Ferris Bueller is just in Cameron's Mind

There’s a theory going ‘round the Internet regarding the John Hughes movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986).  The theory is: there is no Ferris.  Ferris Bueller is just a figment of Cameron’s imagination, another identity, an idealized alter-ego, a voice in Cameron’s head.  This “Ferris is in Cameron’s imagination” theory has a remarkable internal consistency, however, I should mention up front that I don’t think John Hughes ever intended such a thing.  Still, watching the movie with the Theory in mind is an entertaining way to see a film you’ve already seen 58 times, like watching “Wizard of Oz” while listening to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” 

The “Cameron’s Imagination” theory would explain the more fantastical elements of the movie, such as a whole major city rallying behind one sick boy (Cameron wishes that were true!), and how everything goes impossibly Ferris’s way.  Still other things in the movie give the viewer goosebumps when seen from a Ferris-is-in-Cameron’s-mind perspective.  Cameron’s tirade in the car before leaving his house (“He’ll keep calling me… he’ll keep calling me...  he’ll make me feel guilty”) now appears to be Cameron raging about the voice of “Ferris” in his head; he then starts punching the car seat to quiet the voice.   Ferris: “You can find yourself a new best friend!”  Cameron: “Ha!  You’ve been saying that since the fifth grade.”  Has an imaginary Ferris been “speaking” to Cameron for that long?  Wow!  Cameron really needs a psychiatrist! 

After all the imaginary fun in Chicago with the imaginary Ferris and Sloane, Cameron goes into a catatonic state, which could be seen as Cameron’s internal psychological process of re-aligning the disparate “Cameron” and “Ferris” identities within himself.  Shortly after Cameron emerges, he says he was “thinking about things” while he was under: how he puts up with everything and doesn’t stand up for himself.  Now he’s ready to change that. 

Ferris: “I made you take the car out.”  Cameron: “I could’ve said no.  It is possible to say no to the great Ferris Bueller, you know.”  Ferris looks surprised and skeptical about this.  Until now, Cameron couldn’t say no to the “Ferris” in his head, and his Ferris Side could always make him do things.  This climatic scene is Cameron reasserting his own identity.  He says he’s able to quiet “Ferris” and is also prepared to stand up to his father, the person who gave him the psychological need for a “Ferris” to begin with.   He can now deal with reality and confront his father without needing a “Ferris” to do it for him, and he tells Ferris so. 

Again, I don’t think Hughes intended any of this.  Still, it’s entertaining to watch the movie again with the Theory in mind – just for fun, just to find all the “clues” which support it.