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There's a moment in the car scene that I always remembered: When Cameron first starts kicking the Ferrari, Sloane instinctively steps forward to stop him, and F

There's a moment in the car scene that I always remembered: When Cameron first starts kicking the Ferrari, Sloane instinctively steps forward to stop him, and Ferris holds her back. Ferris has been exulting about how incredible this car is all throughout the movie, but he doesn't hesitate to let his friend trash it if that's what he needs to do. It's a nice character moment, but it also speaks to what is, to me, the fundamental message of the film: Objects, like sports cars, no matter how beautiful and rare, are there to be used and enjoyed, not hoarded and held in pristine captivity in fear of negative consequences. And the single most beautiful and rare object you have is your own life. Don't waste it paralysed by fear of what might go wrong, or stuck in a boring classroom or job.

MuffinFlavored 4y ago
> Objects, like sports cars, no matter how beautiful and rare, are there to be used and enjoyed, not hoarded and held in pristine captivity in fear of negative consequences. I saw it more as, the Ferrari represented Cameron and his father's damage relationship. Cameron was the way he was, because his father was the way he was, and Cameron knew the Ferrari meant a lot to his dad. Him smashing it was basically a self-destructive cry for help (in my eyes). I felt like the viewer is left knowing Cameron and his dad will "work through something big/transformative" given the colossal impact the son (who the dad probably doesn't really care for) smashing his prized possession (that he really cars for) would have. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - 1986 Fight Club - 1999 Doesn't Fight Club have the same kind of "life isn't about possessions, step out of your comfort zone while you are still alive otherwise you're wasting your life chasing Ikea furniture" message?
- mattzito 4y ago
  I think the message of fight club is that while life isn't about possessions, it can be equally empty to chase a nihilistic idea of masculinity that doesn't connect you with others in a meaningful way. It's satire - it's making fun of the protagonists as much as it's commenting on them. Ferris bueller doesn't strike me as satire in the same way.
  - gerbilly 4y ago
    To me Fight club is a boy meets girl story. The whole Fight Club and later Project Mayhem id a complex digression he invents to avoid facing the fact that he wants to get close to Marla.
    - slater- 4y ago
      i love this interpretation, and i hadn't considered it before reading your comment. the destruction that follows from his desperate avoidance of this relationship nearly results in his own castration. his last gasp at being an independent man threatens his very manhood. damn.
    - pstuart 4y ago
      I can't find the write up, but there was a compelling post that Marta is Jack. So is Robert Paulson. The vibrator in his suitcase? No accident, just there when he was Marta. Note the ending when they're hand in hand, they look identical. I'm not doing the critique justice, but I found it compelling enough to remember it and share it here.
      - gweinberg 4y ago
        Yeah, I've read that. Why aren't any men upset that there is a woman in a testicular cancer survivor group? Because the narrator is the only one that can see her, she's not really there.
- jancsika 4y ago
  I don't necessarily agree about what the fundamental message of either film is. That said, Ferris is using middle class objects (and using tricks to hijack upper-class objects) to have a good time. Fight Club Tyler is rejecting middle and upper-class objects as fundamentally opposed to some poorly specified and wholly imagined idyllic life. If Bob had joined Ferris for a Cubs game and brought a souvenir ball back to the house, he would have been kicked out of the cult.
- purpleblue 4y ago
  You are right, it was about smashing his relationship between his dad. It wasn't about rejecting materialism at all. Cameron used the Ferrari as an example of how his father puts so much time and effort into things other than his own son, and he was kicking it as a way of getting back at his dad but also make him notice him as well.
- eternalban 4y ago
  Fight Club is a coded (biased) subliminal message about the internal (psychological) process of radicalization of the modern young man. Thinking about it now, it reminds of the “Obey” nonsense that supposedly was designed as an “ironic comment on contemporary society” that regrettably served the function of having the word “Obey” appear wherever you looked. Now that said, criticism leveled against regime du jour is merely the contextualized social barb (“consumerism”), with the substance of the intended strike aimed at the confining and defining social norms (which are present for any social regime whatsoever save pure anarchy). The process of destabilization necessary for revolution invariably entails undermining and devaluing foundational norms of the ancien regime. As to the sanity of our hero, the reconstructed modern man, the message posses the question: did neuroses engender a ‘shattered social self’ or was the neuroses the side-effect of a misguided social condition?
