Wicked Psychotherapists

The Ferris Effect: Charisma, Control, and Codependence

• Erin Gray and Tanya Dos Santos • Season 3 • Episode 18

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Is Ferris Bueller the fun friend—or the problem?


In this week’s episode, Tanya and Erin dive deep into Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, breaking down the psychology behind Ferris’s charm, Cameron’s quiet crisis, and the sibling rivalry with Jeanie. 

Through the lens of mental health and therapy, we unpack themes of narcissism, family dysfunction, emotional burnout, and the longing for autonomy. Whether you loved Ferris—or secretly sided with Jeanie—you’ll see this 80s classic in a whole new way.

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You are listening to Wicked Psychotherapists, a podcast where two psychotherapists show you that taking care of and learning about mental health doesn't have to be wicked hat.

Tanya:

Hey guys, it's Tanya.

Erin:

Hi, it's Erin and welcome to Wicked Psychotherapists.

Tanya:

Yeah, so today we are going to be talking about our favorite decade, the eighties, well, a movie in our favorite decade, the eighties. and we're gonna be going back to Ferris Bueller's Day off the awesome cult classic with, Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Gray. Lots of other people we see in there that I forgot about. but this is a really great, classic, you know, adolescent story. It's also got a lot of mental health themes that we're gonna, you know, kind of poke into a little bit. I did want to, we always take a look at some of the movies that we've seen. Maybe a long time ago. And the retrospect of kind of like, okay, now we're looking at them. What do we think, what's different? And I certainly felt differently. I did really like the movie, when I was younger, but I found myself getting annoyed at certain points With this movie. Way more so than when I was younger and kind of like over analyzing it. but did you find that as well, like that there was kind of some points that were really kind of, I don't know, just maybe graded on you or, or just like, ugh. Yeah,

Erin:

because when, especially when I first watched it or even watching it through high school and everything, you'd think. Ferris wheeler's kind of cool. I do remember feeling bad for Cameron, but rewatching it now. I definitely felt, I had a different feeling about Ferris throughout the movie and it wasn't always in his favor.

Tanya:

Yeah, right. He's, yeah, he ki i, I mean, the opening scene you see him plotting to be sick, which is just so. He is 17, 18, whatever he is, you know, doesn't want to go to school. But he's very manipulative. And you know What kid probably hasn't tried to do that, but it's his parents and the relationship he has with his parents, that really aggravates me, where they're like, oh my God, poor Ferris. Like he's just this great golden boy and he's just got them fooled. His sister Jeanie or Jennifer Gray is just so pissed off. She's so angry because she knows what he's up to. She knows he's being conniving and

Erin:

mm-hmm.

Tanya:

And he is always like that. they're just, they treat Jeanie like crap. Like the, he's like this golden child and they're like, oh, feel better when he's just like talking like a baby. I was like, oh, I forgot about that, that he's. she seems like she's just kind of, angry but really she's got something to be angry about,

Erin:

right?

Tanya:

Like it's, you know, she, she definitely kind of gets put aside and Ferris gets, gets, you know, elevated to Golden boy status He's over here conniving and tricking his parents. And they don't even know him. They don't know who he is. They think he's like this, like angel,

Erin:

yeah, they, and it seems like they villainize the sister or just don't realize that she's actually behaving or she's the one going to school and trying to get good grades.

Tanya:

Yeah. It's really, that was the first point that I was like, oh, I forgot about that. I didn't really remember that. But we kind of see Ferris is, I guess we could say a manipulative person, a charming person, which is probably on par for, being around that age to kind of get what you want, right? Yeah. and then he sets off to. Make these elaborate plans. we get a look around his room and I have to admit, I was like, this kid is in this really wealthy house. He's got anything and everything in his room, especially for the eighties. Yeah. You know, like it's very, very wealthy. He's got this huge stereo system, which I forgot about stereos. but yeah, he, I mean he is got like. He's got everything. He's got everything that you need. He just seems like a very privileged kid. You know? Like he's kind of, and he is just like, oh, school is the worst thing. That's the worst thing for him. And, but that's just kind of my, my perspective as, as someone looking at, you know, like, you know, kind of, I, I never really could relate to those issues.'cause I was like, that's not, that's not, it could be worse, you know? Mm-hmm. And yeah, he, he tries to rope in. Cameron his best friend who's, who's obviously very sick, he's got a lot of, a lot of depression issues with his family. He internalizes them and gets sick a lot and is really just trying to manipulate him to be like, Hey, come on over here. Let's do something to buck up man up and take some Pepto bmo, you know, kind of thing. And Cameron really seems to have a lot going on and. On, on the one side, Ferris seems to be like, oh, I really want to cheer him up. But he is also just trying to, you know, have a buddy to Go do something with. And to use his card. Well, I

Erin:

and to use his car, because Ferris mentions a few times I wanted a car, but I got a computer.

