Why Cameron Frye is the Real Hero of Ferris Bueller's Day Off
No, it's not because I like his name
Here’s a conversation starter for your New Year’s Eve party: Ferris Bueller is not the main character of classic John Hughes film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
The real main character is Cameron Frye. Ferris is simply the catalyst and narrator of Cameron’s story.
A little over a month ago, I identified the factors that make someone a good candidate to be the main character. Here they are again:
A good candidate for a main character is someone who:
Has the most at stake in the plot (internally and externally)
Is the closest to the events of the plot (emotionally and physically)
Has agency to move the story forward
Is plagued by a misbelief that is relevant to your story point
Has the most room for growth and change compared to other characters
Experiences an arc of change that demonstrates your story point
Let’s consider how Ferris and Cameron line up. I feel like I probably don’t need to do a spoiler alert for a film that’s older than I am, but…uh…spoilers, I guess?
Arc of Change
Ferris Bueller is a static character. An easy way to see that Ferris is static is to compare the opening scene of the movie to the closing scene.
The film opens with Ferris Bueller in bed, persuading his parents that he is too sick to go to school. As soon as his parents leave, he lets the audience in on the ruse with his opening monologue in which he also states the thesis of the movie: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it.”
The film closes with Ferris in the exact same spot: in bed, manipulating his parents the same way he has manipulated everyone else throughout the movie. When he’s alone, he repeats his original thesis for the audience, unchanged.
Contrast that to Cameron’s opening and closing scenes.
The first time we see Cameron, he is lying in bed, ostensibly actually sick and convinced that he is dying. We quickly see that Cameron is easily pushed around not only by Ferris but everyone else in his life, especially his father.
The last time we see Cameron at the end of the movie, he is standing tall, prepared to stand up to his father. He finally wants to live.
Misbelief
One of the things that makes heroes dynamic (rather than static) is the presence of a misbelief. Usually, a main character will have a misbelief that guides their choices and behaviors. That misbelief is caused by some past wound and runs counter to the main point of the story. It is also severely messing up the main character’s life. As the plot unfolds, the hero is pressed to confront their misbelief and ultimately to change.
Ferris Bueller is a little shit, but life is generally going his way (to the consternation of his sister) and he already starts the story out believing the central point of the movie. There are relatively few moments in the story where he reveals emotional vulnerability or provides any evidence that he has changed.
Cameron, on the other hand, is taken wildly out of his comfort zone. He is scared of everything, but especially anything that has the potential to get him into trouble with his father. The experiences Cameron has with Ferris help him develop the fortitude to take a stand with his dad.
Agency
Initially, Cameron has little agency to move the story forward, and this is why we have Ferris. Without Ferris, Cameron wouldn’t have changed or developed any agency of his own.
Why is this night different from all other nights?
When figuring out where to start your story, it’s a good idea to start with a question we ask on Passover: Why is this night different from all other nights? (Or day, as the case may be.) The day when things change for your hero is when your story starts.
Ostensibly, what makes this day different from all other days is that it’s the day Ferris Bueller takes off, except, he tells us right in the opening monologue that he’s an expert at pulling a sickie. Taking a “day off” isn’t a new thing for Ferris. What is different is that this might have to be his last one, so he needs to make it count.
To make it count, he needs a car.
And Cameron has a car.
It is Ferris’ desire for a car, specifically Cameron’s dad’s Ferrari that launches Cameron into the story, making Ferris the catalyst that gets Cameron moving.
Ferris as the narrator
In addition to being the catalyst of Cameron’s story, Ferris is also the narrator of it. We never ever see Cameron’s parents, but we learn a lot about how they have affected Cameron through the things Ferris tells us. We are also mostly reliant on Ferris to interpret for us how Cameron is feeling or why he behaves the way he does.
This is the job of the narrator!
Ferris as the Pollyanna
As previously stated, Ferris is a static character. He changes very little over the course of the story. He begins the movie already believing the story point: that it is important to live life to the fullest. Through his “day off” Ferris teaches this story point not only to Cameron, but to other people around him, as is best exemplified in the parade scene when downtown Chicago suddenly becomes a giant dance party, led by Ferris. In this way, Ferris is a Pollyanna – a character who doesn’t change, but spreads his belief in order to change others.
Stakes
Cameron has more at stake than Ferris, as exemplified by how much more often and concretely Cameron is worried about consequences. He constantly worries about what is happening to his dad’s car, because his father “loves this car more than life.” Cameron is so worried about how his dad will react to them driving the car, that he even attempts to drown himself in a swimming pool rather than face his father’s anger.
Contrast this once again to Ferris. Arguably, Ferris’ external stakes are higher than Cameron’s. If Ferris is caught skipping school, he might not be able to graduate high school and will have to repeat his senior year. On the surface, this seems like a bigger deal than the wrath of Cameron’s dad. The difference is the internal significance each character attaches to these plot stakes. To Cameron, his father’s anger feels world-ending.
For Ferris, not graduating is a less dire proposition. Sure, he thinks high school is “a bit childish” but in one of his rare moments of vulnerability in the film, he reveals that he doesn’t know what life holds for him after high school. Although Ferris never states it explicitly, repeating his senior year might not actually be so bad for him, since it would delay his fear of having to face the world after high school without Sloane and without Cameron.
Although Cameron spends most of the story worried about his dad’s car, Ferris, as the narrator, knows there is more at stake for Cameron. The car is small potatoes!
As Ferris explains when Cameron is in the depths of despair over the high mileage on his dad’s car:
“…all I wanted to do was give him a good day. We’re going to graduate soon…basically, that will be it…Cameron has never been in love. At least, no one’s ever been in love with him. If he continues like this, he’s going to marry the first girl he lays, and she’s gonna treat him like shit…she won’t respect him, because you can’t respect someone who kisses your ass.”
Personally, I don’t think Ferris’ motivations were quite so wholesome. I think he just wanted the Ferrari and rationalized his way into why this was good for Cameron. Whether you believe he actually intended to help Cameron or not, Ferris is ultimately successful in this, just like everything else he did all day.
After Cameron irrevocably destroys his father’s car, he resolves to confront his father for himself rather than letting Ferris take the heat. As Sloane and Ferris leave, Sloane asks, “Do you think Cameron will be okay?”
Ferris replies, “Yeah…for the first time in his life, he’s gonna be just fine.”