  - Cthulhu_ 4y ago
    > Thinking about it now, it reminds of the “Obey” nonsense that supposedly was designed as an “ironic comment on contemporary society” that regrettably served the function of having the word “Obey” appear wherever you looked. Wasn't it lifted from They Live?
whartung 4y ago
The question I would have in this case is who made that decision for Ferris' character? Was that scripted? Something the director added, something Broderick did? As was mentioned elsewhere, everything seen on film is (mostly) intentional. It was either decided to be put there, or decided to be left in (even those goofs where the camera is seen, someone probably saw it in post and decided "not worth fixing"). Sometime actors and have some autonomy with their characters, similarly directors can have great flexibility in the rendering of the story. So, anyway, when you seem moments like that, always curios where they come from.
- hinkley 4y ago
  It’s a John Hughes film. It is scary how well he understood Gen X teenagers.
fm2606 4y ago
I genuinely wish I could read deeper into movies and book like this. Is this an inherent trait or one that can be learned? I wouldn't even know how to begin to learn to do this. I've always read books and watched movies for the simplistic entertainment value. Now as I grow older I'd like to get a deeper meaning / inspection to enhance the entertainment value (if that makes sense).
- webnrrd2k 4y ago
  I'd recommend trying some typical english 101 books, like a Norton Reader, or similar. The stories are good, and there are questions at the end that help you understand some of the more subtle choices that the authors made. It directly applies to interpreting movies.
  - themadturk 4y ago
    This is the kind of thing that we will miss if college classes in literature and the humanities are devalued for students in STEM specialties. The unique analytical skills learned in the humanities are valuable across technical, mathematical and scientific disciplines as well.
- nicbou 4y ago
  There are many great YouTube channels that show you these details. I love Every Frame A Painting, Cinefix and Now You See It. Nerdwriter is so-so, but it's there too. You can also try dating an art student and be around while they do their assigned work. I picked up a lot this way. Learning to look deeper is always worth it. With film it's a little easier because so many good video essays are out there. You don't have to make a few bad chairs like with woodworking.
- mmcgaha 4y ago
  > I genuinely wish I could read deeper into movies and book like this. Is this an inherent trait or one that can be learned? I wouldn't even know how to begin to learn to do this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun
- 4y ago
mytailorisrich 4y ago
That Ferrari belongs to Cameron's father so Ferris really has no say in what Cameron does to it and it does not mean anything to Ferris. From the previous scenes we know exactly what that Ferrari is and represents from Cameron himself so I think Ferris is just telling Sloane that this is Cameron's call and not for them to interfere, and perhaps that Cameron actually needs to do it as a catharsis.
- once_inc 4y ago
  That also ties better into the main theme of the book, which heavily emphasises human connection, which is what Cameron and his father lack. The eventual complete destruction of the car (and part of the garage) would spur Cameron into an actual conversation with his father and Cameron's emotions regarding the lack of interest in him.
steveBK123 4y ago
Some zoomers on my team recently came across Bueller's "isms" speech and enjoyed it. Lot of philosophy there if you look below the surface.
nemo44x 4y ago
Indeed. And it’s exemplified by the working class guys in the parking garage that live in the moment. They see their chance to do something they normally wouldn’t be able to and run with it, likely risking their jobs. But it’s a worthy trade as it’s something always they’ll always remember.
31337Logic 4y ago
If I could submit a "Love" symbol for this comment, know that I would.
sixstringtheory 4y ago
As someone who struggled against their parent’s tragic hoarding for decades and now am tasked with clearing it all out, I feel this. My partner and I prefer the gifts of time and experience over objects that eventually become clutter and junk.