Tanya:

Yeah.

Erin:

So it's like his sister has a car, but you know, he doesn't, well, it seems like she does, she just drives that little white thing around.

Tanya:

which is kind of strange because if the parents do kind of vilify. Jeanie, but they, they recognized that she was responsible enough for the car and he wasn't. And he seems to be older than her. He's a senior and she's in high school with him, so I'm guessing she is like a junior or a sophomore in high school. But yeah, which is kind of, maybe, maybe they're, I don't know, maybe they're just annoyed with her on that day. I don't know. But Also, it's a movie, so

Erin:

we don't know everything. It's not real life, it's just one, it's a movie and it's one day in their life. Yeah.

Tanya:

Right. Yeah. But it really, I think Ferris just comes off as someone who, really wants to capture these last moments in his senior year. Of just like, you know, he's talking about, you know, we're going into adulthood and you know, life moves by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around you could miss it, He has this really kind of cool attitude about mindfulness and being present, which is something we tout and, and therapy. Mm-hmm. A lot, you know, kind of if you're too anxious, maybe peeping into the future too much or thinking about the future or the past, maybe mindfulness exercises, kind of enjoying what's around you, engaging in what's around you. he's got that down. I mean, he definitely is pretty mindful, I think. So that's a good point.

Erin:

mm-hmm.

Tanya:

what did you think of the plot to get Sloan out of school? It just seems so overly complicated.

Erin:

Well, and that's where I feel like there's the manipulation with Ferris again, with poor Cameron like manipulating Cameron, knowing that Cameron has like probably low self-esteem, depression, and easily manipulated that Sloane already knew the plan before Cameron was even part of it because as soon as like she. Got the phone, the teacher got the phone call and the nurse comes in, Sloan's putting on her fringe jacket, you know, just to, you know, to get ready. So it seemed kind of elaborate and just, I mean, yeah, I mean, I could, I could understand like, okay, we're gonna have her part of it. But it did seem kind of silly and dumb, but it also, it did feel like. Ferris manipulated Cameron to do it because they needed, obviously they needed his car, his dad's car to make it all work. Okay, I wanna wake up Cameron and get him out of bed, but we need your fancy car because he'll never be believable if we bring, you know, if you're old BMW won't work. We have to have the Ferrari.

Tanya:

Yeah. You know, so it's a real adult's car kind of thing.

Erin:

Yeah.

Tanya:

it, it really is. It's so, it's got that eighties hijinks like, I mean, John Hughes, direction in there where it really, just works out, right. He has Cameron call and then he purposefully Ferris will call on the other line to be like, oh, it's not me.

Erin:

Right.

Tanya:

And you know, the principal's already called. Who he thinks is Ferris Bueller playing Sloan dad, like all these bad names and everything. And, he's kind of gotta backtrack and then he feels like, oh my gosh, I just called this guy. All these things. it's just so eighties, like cheesy like that that just, I, that would not work now. I mean, because of course people could like, Voice changers, you know, just calling up the, the parents, texting the parents, you know? Mm-hmm. Like, it really, it would not work. Right.

Erin:

Plus everything has caller ID now,

Tanya:

Yeah.

Erin:

Unless you like star 69 or something where you're just like, all right, six, nine to

Tanya:

Yeah. Yeah. It still, that still works, I believe, but Yeah, there, there's so, there's so much, I mean, technology now that I, I just don't think this would be, this wouldn't fly nowadays. I was just thinking like, wow, that they have all these, these, you know, for that time, 1986, like high tech answering machines with, the tape messages that Yeah, it just, yeah, the tape. Oh my gosh. The tape. Yeah. It was, and, and you know, the, you mentioned the fringe jacket. Yeah. That was so eighties. It was the, the white leather like fringe jacket. Yeah. It was just like, oh my gosh. I remember that only went right

Erin:

up to your pants. Like it really didn't probably make you warm at all, like if you needed it. Yeah.

Tanya:

Yeah. It was, definitely a lot of that eighties stuff going on. and no cell phones, you know, so they had to do it kind of old school and set up all these kind of like home alone esque.

