MovieChat Forums > Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) Discussion > More things that make NO SENSE in this m...

More things that make NO SENSE in this movie

posted 2 years ago by avortac4 (3744)
11 replies | jump to latest

- Why doesn't Jean tell? EVER?! She could tell at SO many points to SO many people. Yet, she remains SILENT. For example, "Mom, look who we almost ran over, it's Ferris!" - or just "Mom, look, it's Ferris!". BUSTED! How about Jean teaming up with Ed to catch Ferris?

She could tell everyone he's ditching, instead of just calling him a 'trouser snake'.

In the beginning, she shouldn't whine, complain and lament how she wants out of the family, she should tell the parents that Ferris is FAKING IT and is not really ill. She doesn't.. for reasons?

I know she's trying to call Ed when she finds the doll on the bed, but at no point during the drive home with her mom does she mention how Ferris is ditching? What? Why not?

I also never quite understood what kind of sense the 'thanks for driving him home' makes. Who is she lying to? Ed knows he didn't drive him home. Ferris knows Ed didn't drive him home. Jean knows.. I mean, EVERYONE KNOWS he didn't drive him home! Is she giving him a 'plausible excuse' to remain on their property or what the heck? Why doesn't Ed say 'I didn't drive him home, what are you talking about?'

What is her ruse here, and why is there any need to lie at this point anyway? She could just tell Ferris to get in and go to bed, then ask Ed what he's doing on their property. In any case, I never understood this really weird and complicated 'thanks for driving him home'-bit. Why would ED, of all people in a city full of people that LOVE FERRIS, drive him home?? Doesn't he have a job to do? He's not a hospital taxi for sick students, is he?

- What kind of sense does it make that the Doorbell-tape would have to be rewound every time the doorbell rings? There might not be enough time between two doorbell pushes, so the second ring might not get a response until much, much later. Why wouldn't Ferris just tape many responses in a row, so all the system would have to do is to keep playing when the doorbell rings.

To add, this would keep the whole thing fresh and varied, so no one would suspect a thing, instead of only having ONE response that repeats and painstakingly rewinds every time, which WOULD make someone suspicious.

WHY do it the clunkier, harder, more demanding way that keeps the message repetitive and suspicious, plus throws off the timing if anyone presses the doorbell multiple times, when he could SO EASILY do it the much better way (on every level)?

- How many times has he been absent? He says "This is my ninth (9th) sickday" and mentions how it's hard to come up with new illnesses. This implies he has been faking all kinds of 'old' illnesses eight times before. Therefore, the parents should know this is his ninth (9th) time.

WHY would the mother not know (or 'remember') him being absent nine times (so this would make it his TENTH sickday, not NINTH!)? He CLEARLY has to go through a VERY meticulously-planned, thoroughly thought-out scheme just to fake illness for ONE DAY. How can he have skipped 'nine times' _WITHOUT_ her mom remembering him having been sick nine times?

WHAT did he do those other times where the mother was completely unaware and oblivious to the fact that Ferris was skipping? WHY didn't he do that also this time?

Why would he say it's getting tough coming up with 'new illnesses' (why would they have to be 'new' anyway? Can't someone get the same illness a few times during a year?), if he can skip WITHOUT faking an illness so easily that his mom doesn't even know he skipped nine times?

His illness-faking seems to be based on a very formulaic list of things to make it semi-serious, but also to avoid the doctor's office. So why is he giving us only ONE list, and not his FULL menu of things he has done (nine times, remember)? Why would he tell us these things as these are some kind of rudimentary basics, and at the same time, imply that he does something DIFFERENT every time (rendering his advice moot without more explanations on how to VARY the list - did he lick his palms NINE TIMES already?)

The thing is, the movie is trying to have its cake and eat it, too (I think this should be 'keep the cake intact', not 'have the cake', because you still have the cake after getting it, and 'having it' for lunch or something, until you poop it out (after which, you of course won't have it anymore).

I mean, either make Ferris do this complicated plan EVERY TIME (and somehow Jean never figured out anything until today, and no one got suspicious about the doorbell thing always being the same every time Ferris is supposedly sick), or SHOW US AN ALTERNATIVE that he used for so many times that it is a SHOCK to the mom that he has been absent NINE TIMES.