MuffinFlavored 4y ago

> Objects, like sports cars, no matter how beautiful and rare, are there to be used and enjoyed, not hoarded and held in pristine captivity in fear of negative consequences. I saw it more as, the Ferrari represented Cameron and his father's damage relationship. Cameron was the way he was, because his father was the way he was, and Cameron knew the Ferrari meant a lot to his dad. Him smashing it was basically a self-destructive cry for help (in my eyes). I felt like the viewer is left knowing Cameron and his dad will "work through something big/transformative" given the colossal impact the son (who the dad probably doesn't really care for) smashing his prized possession (that he really cars for) would have. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - 1986 Fight Club - 1999 Doesn't Fight Club have the same kind of "life isn't about possessions, step out of your comfort zone while you are still alive otherwise you're wasting your life chasing Ikea furniture" message?

mattzito 4y ago
I think the message of fight club is that while life isn't about possessions, it can be equally empty to chase a nihilistic idea of masculinity that doesn't connect you with others in a meaningful way. It's satire - it's making fun of the protagonists as much as it's commenting on them. Ferris bueller doesn't strike me as satire in the same way.
- gerbilly 4y ago
  To me Fight club is a boy meets girl story. The whole Fight Club and later Project Mayhem id a complex digression he invents to avoid facing the fact that he wants to get close to Marla.
  - slater- 4y ago
    i love this interpretation, and i hadn't considered it before reading your comment. the destruction that follows from his desperate avoidance of this relationship nearly results in his own castration. his last gasp at being an independent man threatens his very manhood. damn.
  - pstuart 4y ago
    I can't find the write up, but there was a compelling post that Marta is Jack. So is Robert Paulson. The vibrator in his suitcase? No accident, just there when he was Marta. Note the ending when they're hand in hand, they look identical. I'm not doing the critique justice, but I found it compelling enough to remember it and share it here.
    - gweinberg 4y ago
      Yeah, I've read that. Why aren't any men upset that there is a woman in a testicular cancer survivor group? Because the narrator is the only one that can see her, she's not really there.
jancsika 4y ago
I don't necessarily agree about what the fundamental message of either film is. That said, Ferris is using middle class objects (and using tricks to hijack upper-class objects) to have a good time. Fight Club Tyler is rejecting middle and upper-class objects as fundamentally opposed to some poorly specified and wholly imagined idyllic life. If Bob had joined Ferris for a Cubs game and brought a souvenir ball back to the house, he would have been kicked out of the cult.
purpleblue 4y ago
You are right, it was about smashing his relationship between his dad. It wasn't about rejecting materialism at all. Cameron used the Ferrari as an example of how his father puts so much time and effort into things other than his own son, and he was kicking it as a way of getting back at his dad but also make him notice him as well.
eternalban 4y ago
Fight Club is a coded (biased) subliminal message about the internal (psychological) process of radicalization of the modern young man. Thinking about it now, it reminds of the “Obey” nonsense that supposedly was designed as an “ironic comment on contemporary society” that regrettably served the function of having the word “Obey” appear wherever you looked. Now that said, criticism leveled against regime du jour is merely the contextualized social barb (“consumerism”), with the substance of the intended strike aimed at the confining and defining social norms (which are present for any social regime whatsoever save pure anarchy). The process of destabilization necessary for revolution invariably entails undermining and devaluing foundational norms of the ancien regime. As to the sanity of our hero, the reconstructed modern man, the message posses the question: did neuroses engender a ‘shattered social self’ or was the neuroses the side-effect of a misguided social condition?
- Cthulhu_ 4y ago
  > Thinking about it now, it reminds of the “Obey” nonsense that supposedly was designed as an “ironic comment on contemporary society” that regrettably served the function of having the word “Obey” appear wherever you looked. Wasn't it lifted from They Live?

whartung 4y ago

The question I would have in this case is who made that decision for Ferris' character? Was that scripted? Something the director added, something Broderick did? As was mentioned elsewhere, everything seen on film is (mostly) intentional. It was either decided to be put there, or decided to be left in (even those goofs where the camera is seen, someone probably saw it in post and decided "not worth fixing"). Sometime actors and have some autonomy with their characters, similarly directors can have great flexibility in the rendering of the story. So, anyway, when you seem moments like that, always curios where they come from.

hinkley 4y ago
It’s a John Hughes film. It is scary how well he understood Gen X teenagers.

fm2606 4y ago

I genuinely wish I could read deeper into movies and book like this. Is this an inherent trait or one that can be learned? I wouldn't even know how to begin to learn to do this. I've always read books and watched movies for the simplistic entertainment value. Now as I grow older I'd like to get a deeper meaning / inspection to enhance the entertainment value (if that makes sense).

webnrrd2k 4y ago
I'd recommend trying some typical english 101 books, like a Norton Reader, or similar. The stories are good, and there are questions at the end that help you understand some of the more subtle choices that the authors made. It directly applies to interpreting movies.
- themadturk 4y ago
  This is the kind of thing that we will miss if college classes in literature and the humanities are devalued for students in STEM specialties. The unique analytical skills learned in the humanities are valuable across technical, mathematical and scientific disciplines as well.
nicbou 4y ago
There are many great YouTube channels that show you these details. I love Every Frame A Painting, Cinefix and Now You See It. Nerdwriter is so-so, but it's there too. You can also try dating an art student and be around while they do their assigned work. I picked up a lot this way. Learning to look deeper is always worth it. With film it's a little easier because so many good video essays are out there. You don't have to make a few bad chairs like with woodworking.
mmcgaha 4y ago
> I genuinely wish I could read deeper into movies and book like this. Is this an inherent trait or one that can be learned? I wouldn't even know how to begin to learn to do this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun
4y ago

mytailorisrich 4y ago

That Ferrari belongs to Cameron's father so Ferris really has no say in what Cameron does to it and it does not mean anything to Ferris. From the previous scenes we know exactly what that Ferrari is and represents from Cameron himself so I think Ferris is just telling Sloane that this is Cameron's call and not for them to interfere, and perhaps that Cameron actually needs to do it as a catharsis.

once_inc 4y ago
That also ties better into the main theme of the book, which heavily emphasises human connection, which is what Cameron and his father lack. The eventual complete destruction of the car (and part of the garage) would spur Cameron into an actual conversation with his father and Cameron's emotions regarding the lack of interest in him.

steveBK123 4y ago

Some zoomers on my team recently came across Bueller's "isms" speech and enjoyed it. Lot of philosophy there if you look below the surface.

nemo44x 4y ago

Indeed. And it’s exemplified by the working class guys in the parking garage that live in the moment. They see their chance to do something they normally wouldn’t be able to and run with it, likely risking their jobs. But it’s a worthy trade as it’s something always they’ll always remember.

31337Logic 4y ago

If I could submit a "Love" symbol for this comment, know that I would.

sixstringtheory 4y ago

As someone who struggled against their parent’s tragic hoarding for decades and now am tasked with clearing it all out, I feel this. My partner and I prefer the gifts of time and experience over objects that eventually become clutter and junk.