 |
| Image: Paramount Pictures |
Seen in FBDO
Some interesting details about Ferris Bueller can be found on a portion of his student record seen for a short second as Mr. Rooney points to his computer screen at approximately 00:09:52 in the film. This comes at the point during his phone conversation with Mrs. Bueller when he insists that Ferris has been absent from school nine times this semester.
 |
| Image: Paramount Pictures |
Description
Taking a close look at Ferris’s information, there is a lot that can be unpacked here.
 |
| Image: The Ferris File |
Ferris’s student ID number is 38-106 and if you want to reach the Bueller family by phone, you can call them at 555-6452.
Everything else we see gives us a look at Ferris’s daily class schedule.
While they are
watching the baseball game, Ferris says to Cameron that if they played by the rules, “right now [they’d] be in gym” – a fact that does check out with Gym being just after lunch in Ferris’s schedule. At that time, most afternoon games at Wrigley Field began at 1:20pm.
This screenshot is also an argument for
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off taking place at some point in the late spring as the first two of three school year grading periods have ended by this point. That, or the second grading period is underway and the column for a third grading period goes unused in the Shermer High student database. Either way, if Ferris has been absent nine times in the current grading period, it’s safe to assume that these absences did not all stack up within the first few weeks and that it is fairly close to the end of the final grading period.
Considering the two grading periods versus three, it appears on Mr. Rooney’s screen that Shermer High School operates on a tri-mester calendar (three grading periods in a school year) and a somewhat modified version of a block daily schedule (classes do not necessarily meet every day throughout the week). This, however, contradicts the multiple references throughout the film to “semesters” by Ferris and Mr. Rooney.
It’s probably a safer bet to assume that Shermer High is actually on a semester calendar because Mr. Rooney would never make such an egregious error by using the wrong terminology in his professional setting. If that’s the case, it’s likely that his blood boils every time he looks at a student’s record and thinks about the incompetent school employee who opted for a database system that doesn’t properly reflect Shermer’s operational practices.
Moving on, although Ben Stein is credited as an Economics teacher, Ferris does not have anything close to an Econ class anywhere in his schedule. But it’s no surprise to see Ferris enrolled in a Computer Science course considering his clear knack for making the most of his own computer and other technology.
Finally, despite his lack of interest in the rules and boundaries of his school, it appears that Ferris is still a solid student with several upper level courses and no grade lower than a B during his senior year. But we know he has the ability to change his attendance record … so who’s to say he hasn’t been assigning his own grades as well?
This is where a look at Ferris’s computer screen becomes important.
[A huge thanks to my pal, Wayne, for pointing out this detail!]
 |
| Image: Paramount Pictures |
Ferris has just changed his total number of absences from nine to two when he shares with viewers that he “asked for a car [but] got a computer” (00:10:04). The view of his computer screen is about as quick as the one we get of Mr. Rooney’s, but it’s just as telling.
 |
| Image: The Ferris File |
Aside from the phone number missing from the top, the biggest take-away here comes from a look at Ferris’s grades. Most are the same or close to the grades seen in Mr. Rooney’s office, but Ferris has clearly done some work to manipulate his grade in Gym and in Computer Science. Sure, there’s some continuity arguments to be made here since the better grades are seen in the school office before they are seen on Ferris’s screen, but there’s no denying that there is a significant difference in his lowest grades.
Clearly, Ferris has been adjusting more than just his attendance record.
Notes
The detail provided by this quick glimpse at Mr. Rooney’s computer screen was something I put together many years ago on my (now-defunct) personal blog. I can’t say with any certainty that this was the first time this information had been shared, but I certainly don’t recall seeing it anywhere prior to that. Today, this information can be found through multiple online sources.
Either way, as a high school counselor, I’ve spent more time during my career than I’d like to admit staring at computer screens filled with information just like this. For that reason, maybe I find Ferris’s class schedule a little more interesting than I should. (TL)