Erin:

Which is interesting'cause he, I think, didn't he direct home alone too? So maybe, yeah, he uses a lot of his same things in all of his movies. The car, you know, the stand in front of the car, like they do in, what was it, 16 candles or something,

Tanya:

think John Hughes has a lot about adolescents that maybe he got stuck in or he just had a lot of feelings about, because that seems to be his niche, like in different movies. Yeah. He really focuses on fooling the adults and being like a teenager and, having hijinks and really, you know, kind of cheesy stuff in a good way. Mm-hmm. I mean, very positively, Yeah. And then they get SLO out and the principal is talking to her trying to make some poetic type of sentiment because he believes that her grandmother died. And she's just like, you're a very kind man thinking like, oh my God, she sound like an idiot. Yeah. And then they kiss and he's like, that's how it is in their family. Huh? Like, that's which I would think he would be like, all right. That's weird. Ferris wait. Yeah. You would think like, he'd

Erin:

be like, all right, this is, I'm being had. Yeah. But, but I was thinking her family must be super wealthy and maybe they give money to the school or something. Like, why would he be so intimidated? By her dad. not only did he, you know, because he said stupid stuff on the phone, but it seemed like he was very like, oh my gosh, I gotta make this right. You know, this is, it's really him. Yeah.

Tanya:

yeah, and I think he probably, that's probably why he didn't go near him, you know, he kind of stayed on the steps and everything, which of course is the perfect plan because Cameron's in the back hiding from, from all of it. And Ferris just has like sunglasses on and a hat come Yeah. Looks like Inspector Gadget. Oh my gosh.

Erin:

That's funny. He does. Didn't he play Inspector Gadget?

Tanya:

He did. Oh, that's so funny.

Erin:

That is so funny because that his outfit in that movie with the trench coat in the hat, he looks just like Inspector Gadget. That's so funny. That's an awesome

Tanya:

connection there. That's funny. I. That's a good connection. Yeah. Oh, so I wonder if maybe, maybe there was some thought like, ah, in that scene he kind of, he kinda looks like Inspector Gadget. Yeah. And years later

Erin:

it's like, Hey,

Tanya:

it.

Erin:

Like someone would be like, all right, I've always liked Inspector Gadget and

Tanya:

Oh, that's funny. I didn't even think of that. now

Erin:

I kind

Tanya:

yeah, there's lots of little, I think fun things about this movie that are just so eighties. It brings you back to if you were in school in the eighties. Um, I was more in the nineties, like high school. Oh, I was in high school in the nineties. Yeah. But, uh. It, it just was, it just was kind of funny to see this kind of old school eighties prank being pulled over on these dumb adults. and the dippy secretary, everything. And so then they go off on their adventure. They go to Chicago because they're in some part of Illinois or maybe they're in Chicago itself. And, yeah, they start to. You know, Ferris wants to find them places where they can have like the ultimate experience of just like going to dinner at a fancy restaurant, which is just so again, so unbelievable. Yeah. How they're able to get in, and, and just kind of trick him and, just ridiculousness. the hostess, the man who plays the hostess, he is really, he is so snotty. He is just like, Ugh, no, you are the, the. Hot, the sausage king of, of Chicago, you know, and he just, I don't know. He's, he's just so, so snooty, stereotypically like snooty restaurant. Mm-hmm. And then, you know, along the way, I think Ferris is really trying to be like, let's make the best of this. Let's live in the moment. Let's have these adventures is kind of stuck in his head. He's really, he is got a lot of depression. It sounds like. He's got a lot of family stuff that. Goes on, you know? His parents don't like each other. His father likes the car more than him, or his mom doesn't seem like they talk to him.

Erin:

Mm-hmm.

Tanya:

he's sick a lot, probably because he is so stressed out. he seems like a very sensitive person and he lives in a very dysfunctional family. And who knows if there's possibly some Abuse. It's not stated, but he does seem to be very. Afraid of his dad.

Erin:

And the family, like if you look at the house, I mean the house is crazy, you know, like it just like he's family is probably very, very wealthy and that they're just leaving like he's home alone for, you know, however long.'cause they're both on different excursions or different trips even, you know, it just seems like Cameron is just, yeah, not very. There's not a lot of, I don't know, I wanna say love, but like, or affection probably from either parent for him. Yeah. So maybe that's also why he is really drawn to his friendship with Ferris, because Ferris, yeah, he, Ferris is very selfish, but he still is showing some attention to Cameron and they've known each other for so long. So there could be that comfort too.

