JOHN HUGHES' DEPICTION OF THE IMPACTS OF CLASS AND FAMILY ON SUBURBAN TEENS



THE MOVIE


The movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," written and directed by the king of 
the 80's teen movie, John Hughes, follows the adventures of one suburban 
teen during a day of playing hooky from high school. The comedy stars 
Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller, a high school senior who feigns sick 
and tricks his parents into letting him stay home from class. This is much 
to the dismay of his sister Jeanie who spends most of her day attempting 
to get Ferris in trouble for cutting school. Instead of staying in bed he 
takes a whirlwind trip into and around Chicago along with his best friend 
Cameron and his girlfriend Sloane. Along with other places, they go to a 
major league baseball game, the Chicago Institute of Art, a fancy 
restaurant for lunch, the Sears Tower, the stock exchange, and join in a 
German-American Day parade. Without permission, they borrow Cameron's 
dad's very expensive and seldom used car to take into the city. After a 
parking attendant runs up miles on the car their perfect day begins to 
fall apart. This is especially true for Cameron, who has major emotional 
and psychological problems stemming from his relationship with his father. 
Despite the efforts of Jeanie and high school dean, Mr. Rooney, to catch 
him in his deception, Ferris succeeds in making it home on time from his 
"day off." He successfully tricks his parents and the school system into 
believing that he was indeed too ill to attend class that day. 


In the movie, Hughes depicts many of the results living in an affluent 
suburban neighborhood has on its teen residents. He especially makes clear 
his view of how negative the impact of family and class can be on a teen. 
Through the characters of Ferris, Cameron and Jeanie, Hughes expresses two 
important statements about his view of suburbia. First, he shows that 
parents in suburbia often care more about material goods than about their 
children. Additionally he shows that children deprived of attention from 
their parents, no matter how 'good' they are, often act out to get that 
needed attention. The substitution of material goods for authentic 
parental nurturing and attention proves detrimental to the lives of the 
teens. 



THE TYPICAL AMERICAN SUBURB: OUTSIDE CHICAGO 


Though much of the movie takes place in Chicago, Ferris and his friends 
live in a nameless Chicago suburb, similar to Oak Hill or Highland Park. 
An upper middle class area, the viewer gets their impressions of the 
suburb in three ways. The scenes that take place in the high school Ferris 
attends show the stereotypical teen residents of the suburb. The sequence 
when Ferris runs through the backyards in his neighborhood trying to beat 
his parents home gives the viewer a feel for the physical attributes of 
the town. Hughes shows typical suburbanites sunning themselves, 
picnicking, barbecuing, raking leaves, and kids playing near swing-sets, 
thus setting a scene of his view of 'typical' suburbia. Finally, the 
attitudes the main characters have about various issues show us how Hughes 
feels about effect of the suburban lifestyle has on teens. He makes 
general statements about the role class and family play in the lives of 
the teens that live there. 


The teens shown in the movie are extremely bored in school (which is run 
by a bumbling idiot who spends more time trying to catch Ferris cutting 
class than he does attending to school business). These teens all fit 
neatly into a category. There are, "sportos, ... motorheads, geeks, sluts, 
bloods, waistoids, dweebies, [and] dickheads" going to Ferris' school. Few 
people in the movie are true individuals, even Ferris' girlfriend who is 
on screen for much of the movie has no outstanding personality. The people 
in the town all seem to know each other's business, even if it is in a 
superficial and detached way. A good example of the transfer of 
information that goes on between these self-concerned teens is seen when 
one teen explains Ferris' absence to a teacher. She says, "Um, he's sick. 
My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this 
guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out 
at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious." 


The norm in Ferris' world is to attend college. It is a given. In the 
beginning of the movie, Ferris tells his parents he needs to go to school 
so he can go on to college and lead a fruitful life. In this suburb one 
equates going to college to automatic financial success which is in turn 
equated with happiness. In the movie, and in Hughes vision of suburbia in 
may of his other films, people tend to focus on acquiring goods as a means 
to increase their class status. The more Ferris has the happier he seems. 
Later in the movie, Sloane and Cameron discuss their plans for after high 
school. They both state that while they plan to attend college they have 
no idea what they will study. Also, they agree that they really don't want 
to do anything. They have been used to sucking money off their parents and 
don't necessarily have any ambition to do much more than just attend 
school in order to graduate and move on to a daily job. While they don't 
have any inclination to get out into the real world, their parents have 
apparently instilled in them the middle class value of the work ethic. 
Ferris and Cameron both work during the summers, showing that their 
parents haven't given them a completely free ride. 


