Milkman's Day Off

On Cameron's house:
The place is like a museum. It's very beautiful and very cold, and you're not allowed to touch anything.
—Ferris, Ferris Bueller's Day Off


On Cameron's father's Ferrari:
Ferris, he never drives it! He just rubs it with a diaper!
—Cameron, Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Milkman has a strange childhood. In addition to repressed memories, we see that he lives a life without much fun due to his domineering father, and he yearns for a break from the controlled life he lives. This isn't far from a story we see in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off (as usual, SPOILER ALERT). Cameron is Ferris Bueller's best friend, and we see that, due to his controlling parents, he doesn't have much fun outside of his friendship with Ferris, and he works himself to the point of being frequently sick.

Both stories have a similar theme. Due to their restrictive lives, they both seek out fun in some way. Milkman yearns for flight and is obsessed with anything that can do so. He also describes feeling trapped by both parents during his ride in the Packard where he is forced to ride sitting between his parents facing backwards. Cameron, laying in bed sick sings, "when Cameron was in Egypt's land... let my Cameron go!" early in the movie. We can see that he too feels trapped and wants to escape in some way. They both go about this in similar ways.

First, they have a friend that gives them a glimpse of what freedom they seek. Milkman has Guitar, an older boy from a totally different world than Milkman's familiar with. Guitar is poor and well liked in the neighborhood, as opposed to Milkman who is rich and hated because of his father. Cameron has Ferris. Ferris is fun, outgoing, and liked by everyone—the school secretary even points out that everyone loves him and "they think he's a righteous dude." While Ferris isn't poor, we can see that Cameron is well-to-do by his family's house, and his father's car.

Second, their friend helps give them a glimpse of what they're missing. Guitar brings Milkman to Pilate's to the first time, who is described as being a breath of fresh air—she's the antithesis of everything that stifles him: his family's money, his controlling father, etc. Pilate is poor, but she doesn't seem to mind, and her house is chaotic and messy. She's not controlling though she's authoritative.

Ferris takes Cameron on an adventure. They skip school, and go to a fancy restaurant, an art gallery, a Cubs game, and a parade all in one day. Ferris specifically defies Cameron's father (who doesn't like Ferris; he and Mr. Rooney, Ferris' principal, seem to be the only ones to hate him) and takes the Ferrari that he never drives.

Which brings us to another similarity. Macon (who also hates Guitar and Pilate—another connection!) has a Packard that he only drives once a week in these ceremonial drives that he doesn't enjoy. He drives the car, but people make fun of him because he doesn't drive the car. He just putts along town at twenty miles an hour, making a show of his wealth, and a show that the people laugh at him for. It's no surprise that both Cameron and Milkman can't stand this type of a life.

Both Milkman and Cameron stand up to their fathers as well. After Macon beats Ruth, Milkman's Mother, Milkman springs into action and attacks his father and threatens him. Cameron accidentally wrecks his dad's Ferrari, and Ferris blames himself (it's partly his fault) and offers to take the heat from Cameron's father, but Cameron says that he wants to stand up to his father for once. 

Now that we see the connection between the stories, what does this tell us about Ferris Bueller if we know what happens to Milkman. Will Cameron just drift back into old habits? Will he become a child as he grows up, trying to get at the childhood he couldn't have before he was taught how? Will he start to become his father, despite it being the thing he hates more than anything? Perhaps happy endings aren't always endings after all.