Lessons Learned from Cameron Frye

The night John Hughes died, I watched "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." I had to watch one of his movies, my own small memorial, and that story about an untouchable kid who plays hooky with his best friend and best girl, and has possibly the best day of his life was my choice.

I wasn't old enough to see the film when it came out in theaters (I was actually too young for a lot of his movies, I think "Uncle Buck" may have been the first of his films I saw on the big screen), but it's made an impact on my life nonetheless. My brother and I have been quoting lines back and forth to each other for years. When he graduated from high school, I got a "Ferris Bueller" poster framed for him. When I visited Chicago, I spent time in front of Georges Seurat's "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" not only as a student of art history, but as an '80s kid following in Cameron Frye's footsteps.

The movie is bright and silly and fantastic, exactly the way a 10 year old thinks life as a 17 year old is going to be. It's also sweet and authentic and honest, I doubt I'd have watched it countless times if it hadn't been. I've related to each of the characters in different ways over the years, but probably Cameron the most. I've never been as plugged-in or confident or slick as Ferris, and probably never will be, but I can understand Cameron's nervousness and frustration, his tension and anxiety. I can understand why he's scared and why he lashes out. I can also understand the total freedom he feels after destroying his father's priceless car, no longer frightened after finally facing everything down.

That post-car-crash Zen Cameron came into my head today at work. I'm not confronting anything as large as he was, but I have my own fears to face, my own stuff to get over, and I have that image of a calm, smiling Cameron to turn back to as I'm dealing with all of it. Pop culture can be so powerful that way, the movies, books, songs and television shows we've embraced inspiring, comforting and guiding us through the various ups and downs in our lives. Some artists are more gifted at hitting a nerve than others, and John Hughes was definitely amongst that group.