The families depicted in the movie are stereotypical ones. All are 
nuclear, having married parents and one or more children living at home. 
While this is a positive family image, upon deeper examination, few of the 
families are very healthy. Parents and other adults are depicted as 
gullible, superficial, money driven and self centered. Children have 
little respect for their parents, who pay little meaningful attention to 
their kid's lives. 



FERRIS: THE TYPICAL TEEN IN SUBURBIA 


Ferris Bueller is the stereotypical teen in suburbia. He leads a charmed 
life, spewing nuggets of wisdom to the audience like, "Life move pretty 
fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss 
it." He's not too worried about school, his parents seem love him, and he 
has a beautiful girlfriend. Ferris is well provided for by his parents but 
he still wants more material things. He spends much of the movie lamenting 
the fact that he doesn't have a car. He makes it clear that he cares only 
about himself and his own little section of suburbia. A good example of 
this is the statement he makes about what he was supposed to do in school 
the day the movie takes place, "I do have a test today, that wasn't 
bullshit. It's on European Socialism. I mean, really, what's the point? 
I'm not European, I don't plan on being European, so who gives a crap if 
their socialists? They could be fascist anarchists but it still doesn't 
change the fact that I don't own a car." He cares only about his socio-
economic class, the rules governing him and his material possessions or 
lack there of. Ferris even views the city as somewhere special to visit 
but not to live in. 


His parents have taught him to value material goods above most else in his 
life. He lies, cheats and manipulates so he can spend a day indulging in 
the better things in life and feels no remorse about his immoral behavior 
in the end. He is very unhappy in getting anything less than what he asks 
for. "I asked for a car, I got a computer. How's that for being born under 
a bad sign?" he whines. Ferris isn't happy being given any old expensive 
gift, he expects to get exactly what he wants. Also, he never considers 
acquiring these wanted items for himself, he expects his parents to hand 
them to him. Ferris spends money at will, on various social activities and 
tips for service but for some reason he can't (or won't) save up the money 
to buy a car. He states that he'll work during the summer in a way that 
implies that it is not a new activity for him. So though he works, he 
refuses to save his earnings, or is unable to manage his money well enough 
to buy his own car. His parents seem fine with this, and even regret not 
having been able to get him a car yet. 


The fact that Ferris is handed (pretty much) everything he asks for on a 
silver platter causes him to seemingly care only for himself. He endlessly 
insults, abuses and manipulates Cameron, whom he considers to be his best 
friend, rarely considering the impacts his actions will have on Cameron's 
delicate mental state. Ferris believes everything he does to be wonderful. 
After playing awful clarinet he brags to the camera "Never had one 
lesson." Regardless of his talent or, in this case, lack there of, he 
believes he doesn't need to be taught anything and can do anything he 
wants. He jumps up on a float and takes over the entertainment during a 
German Pride parade through Chicago, never considering if it is 
appropriate or even legal for him to be up there. Ferris has been brought 
up to value only his wants and needs and to believe that it is all right 
to use any means to attain them. 


Ferris has a positive view of the institution of family based on his own 
home life. He is eager to marry Sloane as soon as she will let him. He 
does not seriously consider the implications of marriage at such a young 
age. "I used to think that my family was the only one that had weirdness 
in it. That used to worry me. Then I saw how Cameron's family functioned. 
His home life is really twisted" Ferris says. Ferris identifies his own 
family as imperfect, even though they are portrayed as the typical 
American suburban family. Hughes feels everyone considers his or her own 
family to be dysfunctional to a point. Ferris also realizes that Cameron's 
family is much worse off than his own and recognizes the very serious 
emotional implications that being raised in that environment has had on 
his friend. Also though he is materialistic and self-centered, Ferris 
seems to have an understanding about the importance of family values. He 
maintains that Cameron's Dad's priorities are very "far out of whack" and 
he has nothing but contempt for the man. While Ferris seems to respect the 
institution of family for the most part he has no problem walking all over 
his family and taking advantage of his parents on a regular basis. 



JEANIE: THE NEGLECTED 'GOOD' CHILD


Jeanie Bueller, Ferris' sister, is very close in age to him and lives in 
the same picturesque suburb as he does, but her view of life differs much 
from his. Neglected by her parents, she is very resentful of the attention 
her brother gets. The first few lines the audience hears her say occur 
right after she finds out her brother will be allowed to stay home from 
school sick. She complains to her parents, "If I was bleeding out my eyes 
you guys would make me go to school, this is so unfair!" and "That's it! I 
want out of this family!" It is immediately made clear by Hughes that she 
feels neglected and treated unequally than her brother. Jeanie copes with 
her situation much in the same way Brenda Patimkin does in Philip Roth's 
novella Goodbye Columbus. She acts in ways that she would not if she was 
getting attention from her parents. This behavior includes cutting school 
and making out with a 'bad boy' she meets in a police station. Though her 
actions elicit negative attention from her parents, it is still attention 
nevertheless, something she is greatly in need of. 