Tanya:

Yeah, and I think, you know, I kind of wonder, and this is just, kind of deep diving into the psychology of their friendship. I wonder, and I know it's a movie, but you know, this is what we do. I kind of wonder if maybe they were, you know, when you become friends at like five, it's because you both like the same toy or something, or the same color, right? Yeah. There's nothing really to, you're in

Erin:

the same classroom You're in the

Tanya:

same class. Yeah. You, you kind of, Hey, you sit right behind me. If there's nothing, no big connection, but. I wonder if Ferris is kind of the person who will push Cameron out and will kind of be like, come on, come on. Which, which is kind of more to Ferris's benefit. Mm-hmm. But I think that does get Cameron out of his kind of like, like sad world sort of the way he's internalized all this. And Ferris is just kind of like, I just want to have fun. And he doesn't really think about consequences for people, but he's very much. He's kind of self-absorbed, but he's also very much like, hey, a good example of how to, how to just live in the moment. How to, how to just be so there, there may be kind of, they, they kind of bring out some traits in each other. Because maybe some introversion or introspection from Cameron.

Erin:

Yeah. And Cameron might also bring that to Ferris too, on days that we didn't see, you know, like, so he might help calm him and be like, Hey look. Maybe you shouldn't do this really risky thing or, you know, not everything is, you know, do you don't need all the instant gratification for everything? Let's slow down.

Tanya:

yeah. And so I think that that's kind of interesting. But then there is a point towards the end where Ferris does, he's kind of pondering, you know, he is kind of breaking the fourth wall, talking to the camera. He, which he does at a couple points. He is like, oh, you know, I, I don't really know what's, you know, Cameron and I will probably go to different schools and maybe this is it. You know, like, I don't know that we're really gonna be friends and, or as close because he, and I think that's another motivation for this, this time. Mm-hmm. These memories, right? Yeah. I also think Ferris is kind of self-aware in that and being like, Hey friends, drift apart. Not like he's saying he wants to, but just like we probably will go to different colleges, we'll meet different people and do different things and we won't be as close as we were. And the same with maybe Sloan the Girlfriend who's a year behind them. And so I think there is this feeling of like, let's put a stamp on this because this is special. You know, so you could kind of see that in there. I really liked the scenes in Chicago. This was, somebody had written some article, I don't know where it was from, I'm sorry. And maybe it was a couple of articles that said, this was John Hughes, like love letter to Chicago, because he got to. Display, you know, all the big sites. The Reley field and the museum.

Erin:

the Sears Tower or whatever it, the Sears

Tanya:

Tower. Yeah. And they were like looking down on that and then, the parade, which is, I don't know the significance of that parade. I feel there was some significance, like that's a parade that they have or something.

Erin:

was like either a German or a Polish American,

Tanya:

Like cultural kinda thing that they maybe have. Yeah. Yeah. And I, it, it sounds, you know, of course Pharisee, he ends up jumping on a float and charming his way to being the, the center of that, which is, is fun. I think they all have fun together and it's like an experience that's a memory, you know, he's really good at creating memories and being, being big in that. Even though he may be kind of self-serving, he definitely kind of promotes that. He kind of moves that along, I think, in those, and with Sloan and, and Cameron,

Erin:

Yeah.'cause people are drawn to him. I kept hovering like with like, okay, is he just a teenager? Is he selfish? Does he have narcissistic traits? Is he a good friend? Is he a bad friend? Why is everyone drawn to him? Like even like when he is on the float, when he is doing the twist in shout, like the whole, you know, it's just so ridiculous that everybody in the world is just like dancing to it and singing to it because they're just drawn, you know? Well, it's a catchy song, but it's also, they're drawn to him. Like his energy. And so what is his, you know, what makes him so charismatic and what makes, you know, what, what is it about him that people are drawn to for good and bad? Because at school they're like, some people wanna cheat off of stuff he has, or some people wanna help him, or they're just drawn and like all the flowers and stuff and the Save Ferris on the water tower, and. It's like people are just really drawn to him for some reason.

Tanya:

I think it's his charisma and the reason why the principal and his sister don't like him. with his sister, it's a little different because of that dynamic, The way the parents treat her. the principal gets so aggravated by him because. He doesn't follow the rules. He'll do what feels good, but he's not necessarily trying to harm people. He is doing something that a lot of people want to do.

Erin:

Right.

Tanya:

it kind of sparks to other people who are not, you know, Jealous and wanna kind of suppress that and maybe miserable there. it's very attractive because I think a lot of people are attracted to that. Yeah. They want people around who can kind of enjoy the moment.'cause then it helps them to be in the moment.

