The 1986 film, written and directed by John Hughes entitled 'Ferris Beuller's Day off' is a classic text that has gained a cult following and is still widely honoured throughout the world of film even today, 30 years after the release of the film. The text follows the reckless Ferris Beuller, as he takes a day off school and uses it to have a day unlike any other with his beautiful girlfriend, Sloane, and emotionally unstable best friend, Cameron. Throughout the text, it is obvious that Ferris portrays the Id in Freud's theory of the structure of the personality, though his reckless behaviour. Cameron is clearly the Superego in the text and Sloane acts as the Ego.
The initial quality that I believe labels Ferris as the Id is the sole fact that he comes up with a grand scheme in order to take the day off school, something that an Ego or Superego would never consider. What makes Cameron different, however, is the fact that he has a legitimate reason to be off school, as he is genuinely sick, as opposed to Ferris. Sloane gets out of school due to a scheme of Ferris', in which he phones the school pretending to be her father, therefore furthering the idea that Ferris is the Id, and as Sloane does not have an actual reason to be out of school she cannot be the Superego, but she goes along with the plan, making her the Ego. The next factor in Ferris representing the Id is the fact that he convinces Cameron to 'borrow' his dad's 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder, to which Cameron is very reluctant, almost definitely due to the abusive nature of his father, which is never explicitly stated but is hinted towards throughout the film, which could have lead towards his Superego tendencies, as he constantly lives in fear of what his father thinks of him. Sloane takes no part in the 'theft' of the Ferrari, therefore furthering the idea that she is the Ego. At one point in the text, Ferris gets on a parade float and performs a rendition of The Beatles' "Twist and Shout", proving that he is reckless and does not consider consequences, as anyone could have recognised him and reported back to the school, especially considering the 'Save Ferris' rally that started at the school due to him being 'ill', as he is the most popular person at the school. After the trio leave the Ferrari with a couple of reckless valets who go on a joyride in the Ferrari and the mileage counter skyrockets, Cameron goes into shock, thinking that his father will kill him, and even tries to commit suicide by drowning in a swimming pool, where Ferris saves him. After this moment, Cameron starts to embrace some of Ferris' reckless nature, and they devise a scheme to reduce the mileage counter by driving in reverse (which does not work), and Cameron then decides to get his revenge on his abusive father by kicking the car repeatedly, causing a dent, but the car then comes off what is propping it up and reverses out of his father's showroom and is destroyed. Cameron's timid nature is then overwhelmed, as he laughs and says that his dad deserves this, therefore he slips into more of an Ego role at this point in the text, as he still contains some qualities of the Superego, but with some of the qualities of the Id.
The one factor that I believe, above all else, proves that Ferris acts as the Id is the sheer fact that he breaks the fourth wall constantly throughout the text, something which no other character does. This fourth wall breaking proves that Ferris does not abide by normal social conventions, and gets across the point that he doesn't care for societal standards, ultimately proving that he is the Id in this text.
Some theorists have claimed that in the text, Ferris does not actually exist, almost exactly like Fight Club, and that Cameron created him in order to gain the confidence to speak up to his father, which give a completely different twist on the film and is a good, yet odd theory, but I believe that that is all it is, a theory, due to the fact that throughout the narrative, people are rallying for Ferris, the principle of the school practically stalks him and breaks into Ferris' house, but some people state that the whole text happens in Cameron's mind. The monologue at the start of the text shows Ferris explaining to the audience how to get away with taking a day off school. In this scene, the camera is positioned as if we are in the room with Ferris and are having a conversation with him. In this scene, he states 'I don't condone fascism, or any ism for that matter. Isms in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an ism, he should believe in himself', which is a very Id thing to say, saying he does not believe in any kind of politics, that he believes in people, similar to the morals of Tyler Durden in Fight Club.
The placement of the characters in the text also displays this ideology. In the scene where they are driving in the Ferrari, Ferris is driving, as an Id would drive a stolen car, Sloane is in the passanger seat, due to her being the Ego, the middle ground between Ferris and Cameron, and Cameron is seated in the back due to the Superego being a subconscious force in the recesses of the mind. Editing throughout the text is consistent and usually are straight cuts, as to portray realism in the text, as it takes place in the 'real world', therefore a sense of realism is used within the edits.
Conclusively, I believe that this text does an excellent job in portraying the roles of the Id, Ego and Superego, as the trio fit into their respective roles perfectly.
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