Jeanie is given a car and other material items from her parents but she is 
not made to feel that they care about her. She sees so much attention 
bestowed on her brother, the 'bad' boy who lies to his parents and cuts 
school, while she, the 'good' or as she describes it "straight" child is 
neglected emotionally. Even her friends pay more attention to her 
brother's state of health than to what is going on in her life. She feels 
like no one cares about her, only Ferris. This makes Jeanie bitter and 
emotionally shut-off. The Bueller's try and substitute material goods for 
emotional ones. They don't care about her reasons for calling the police 
or for cutting school and whether those reasons are valid or not. Rather, 
they are troubled that as a result of her actions they will not be able to 
buy Ferris a car as soon as they would like. Her parents completely miss 
the fact that Jeanie's actions are a cry for attention from them. They are 
at wits end over their daughter's behavior and the fact that she caused 
them to lose money. He father even sighs, "Maybe we should shoot her." 


Like Brenda Patimkin in Goodbye Columbus, she feels that no one pays any 
attention to her. Her parents give her a car, but don't give her emotional 
support, where as they don't give Ferris what he wants, but shower him 
with positive attention. She only seems happy and positive when she meets 
and hooks up with a 'bad boy' from the wrong side of the tracks, while at 
the police station. He is the first person in the movie who takes an 
interest in Jeanie's situation, and not her brother's. This stranger 
reveals her that maybe her problem is not her brother as she claims, but 
her own life and how she is treated by her parents. Jeanie smiles only 
after making out with this guy and being caught by her mother. She then 
goes on to save Ferris from being caught by Mr. Rooney. She shows a 
complete transformation in her treatment of her brother. She spends the 
majority of the movie trying to get him caught cutting school, but when 
she has her chance she saves the day. Her short relationship with this bad 
boy, and his comments about her situation, help her realize that her 
problem is not that her brother is able to cut school when she can't, but 
that she feels neglected. 



CAMERON: THE EMOTIONALLY BATTERED CHILD


Cameron Frye, Ferris's best friend, is the character in the movie with the 
most emotional problems. He is depressed and a hypochondriac because of 
his severely dysfunctional home life. Cameron is utterly whipped, and 
completely unable to stick up for himself for the better part of the 
movie. Ferris describes him to the audience saying, "Pardon my French but 
Cameron is so tight that if you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, in two 
weeks you would have a diamond." "I'm dying," Cam says at one point. This 
statement is truer about his mental situation than he intends for it to 
be. Helping to express the notion that Cameron's parents are extremely 
aloof and uninterested in their son's life they never appear in the movie. 
Although the audience never sees the couple, we understand a great deal 
about them and their relationship with their son. Cameron continuously 
exhibits extremely low self-esteem and the other emotional problems as a 
result of the treatment he receives from his parents until the end of the 
movie when he makes a transformation. After being confronted with having 
to tell his father he borrowed the car, he realizes how badly his father 
mistreats him and decides to deal with it. He makes a decision to take 
control of his life and confront his father. Through Cameron the audience 
sees most clearly the impacts that both class and family life have on a 
teen in suburbia. 


Cameron is the character in the movie that perhaps comes from the 
wealthiest home. Ferris describes Cameron's house and childhood in the 
following way: "His home life is really twisted. That's why he's sick all 
the time. It really bothers him. He's the only guy I know who feels better 
when he's sick. If I had to live in his house I'd probably pray for 
disease too. The place is like a museum. It's very beautiful, and your not 
allowed to touch anything. Can you appreciate what it must have been like 
for Cameron to be in that joint as a baby?" His parents provide for all of 
Cameron's material needs. On the contrary, none of his emotional needs are 
addressed. His parents, although they could afford it, do not give Cameron 
the best goods they can for some reason. He drives a, "piece of shit" car 
while his father owns a "1961 Ferrari 250GT California." Not only did 
Cam's father invest a good deal of money in this car, he spent three years 
of his time restoring it. Cameron's parents put their own material wants 
above their son's material and emotional needs in terms of priority. They 
are driven by money to the point that Cameron feels inferior to a car in 
his father's eyes. 


