As summer is steadily approaching for us all, we experience something that is synonymous with summer: the feeling of freedom and the free time we get away from school.
While John Hughes’ 1986 classic “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is not set during summer, the film still perfectly encapsulates the freedom that we get during the break between school years, with all its benefits of neglecting responsibility and doing whatever comes to mind. In many respects, Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) and his group of friends who decide to play hooky and skip school cultivate a nostalgic feeling in us all. We can all relate to wanting badly to do the same and have a day to ourselves.
For those who haven’t had the privilege of watching Bueller during his escape from school for the day, here’s a summary: he finds a creative way to get out of going to class and uses the day to do whatever comes to mind with his friends. They get into all sorts of trouble and do a good job of displaying the type of fun and exciting adventures that we all want to have during the summer. The film emphasizes the freedom that everyone feels when transitioning from school to summer break, and the willingness we have to do anything and everything to make that summer the most memorable one to date.
We’ve all had these summers. The summers that you wish would never end. The summers that seem filled with adventure, as if anything were possible. The summers that you will never forget. Bueller’s day off from school is exactly that for him and his friends: a day off to do whatever they please and to discover what the city of Chicago has to offer. They make sure to go to a baseball game, take a joy ride in their parents car and even go to the art institute. How they had time for this all in one day I can never understand, but nonetheless the movie presents the audience with an ideal day off — as if it were something we all could participate in.
Despite this escape from reality that Ferris and his buddies indulge in, the looming fear of responsibility clouds the group during all their adventures. At the end of the day, they will all have to go to bed and wake up the next day and face the reality that every day cannot be a day off and instead of freedom, they must dive back into their responsibilities. This is a bitter sweet sentiment for the group and for the audience as well, as it reminds us that even after all this fun, we must eventually snap back to reality.
However, this doesn’t mean we have to forget the fun times we had. The memories the group made during their day off were indispensable, and they show that it’s nice to let loose every once in a while. The group spends the whole day making fun of adults and pretending to act like adults but ultimately have resentment towards the adults because they are the ones stopping them from being totally free. They are also, however, what the group of friends will inevitably turn into.
The conflict between freedom and responsibility is apparent in this film and it shows the viewer just how separate those two ideas are. When we are choosing to be responsible in our lives it is often the case that we neglect that freedom and choose to give it up for the sake of our livelihoods. Throughout the whole film, Bueller is doing the opposite, choosing to indulge in his freedom and shirking his responsibilities. I often find myself doing the same thing, constantly chasing that freedom in the midst of responsibilities knowing that, eventually, I will have to go back to the monotonous daily grind that we have all grown accustomed to.
The reason people have grown so fond of Ferris Bueller’s day off isn’t necessarily just because of the freedom of responsibilities that the film presents to the audience. It’s because of the characters. The adventures themselves. Even something so simple as the idea of using a sick day. When we watch Ferris Bueller, we are not watching it as a thought provoking film. We are, in fact, watching it because it is the exact opposite. It is a fun, lighthearted movie that is meant to please the audience — and for that reason alone it has generated fans that enjoy it for what it is.
So during this summer, live it up! Go on adventures, make memories, maybe even go for a joy ride (although I don’t particularly recommend this one) — but keep in mind that we will all have to return to our responsibilities. That’s not a bad thing. If summer lasted forever then it wouldn’t be summer anymore. That’s what makes them so special.