he destroys his father’s Ferrari, both as a symbol of aggression toward his father’s misguided love and a farewell to his sheltered life.
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