Expressing much dissatisfaction about his relationship with his parents 
throughout the movie, Cameron never says one positive thing about them and 
seems to fixate on their ineptitude as both spouses and parents. One of 
Cam's first lines in the movie addresses the fact that his Mom is out of 
town, "Unfortunately she's not staying," he laments to Ferris. He knows 
that his parents don't trust him, even though it is implied that he has 
never committed any horrible deed that would prompt the loss of their 
trust. His skeptical attitude about the institution of marriage is summed 
up in one exchange that takes place after Ferris asks Sloane to give him 
one good reason why they shouldn't get married immediately. Cameron 
interjects, "I'll give you two good reasons why not. My mother and my 
father. They're married and they hate each other, you've seen them. Am I 
right?" Ferris: "So what." Cameron: "It's like that car, he loves the car, 
he hates his wife." At the end of the movie, Cameron accidentally destroys 
his father's car. Instead of letting Ferris take the rap for him he makes 
a cathartic decision saying, "It's gonna be good" and "We'll sit down and 
talk." Cameron implies that he has never sat down and had a heart to heart 
with his father before, and that that it takes a major catastrophe for his 
father to be willing to do so. His monologue describes his feelings about 
his father and his new attitude. 


I gotta take a stand. I am bullshit! I put up with everything. My old man 
pushes me around. I never did anything. Well he's not the problem; I'm the 
problem. I gotta take a stand, I gotta take a stand against him. I'm not 
gonna sit on my ass as the events that effect me unfold to determine the 
course of my life. I'm gonna take a stand. I'm gonna defend it. I'm so 
sick of his shit I can't stand him and I hate this goddamn car! Who do you 
love? Who do ya love? Ya love a car. Son of a bitch!


Although stereotypically suburbia is portrayed as a positive environment 
in which to raise children, Cameron is impacted negatively by the 
institution and its implications. His physical, psychological, and 
emotional problems stem directly from the mistreatment and neglect he 
receives from his parents. Cameron is so depressed that at one point he 
feigns a suicide attempt by falling into a pool and not coming up until 
Ferris 'saves' him. Tired of living his life the way it is for him, 
Cameron wants to die. Ferris feels that as a result of Cam's faulty view 
of family and marriage he will marry the first girl who sleeps with he and 
they will be just as miserable together as Cam's parents are. 


ASSESSMENT


I found this movie to be very valuable in the depiction of family and 
class implications on suburban teens. It shows how much the attention or 
inattention that one's parents gives them, and the type of attention that 
it is, greatly impacts their emotional and mental stability. Also, the 
values that the characters in the movie hold dear, especially those 
exhibited by Ferris, show those stereotypical to suburbia. A focus on 
material goods is apparent and portrayed in the movie as one of the main 
goals of suburbanites is making money. Hughes shows the realities of many 
of the marriages in suburbia through the relationship that Cameron's 
parents have. Just as the couples in the Kelly Longitudinal Study 
discussed by Elaine Tyler May did not get along as well as they would have 
outsiders think, Cameron's parents did not seem to get along even if they 
stayed together. 


Hughes also depicts how the attention paid to teens in suburbia is often 
superficial. Ferris would not have been able to get away with his "day 
off" or any of his other schemes if his parents had paid better attention 
to what he was doing. Similarly, Jeanie, like Brenda Patimkin, would not 
have felt the need to lash out and do negative, destructive things, had 
her parents given her the attention she craved. This displays how Hughes 
feels that although most suburban parents have genuine love for their 
children, they tend to neglect their children in the ways it really counts 
and attempt to substitute material goods for emotional attention. For 
example, Cameron's father cares that his son had lost his retainer when he 
was younger but didn't seem to care about his emotional welfare. In the 
film, Hughes adequately expresses his notion that suburban priorities 
concerning wealth and family relations are skewed greatly from what they 
should be in suburbia. 


As a result of the treatment they receive from their parents Jeanie and 
Cameron both develop emotional problems. By the end of the film they have 
realized the causes of these problems and are on the way to remedying 
their situations. On the other hand Ferris, who seems to have less overtly 
damaging issues is the character that worries the viewer the most. Instead 
of recognizing the negative implications of class and family on teens in 
suburbia he seems quite contented in his life. It looks like Ferris will 
follow in the footsteps of the adults in his world and focus on 
materialism and class ranking instead of spending quality time and paying 
genuine attention to his children. I believe Hughes feels that unless a 
suburban teen recognizes the negative impact of this type of behavior has 
on a person they will simply grow up to mimic it.

Essay by Ms. Arielle Fishman (AKFish@wam.umd.edu)
Copyright 1998 by the author