The University of Connecticut’s Student Union Board of Governors (SUBOG) recently held a series of movie screenings at the Student Union Theater. The first movie, “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” was shown on Jan. 23, followed by “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” the next day and “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” the day after.
All three movies shown at the Union have associations with famed director and writer John Hughes. Hughes is well known for his teen-focused 1980s movies, such as “Pretty in Pink” and “The Breakfast Club.” Just like these movies, “Ferris Bueller” is ultimately a teenage coming-of-age movie, often featuring a villainous adult for the teens to outsmart.
“Ferris Bueller,” which Hughes directed, tells the story of the titular Ferris (Matthew Broderick), a teenage boy who pretends to be sick to get a day off school, which he spends in the city of Chicago with his best friend Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck) and girlfriend Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara). Throughout the movie, Ferris’ principal Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) tries to expose Ferris’s deception while Ferris’s sister Jeanie (Jennifer Grey) laments Ferris’ ability to seemingly skate through life while she has to remain the responsible sibling.
The movie itself perfectly captures the teenage fantasy of an escape from school. Ferris, Cameron and Sloane get up to seemingly impossible hijinks while they blaze through Chicago. Ferris is also incredibly well-liked by his peers and teachers and has a solid relationship with Sloane. He’s everything a teenager could want to be, living out the best day a teenager could dream of. What makes this movie so great, however, is Ferris’s sobering outlook on reality.
“Life moves pretty fast,” Ferris says after he secures his free day off from school. “If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Ferris is fully aware that he is growing up. As a senior in high school, he’s approaching a major life change that all college students can relate to — he’s going to have to leave the world he knows. This recontextualizes the entire movie as not just a fun romp in the city with Ferris and company, but as a teenage boy desperately trying to secure another fun day with the people he cares about before life pulls them apart. When Ferris repeats his iconic line at the end of the movie, he does so after having made memories that will last a lifetime for him, Cameron and Sloane.
“Time with the people you care about is precious and fleeting,” UConn student Colleen Kinneavy said when describing her experience with the movie. “Cameron is very representative about how a lot of kids feel when they’re leaving high school and going to college.” Kinneavy is a sixth-semester student majoring in psychology with a minor in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies.
“It’s a bittersweet movie because they’re grappling with the fact that they’re graduating and won’t see each other as much, so there’re trying to enjoy the time they have together, which is relatable,” Kinneavy added. “I think especially college seniors can relate to it.”
Kinneavy also noted the benefits of SUBOG hosting events such as movie nights. “I think it’s a great opportunity for people to come together and enjoy a shared experience,” she said.
SUBOG will return to their regular film series on Jan. 30, with the movie “The Hangover.”