Erin:

yeah, I think he is that just made me think of being in the moment and being attracted to that is when Jeanie was in the police station and she's sitting next to Charlie Sheen

Tanya:

who just showed up for work. They didn't, no makeup needed.

Erin:

like, okay, I really was high. No, but it's, you know, like she's just so disgusted by him at first, you know, he's so gross. He's dirty. just very judgemental. But then they start talking and he has some really valid points. talking to her about a different perspective and different things, and then by the end they're full on, making out, because she's realizing maybe there is an attraction to the person that's, going against the grain.

Tanya:

Yeah. it kind of appeals to her. it's something that she has difficulty with. She suppresses it and she gets angry that Ferris can just flaunt it and be everyone's favorite. And everyone loves him in the whole school wants to save him. It just blows up into this.

Erin:

Yeah.

Tanya:

Like, oh my gosh, he's gonna need a kidney. And, and you know, it's even at Wrigley Field where they're at, like, say Ferris. It's just spread so far. It's right. It's absurd. Um. Which is, kind of funny how I think once Jeanie is able to confront and kind of say,'cause he is like, what do you care if your brother gets attention and she's kind of thinking about it, maybe like, yeah, what, what do I care? You know, maybe I can just kind of focus on myself. This is kind of wasted energy. And like, look, there's this guy right in front of me who maybe she finds a attract.

Erin:

Why are you so focused on him getting the attention? Then maybe you get a opportunity to do different things, or you can get attention in different ways. If he wants to be the goo goo gaga baby to the parents and get away like that, she could show that she's mature and she's not gonna mess things up, or, you know, just live.

Tanya:

Yeah. She can just kind of do her own thing, and she doesn't have to worry about that. And it seems like she really kind of, so something kind of shifts in her perspective because at the end she could have totally, you know, fares when he is trying to get back and be back in bed. He's running through the neighborhood and he gets locked out of the back door. the principal thinks he got him, principal Rooney or whatever, thinks he got him. Jeanie opens up the door and is like, oh, you've wandered off. We've been worried sick, you know, and kind of covers for him It was kind of like, Hey, maybe this could actually be something that, you know, we could be kind of friendly towards each other. and this could be a decent sibling relationship and I don't have to carry this kind of bitterness with me.

Erin:

Mm-hmm.

Tanya:

you know, and maybe that would kind of change the dynamic. It does seem like he's very like, oh my gosh. Wow. She's

Erin:

Yeah. Why is she doing that? Yeah, it's. Shocking.

Tanya:

Yeah. And then, because I think, Jeanie's more upset that she finds the wallet and she realizes that the principal had broken into the house And gotten her kind of, you know, dragged down to the

Erin:

Yeah. So somebody really, and then also it's like proof that she wasn't making it up. That she wasn't crazy, she wasn't doing a false statement, you know, she knew somebody broke into the house. I mean, she had kicked him in the nose. But now she's like, look, I have your wallet.

Tanya:

guess it's just so crazy to me because when that scene happens, I'm like, how would you not go to your parents and be like, look, his wallet was, look at him. You know what I mean? Yeah. And like I, I know that's not as funny and I know that doesn't like support it, but I'm just like, now we would, we wouldn't even be like our principal was like leering around. Yeah. What a creep. Yeah. He just like breaks in and like, or just walks in and. Yeah. but I, I did really like. Jeannie, during that time when, when the principal does break in and she's on the intercom and she's like, I just want you to know I have, I have my parents' gun and a raging case of, of herpes. It's just like, do not attack

Erin:

Yeah.

Tanya:

But yeah, her character becomes kind of more lovable mm-hmm. towards the end. Like you can see her, you can kind of understand that. And it's so funny that it's Charlie Sheen that helps her to realize that.

Erin:

Yeah. And i's funny because in that, even then, he's probably like all of like, maybe, I don't know if it was before some of his other movies, but he looks a lot older than whatever he's supposed to be. Like, if he's supposed to be like 17 or 18 he looks.'cause he probably really was a little weathered.

Tanya:

He definitely looks like in his twenties at least, But yeah, he looks rough for sure. And again, maybe that was, I don't know if that was makeup

Erin:

it could have been. I mean, maybe he was straight and narrow then.

Tanya:

I doubt it, but I don't know. I think he showed up to work like that. They were like, yeah, I think so too.

Erin:

right, I'm a little hungover.

