One of the reasons that Ferris Bueller’s Day Off has managed to maintain a hold on the public imagination in a way that even bigger 1980’s teen comedies have something to do with the fact that its structure allows for a variety of theorizing on what is really going on here. Exactly how does an average teenage kid who even states flat out his preference for a car over a computer manage to account for every possible flaw in his plan? More to the point: not just account for it, but create a successful strategy to counter each of those potential obstructions?
One of the most recent theories to emerge is one of the most wildly speculative while remaining logically coherent. In 2018, a Reddit user posted an imaginative yet very precisely considered proposal that Ferris Bueller has been trapped in a Groundhog Day-like time loop. However, unlike that film which is all about the process of the learning, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is about the triumph of having learned. What we are seeing when we watch the film is the very last day that Bueller has been trapped in the time loop; the day when he finally figures out all the angles and makes it back to his bed in which he will wake up on a different day tomorrow. The kicker of this theory is also the kicker of the post as the writer reminds us that when the Buellers ask Ferris how he got to be such a perfect kid, his answer aligns perfectly:
“Years of practice.”
What makes this interpretation so engaging is that just about any flaw that can be applied to it can easily be enough explained by simply engaging “movie logic.” In other words, there does not seem to any practically logical flaw that would cause this idea to collapse upon its own internal coherence. Whether this idea truly originated with the poster or whether he developed some ideas discovered elsewhere, whomever concocted is to be congratulated because not just because of its truly impressive imaginative dimension, but because if nothing else it provides fans with a way to watch the movie yet for the umpteenth time as though seeing it for the first time. That is part of the magic of analyzing a film—of really thinking about it in concrete and literal terms rather than just dismissing it as a meaningless fairy tale. Those who invest the time to sit through a film and then never really give it much thought afterward do themselves no favors and miss out on one of the most entertaining aspect of modern-day technology.
Still, that doesn’t mean that the time loop theory should actually be applied as intentional. And to his credit, the poster does even attempt to do so. His analysis is contextual; he is simply putting together evidence based only on what is seem to arrive at a possible explanation for unanswered, unclear or ambiguous elements. For instance: who is Ferris really talking to when he addresses the camera? Obviously, there is no camera crew there, so what the heck? The time loop theory is solid, but too complicated. What actually is taking place here seems far less complicated:
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a wish fulfillment. What teenager hasn’t felt at one time or another like a camera is following them around? (In fact, if the film were remade, Ferris would probably be livestreaming his entire day off because part of the wish inherent in the film has been fulfilled with the arrival of social media.) What teenager hasn’t dreamed of taking a day off from school and having a magical adventure happen? What teenager hasn’t at one point or another dreamed of getting revenge a possession that a parent seems to care about more than they care about their child? What teenager hasn’t fantasized about creating some kind of perfectly functioning Rube Goldberg-esque plan to distract everyone in order to get what they want?
Which is not to suggest that the wish-fulfillment of the film is applicable to every high school student. Ferris may have a dream to steal the focus from a parade, but that is not likely quite as universal as wanting to go joyriding in one of the most expensive cards on the road. Many students would likely choose staying in school rather than skipping for the purpose of going to a baseball game. But that’s not the point. The point isn’t the actual adventures that Ferris leads his friends on; this is a wish all about the journey, not the destination.
Adolescence is a notoriously narcissistic, self-centered, fantasy-driven period of life that is increasingly fueled by the entertainment industry. In retrospect, Ferris Bueller is living the life a 21st century high school kid for whom social media has offered the tools to transform that narcissistic wish to be the star of their first “show” into reality. When Ferris turns to the camera that isn’t really there to address it, it’s not a demonstration of a delusion; it’s just a guy doing with only his imagination what millions and millions of teenagers do for real every single day.
Pretending as if a few dozen out of a few thousand followers who are actually paying attention to their every move are the eyes of the entire world.
