Oh, he's very popular, Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, d*ckheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.
There is enormous support for Ferris throughout the high school; every student seems deeply worried about his being sick. Mr Rooney cannot understand his appeal. Grace, a woman whose appearance does not suggest that she has any knowledge of the sayings of the day, explains that he is popular with each different group and clique in the school, despite not being a member of any of them. He is a "righteous dude" - late eighties parlance for being a really awesome person and thoroughly great human being.
The key to faking out the parents is the clammy hands. It's a good non-specific symptom. I'm a big believer in it. A lot of people will tell you that a good phony fever is a dead lock, but, uh... you get a nervous mother, you could wind up in a doctor's office. That's worse than school. You fake a stomach cramp, ad when you're bent over, moaning and wailing, you lick your palms. It's a little childish and stupid, but then, so is high school.
This is an illuminating explanation from Ferris because it explains so much of what drives him and also so much of the point of the movie itself.
Firstly, it tells us that Ferris is a strategist. He has investigated the best ways in which to fake a sickness and considered every eventuality, to make sure that his plans are not derailed. He has researched, asked questions, taken opinions, and put it all together to come up with the best plan imaginable with the single-mindedness of a war general planning a campaign. It also shows us how smart Ferris is and tells us that he is most likely very, vey bored and unchallenged as a senior in high school.
It also explains why he is toying with his principle; he has already mentally and emotionally graduated from high school even though he is still technically a student there. He finds the entire experience childish nowadays, and so whilst he knows that faking an illness is childish too, he is merely using one childish thing to get out of another childish thing, and highlighting the irony of getting into trouble for doing it.
Boy in police station : There's someone you should talk to.
Jeanie : If you say Ferris Bueller, you lose a testicle
Boy : Oh, you know him?
Jeanie is sick and tired of the legend that her brother has become. She envies his smooth success at outwitting authority figures; she envies the ease with which he gets away with things that she would never get away with; she hates that he wins at life so naturally. Now, here she is, meeting a boy she has never seen before in her life, and the advice he has for her is to seek out the one person she resents more than anyone else in the world. Ferris' fame and popularity is a constant source of annoyance ot her, and the fact that a complete stranger knows him, and knows of his skill at playing the system and winning, only serves to increase her irritation.