Tanya:

they just went with it. They were like, yep. The attire, the hair, the face, everything. Let's keep it ready. Yeah. this is just an endearing classic. This is, I think this is named like one of the top something classic movies for like teens or something. Like adolescence. By some list. it is recognized as a, yeah. You know,

Erin:

pretty classic

Tanya:

movie in that regard.

Erin:

Yeah, I know it came out when I,'cause I am a little older than you. It came out when I was in middle school and I think I probably first watched it in middle school, just a little bit after.'cause you know, Blockbuster, you could still see it within the first few months So a lot of us saw Blockbuster current movies. Yep. Blockbuster.

Tanya:

We had to wait. We had to wait. Younguns. Okay. We had to wait. We didn't get it.

Erin:

We didn't get it the same week, but we did have to, we, we could still get it within the same year, like a few, several months.

Tanya:

Yeah. It's still okay. It still hits me even now when a movie comes out in the theaters and like you can. Rent it off of Amazon Prime. Yeah, like a week later. I'm still like gobsmacked about that. Yeah. I'm just like, why? Sometimes you can even do

Erin:

it, sometimes you can even rent it while it's still in the theater.

Tanya:

Really? Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, you had to pay a

Erin:

lot more. But, so there are sometimes that they do that.

Tanya:

So it's kind of like, I mean, I think movie theaters are just not, like they used to just be the sole point for movies coming out. Right. And like new stuff coming out. But now it's just like the power is taken away by a lot of these streaming services. Yeah.

Erin:

and people like comfort. They wanna, like, a lot of people don't wanna, even though they're like, okay, we have the reclining chairs in the movie theater. You get to choose your own seat if you want. They're trying to make it a lot more appealing. But I think some people are like. Okay. That, or sit on my couch and fall asleep. While I'm watching the movie.

Tanya:

And I can also like stop it and go to the bathroom instead of like running out and wondering if I'm gonna miss something.

Erin:

Get everyone mad.

Tanya:

Yeah, I remember that like blockbuster. Waiting until it was on tv, you know, like that type of thing. Actually, I remember waiting till it was on TV and then Blockbuster, and then even when you could get Netflix, like the DVDs you could mail in.

Erin:

Oh yeah. And mail

Tanya:

out. I thought oh my gosh, that's so convenient.

Erin:

Yeah.

Tanya:

And now I just think of like the streaming services we have and like what is the future gonna be?

Erin:

I don't know. It's just, yeah, there's always so much. okay, let me see what I have. I don't have enough to watch.

Tanya:

And there's literally, so much.

Erin:

last night I was like, okay, where can I find Ferris Bueller? Because I, I was like, I have to rewatch this.'cause I'm like, I've watched it a lot, but I'm like, I need to re-see it. So I just was like, I have like, what is that? Paramount? Paramount or whatever with Amazon. So I watch, I was like, okay, it's free. Just had to watch a couple ads. But even that we're so conditioned, like ads. I don't wanna watch ads, but it's like, yeah, it's, it's like one minute and then you watch the movie. No big deal.

Tanya:

Yeah. And that can be a nice. Like built-in bathroom break or something. Make your popcorn, make

Erin:

your popcorn time or something. I don't,

Tanya:

I don't mind ads. I'm not a big, like, I mean, if, if, if they are coming in for like three minutes at a time every 10 minutes Yeah. I don't, I don't love that. But I don't mind ads if they're just kind of brief and they put'em in here and there. Yeah. Because I'm like, I, I kind of need those breaks.

Erin:

those ads, I mean, they're usually. What is it usually like a hundred, 104 a minute and 45 seconds or something like that. It's usually some stupid number. Yeah. And yeah, it's pretty quick.

Tanya:

Yeah. I really think, in continuing on with the movie, with the ending with Cameron, where Cameron just lets out, how frustrated he is that his dad, loves this car, pays more attention to his car. Than he does to his own son. and he kind of kicks the car. Then it ends

Erin:

up

Tanya:

flying out the window. Yeah. down below because they, they live on like a stilted, beautiful wooded like in the woods house. Yeah. but I found that to be, I really was like, wow. Okay. Yeah. He. I understand that anger. I don't think I got that when I was younger. Yeah. I don't think I understood. I was just like, he kind of annoyed me, honestly. Like, why are you doing that, Cameron?

Erin:

Why are you being such a brat?

Tanya:

yeah.