You can't have it both ways, movie!

Really, let's also try to keep your record straight - is it eight (9th sickday would imply this), nine (the number Ed and the computer have) or ten times (this would be the tenth time, if he has already been absent nine times)?

So how many times has Ferris REALLY been absent?

[–] avortac4 (3744) 2 years ago

He can't have been already absent nine times, if what Ferris says about '9th sickday' is correct. The movie is contradicting itself!

(It's a similar fallacy to think you turn 20 during your 20th birthday - if you think about it, you realize you turn 21 during your 20th birthday, because your FIRST birthday - the day you were born - you are 0 years old, and your SECOND birthday is when you turn ONE (1) year old, but people on this planet seem to lack the brain capacity to think this far)

- Why does the number have to go down one by one? This is not some complicated spreadsheet (and even if it was..), this is just a simple database or heck, it could even be just a text file. WHY can't Ferris just erase the number 9 and input number 2? It makes NO SENSE that he would have to sloooowly go down to number two.

Also, WHAT would stop Ed from just reversing what Ferris did?

Ed KNOWS the real number, he should be able to put it back.

Also, maybe disconnect the modem from the principal's computer, or at least uninstall the server software or whatever allows Ferris to connect to it - computers can't just be connected to like that, you have to have some kind of server or BBS or terminal software active that not only answers to an INCOMING CALL (which should be very loud and detectable, or maybe even make some phones ring in Ed's office), but also accepts EVERY SINGLE RANDOM CONNECTION without authentication!

What kind of sense would it even make JUST to think that Ed would have a DEDICATED MODEM LINE on his work computer that he needs to keep track of student data? Why would he ALLOW incoming connections to that computer?

Nothing about this makes any sense, even if it happened today, you can't just log into someone else's computer just by telnetting to it or something, even if it is connected to the internet. You have to know passwords and the host computer would know the IP of the connecting computer and so on and so forth..

[–] strntz (12255) 2 years ago

Are you OK? We're all a bit worried about you.

[–] Seperatrix (1220) 2 years ago

You forgot to mention "Ferris talks to the audience -- THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!"

But seriously (so to speak), It's a surreal comedy that establishes it's tongue-in-cheek nature at the very beginning. So while your objections might stick if the film presented itself differently, I think we're intended to go along for the ride and "get" what we're supposed to get out of it.

Sorry to not address your issues specifically, you put a lot of work into your post. But the only part of the film I squirm at a little is the forced exposition of the sister on the phone with the police, acknowledging their concern about her brother. But . . . that IS the running joke of the film after all.

[–] JaqenHgar (729) 2 years ago

He can't have been already absent nine times, if what Ferris says about '9th sickday' is correct. The movie is contradicting itself!

How so? If attendance has already been taken for the day, his absence would have been recorded and entered into the system prior to Rooney contacting Ferris's mother, so it stands to reason that the system would have already displayed 9.

WHAT would stop Ed from just reversing what Ferris did?

Nothing would, but Rooney's blind hatred of Ferris and his desire to bust him overrides the logical move to change the data back to it's original number.

[–] legnadibrom (6233) 2 years ago

have you ever enjoyed a movie?

[–] Redsfan001 (6147) 2 years ago

I visualize you watching this movie with a notepad, pencil and and your thumb resting on the pause button.

Movies are meant to be watched with popcorn.

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 2 years ago

Movies are meant to be watched with popcorn.

1 Fuck popcorn.
2 I watch a movie any way I please. If new tech allows me to do all that you mentioned, who says that I should not do it? This crapfest is barely worthy of streaming on my fridge door.

[–] ak47wong (576) 2 years ago

I'm picturing Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons.

[–] Redsfan001 (6147) 2 years ago

😀 Yes. Has a "Everything wrong with..." file.

[–] 123Guy (7281) 2 years ago

Are you listening to any of the replies here?

Are you learning yet?

Looks like you just puke out all this pointless stuff, then don't reply.

[–] Narwhale37 (1227) 2 years ago

"Why don't characters think like I do?" Because they are you.

"Why don't they explain the complications of doing this constantly?"
Because it's only about the one day. The complications such as Ferris needing to go to the doctor's eventually would happen on a different one that involves a different plan.