# \_\_Ferris Bueller\_ plot question (\*Spoilers\*) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591 "2013-12-31T21:27:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/1 "2013-12-31T21:27:31Z")
So I watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for the 20th time, and at the climactic final scene something occurred to me, besides noting what a shame it is that Jennifer Gray killed her career with a nose job: Yes, she had the wallet of Rooney when she opened the door and saw Ferris caught. Why did she rescue Ferris, whose unmasking governed her every move, up to the last second before she opened the door? Perhaps she recognized the wisdom of Charlie Sheen at the police station, who asked her what she was “really” mad about? (Was that Sheen’s first film? He was great.) Anyway, I’m chewing on this while I try to work out the dynamics in _Antichrist_. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/2 "2013-12-31T21:39:26Z")
I always assumed it was indeed “the wisdom of Charlie Sheen” setting in just at that moment in which she held Ferris’ future in her hands… And a check of IMDb shows that Charlie Sheen’s first credited role had been two years earlier in [Red Dawn](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087985/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_76). ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/3 "2013-12-31T21:43:04Z")
I always assumed it was because they now had a shared enemy in Mr Rooney. If she busted Ferris, Rooney would win. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/4 "2013-12-31T21:59:52Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > And a check of IMDb shows that Charlie Sheen’s first credited role had been two years earlier in [Red Dawn](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087985/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_76). Hey, they both have Sheen and Grey in them. So close, right? (Now if John Hughes had made _Red Dawn_. One wonders how the sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads of Shermer Illinois would do against the commies.) ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/5 "2013-12-31T22:01:53Z")
I think it showed personal growth. She had blamed all her problems on Ferris, but through Charlie Sheen (somehow), she realized that her resentment of her brother was causing most of her misery, not anything he was actually doing to her. Also, yeah, Rooney broke into her house and scared the crap out of her, so no love lost there. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/6 "2013-12-31T23:20:44Z")
I just wanted to add that her kicking Rooney three times in the face is one of the funniest scenes in movie history. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/7 "2013-12-31T23:36:43Z")
Regarding her nose, she actually had just gone in for minor rhinoplasty (not sure exactly what the plan was) and the doctor botched it. Actually, I think she had to have two separate surgeries. The first rhinoplasty was the botched one and the second was to repair the damage. She was quite upset about it and blamed the botched surgery for tanking her career. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/8 "2014-01-01T00:26:50Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > She was quite upset about it and blamed the botched surgery for tanking her career. I think she was right. She’s practically unrecognizable. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/9 "2014-01-01T02:49:26Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I think she was right. She’s practically unrecognizable. She got turned into a normal, good-looking girl. Which _obviously_ isn’t as cool as quirky. As a quirky (well, ok, funny-looking) guy, I find this reassuring. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/10 "2014-01-01T04:04:30Z")
Also, Ferris would owe her a favor. 😉 What I don’t get is why she was charged with filing a false police report. I mean, technically, Rooney WAS an intruder. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/11 "2014-01-01T05:56:05Z")
I think that was because he was a principal and the cops sympathized with him trying to cut down on truancy. And I get that the movie unfairly demonizes him for doing his job for much of the film, but then the whole breaking-and-entering thing is over the top. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/12 "2014-01-01T06:14:06Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I just wanted to add that her kicking Rooney three times in the face is one of the funniest scenes in movie history. Come on now. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/13 "2014-01-01T07:18:38Z")
I wonder if there’s an interpretation consistent with the theory that Ferris was a hallucination of Cameron’s. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/14 "2014-01-01T09:42:12Z")
> [@digs](#): > > She got turned into a normal, good-looking girl. Which _obviously_ isn’t as cool as quirky. She got turned into a normal, good-looking, _generic_ girl. I must have seen her picture at least a dozen times since the surgery and I still couldn’t pick her out of a lineup. And each time I see her, I feel like Guy Pearce’s character from Memento, thinking, “Who’s that? Oh - so that’s what Jennifer Gray looks like now. Good to know.” ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/15 "2014-01-01T13:06:51Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I think that was because he was a principal and the cops sympathized with him trying to cut down on truancy. And I get that the movie unfairly demonizes him for doing his job for much of the film, but then the whole breaking-and-entering thing is over the top. Plus, he was long gone and she had no proof. She didn’t find the wallet until that last scene. (Possibly, she had it but didn’t produce it til that last scene.) Yes, common enemy, Sheen (Winning!) wisdom setting in, and a little bit of “You won fair and square, Ferris” thinking (remember the competitive grinning at each other as they met in the intersection, her in the car with MILF, him running in the street). ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/16 "2014-01-01T14:38:19Z")
\For Jennifer Grey fans, you should check out the movie ‘Wind’ 1992. She is just gorgeous in it, and it’s a pretty good flick. \ ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/17 "2014-01-01T14:56:32Z")
I always interpreted her actions as saying, " I own you now. If you try ANYTHING, I can rat you out. Your days of having everything work out for you are over." She finally has dirt on him, which puts her in the catbird seat. A rare victory of her over Ferris. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/18 "2014-01-01T15:04:51Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I think she was right. She’s practically unrecognizable. In 1999, she was on [a short-lived sitcom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Like,_You_Know...), playing herself and I believe her nose job was a running joke. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/19 "2014-01-01T15:42:40Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Plus, he was long gone and she had no proof. She didn’t find the wallet until that last scene. (Possibly, she had it but didn’t produce it til that last scene.) Oo, right, I forgot about the timing on that. It’s been a while. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591/20 "2014-01-01T16:06:21Z")
She also had a recurring guest role on “Friends” as Rachel’s Maid Of Honor, Mindy, IIRC. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/__ferris-bueller_-plot-question-spoilers/677591.md?page=2)