Erin:

It does make, you know,'cause he's just so, he's like, he each, each hit, each punch is just like, you know, he likes his car more than me. He is like the, you know, just basically like, okay, we couldn't set the odometer back so. You know, he is gonna find out one way or another. So I'm just so sick of this car, and I'm sick of how he treats me and how he treats inanimate objects better than he treats me and mom. And he cares about money and status and he doesn't even drive this car. So it just like, he, it just like every time, and I think Ferris and Sloane are just standing there, like, at first Ferris is gonna stop'em, and then it's like, okay. You know, like, you know, then he doesn't, but I think they're just shocked seeing Cameron actually have a motion like that instead of just going inward or just, you know, just Yeah.

Tanya:

out.

Erin:

Yeah.

Tanya:

Yeah. And it, it seems good for him until the car flies through the window and then it's like, oh wow. He's really gonna find out, yeah, what did I do? That's no hide in that, but. Yeah. And, how Ferris, I did appreciate how Ferris was like, let me take the slack, because I kind of feel like he should have, yeah. So I got him into this.

Erin:

Cameron should have said yes. It was 100% Ferris's. fault and idea.

Tanya:

For sure, for sure. I know Cameron was the one that slapped it and hid it or whatever, and ultimately caused it to go backwards. Still. Yeah. it's absolutely, but Ferris made the extra

Erin:

200 miles on the car because Yeah. Like,'cause the idiot, um, parking attendants were like, was like 3000, yeah.

Tanya:

3000 miles.

Erin:

Yeah.

Tanya:

that's how much I wish. I'm like, how the heck, where did they drive?

Erin:

Yeah. Where did they go?

Tanya:

But yeah. And it, really is kind of sad when I look at it, you know, now because we're obviously like, oh, he's this trauma and he's right. He's willing to take this on and like, he wants to take this heat.'cause he is like, oh, this will open up the conversation. This will really, there's kind of no going back from this. Right. I can't like live this way.

Erin:

Right.

Tanya:

Which is such a, that reminds me of therapy a little bit where somebody kind of reaches their breaking point. And they're just like, I. Whether or not I need to say this to my parent, you know, kind of thing.

Erin:

I don't wanna be this person anymore. I wanna show who I am, a different part of myself, or I'm not willing to always be everyone's punching bag or to be ignored or whatever it is that was happening with Cameron.

Tanya:

He was taken in too much. He didn't wanna be depressed anymore. He didn't wanna mm-hmm. Take that in. I just really hope, like we were talking about, I really hope his dad is not like, abusive. Yeah. His dad didn't beat

Erin:

him.

Tanya:

yeah. Hopefully that does turn it around for, for Cameron. Right. I know these are fictional characters, but that's, that's our, our hope for as therapists. Right. definitely a check-in moment after that to be like, what happens, you know? Yeah. Hope everything's okay.

Erin:

You okay? Cameron? Do you need to talk?

Tanya:

yeah.

Erin:

but

Tanya:

yeah, and I think this is just a really, it's got some pretty good music in there. You know, some awesome eighties music and eighties. Hijinx eighties people. It's, it's just very classically eighties. the hairstyles, my God, the mother,

Erin:

lots of people loved wavy, curly hair in the eighties.

Tanya:

Yeah. And then the, the mother, Ferris's mother is like, how it's that like shortcut, but it's kind of shaggy and kind of like, yeah, it's just so eighties. It just reminds me of eighties for, for women.

Erin:

and her, the dad and the mom are both the power couple.

Tanya:

Yeah, she's into real estate and he does like some high, high end business deals or something. yeah, so it was a great movie. I think I would still watch that at different points. it's not a movie that I would necessarily call a comfort movie, but I think it is something that I. I like, and I think it has a lot of good points.

Erin:

Yeah. If it's on, I'm glad we chose it. I mean, it's definitely, you know, it's good to bring, I like that we go from this period. Sometimes we'll have a lot of current stuff. Well, not a lot, but we will have current stuff that we're doing nineties and eighties. But, you know, it's a mix.

Tanya:

don't

Erin:

know.

Tanya:

Yeah. Yeah. So I, if we're, if we're all finished, I do have a question. Okay. That, so if you were to skip school or skip work or whatever. Okay. And you had like a day where you could just go spend, because apparently Ferris is just independently wealthy. Yeah. And just go like, spend money, what. What city would you choose to spend the day in? To play? To play hooky? Oh,

Erin:

anywhere so I could just magically transport, like, because taking a plane would take forever. So if like, if we could,'cause if you're ski, if it's just one day, so if we had like a transport, you know, like so we could just go there and then come back.

Tanya:

Yeah, I would say within the United States probably. Yeah. Yeah. I know that's kind of, you know, less fun. But yeah, just probably somewhere in the US Would you like be like in a big city or,

Erin:

yeah, I know we've talked before that like our love of big cities is not. Huge. But, I do like I mean, besides Boston, I do really like Chicago and I do like, Washington DC too.'cause then you get to do all the museums and the, Parks and stuff like that. And there's good food. there's public transport, you know, I think I'd probably do Washington, DC but I really did like Chicago when I went there too, and I thought it was so clean and so pretty and just really, yeah. I was so impressed with how Clean Chicago was. Yeah. So it'd be one of those two. and then just, you know, I just have all the money so I can just go anywhere, I guess, for the day.

Tanya:

Yeah. I think that would be fun. I would definitely, like, I think Chicago would be on my list. I would like to do different kind of artsy things and like kind of try out different food places. And so it'd probably be Chicago or New York, even though I'm not big fan of big cities and things like that. But I think if I could just kind of go and. Just have fun exploring different things. Probably more New York. I think I would just kind of wanna see like, what could I, Get into, I always see all these random popup events and I'm like, that would be fun.

Erin:

yeah, I guess New York, if you had money so you wouldn't have to be stuck on public transportation. I would not wanna take public transportation in New York. No, thank you.

Tanya:

Yeah. I think you can. I mean, I think it's like, you know, you can walk, you can be a certain area. You can do walk. Lot of walking.

Erin:

Yeah.

Tanya:

Yeah,

Erin:

I haven't been there in forever.

Tanya:

I would go to museums. I would go see Broadway plays. Yeah, I would go to some restaurants, go to some art popups.

Erin:

That would be nice.

Tanya:

Like that would be really, really fun. Like anything that, I don't know, they always have experimental, weird stuff that I just think like these popups, I think. I think it would be fun. But that's what I would want to do. Which I'm surprised. I'm surprised. I was like, why am I thinking that? I do not like New York at all, but I do think of, yeah. But if you had

Erin:

the money to just be like, all right, I'm just there for a day. I'm gonna get a show, go to the museum, do this. You know, it just, you're in and out. You're not stuck living there.

Tanya:

Yeah. exactly. But yeah. So that is, Ferris Bueller Day off. There was talk of a sequel. At some point they decided not to go with it because they realized that this was just a moment in time that they captured It kind of wouldn't be cool to follow them to college.

Erin:

Right.

Tanya:

So they couldn't really get a good script outta that.

Erin:

Yeah. And, and it ended up being like, remember those movies? earnest, Ernest. Ernest goes to camp. Yeah. Ernest goes to work. My gosh. Ernest goes to.

Tanya:

Ernest goes on vacation. Yeah, it'd be like that.

Erin:

Like Ferris goes to college. Ferris gets a job.

Tanya:

I think it would've been kind of, kind of like, I don't know, hoaxy like that. Yeah. It wouldn't have really felt, yeah. I think that's probably why they ultimately decided, like, this is just like lightning in a bottle kind of moments captured there. Just keep it there kind of thing. I think that era and probably now they overdo it with remakes and sequels. Yeah. That just are not. Necessary. I think some of them I'm like, oh, that's cool. I'm really glad about that because I love the thing, but I still am like, Hmm, it's maybe not the best.

Erin:

Yeah. Like I was happy with the Karate Kid remake of like that Cobra Kai show. I haven't finished watching it yet, but that I really liked. I was happy that they brought back the old characters, but sometimes you're like, do I really wanna see a remake of this or,

Tanya:

yeah. I really like the Dexter reprisal. Yeah, I haven't seen that. But now they're doing even more reprisals. so they're doing like an early one and then they're doing another like Dexter reprisal? Reprisal in the summer.

Erin:

silly.

Tanya:

so I, I will, I definitely will watch it, but I'm just like, why? But I love Dexter so much, so I won't question it, but

Erin:

yeah.

Tanya:

Anyways, we hope that you liked this discussion on Ferris Bueller's Day Off and all the random stuff that we always eventually talk

Erin:

about.

Tanya:

so let us know what you think. Anything to add in, any future ideas. We love all that stuff. We're on socials, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube.

Erin:

Yep.

Tanya:

let us know if you have any ideas or any, anything that you think, anything you wanna add, we'd love to hear from you. And don't forget, stay wicked

Erin:

and keep your mind well. All right. Have a, have a great day and great week. Bye-bye.

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Tanya Santos

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