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Gen Xers are rewatching 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' and it hits differently than they remembered

People are debating whether the movie didn't age well...or they didn't.

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Gen X re-watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and some are debating it didn't age well.

One of the most iconic movies from the 1980s is Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The film premiered in 1986, and is the epitome of Gen X pop culture.

Recently Gen Xers (those born between 1965 and 1980) have been re-watching the childhood classic with their Gen Z kids...and it's not quite what they remembered. In a Reddit community of Gen Xers, member dilatanntedad shared his thoughts after a recent viewing, and it has Gen Xers passionately dissecting it.

"Ferris Bueller did not age well," he wrote. "I (m53) watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off this weekend with my kids, ages 9 and 10. Of course there are the iconic lines like 'Life moves fast...' and 'Bueller, Bueller, Bueller...' but the more I watched, the less fun it was."

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"To be honest, at the end I agreed with Ferris' sister: why does he get away with all this shit when she never could? He's a rich privileged white boy who punches down, tricking and taking advantage of pathetic school administrators, restaurant workers, younger kids at school, his parents, and even manipulates his best friend," he wrote, before adding, "He has no empathy for others and does everything for his own enjoyment."

He ended his post with a final thought: "I know I'm a grumpy old man yelling at clouds, but I'm no longer amused by his antics. And I don't think Ferris Bueller could be the hero today that he was in the Reagan 80's." He then followed up with a comment about his kids' thoughts: "To be clear, my kids laughed a lot. And I did too. I was just uncomfortable with the overall message."

His fellow Gen Xers had a lot of opinions to add in, noting that it may not be the film that aged poorly...but them. "I think part of the charm is that at the time it was fun to watch and we could half-identify with the antics," another Gen Xer wrote. "Watching it from today's lens, it seems clear that he was likely peaking, destined for very little or mediocrity at best. His privilege came from his two very hard-working, square, corporate parents."

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Tthe comment got a meaningful reply: "This. It's less that the movie aged poorly, it's that we aged and see it from a totally different perspective. At 16 I wanted to be Ferris. Care free, everything works out, hot girlfriend, zero responsibilities. Looking back at people I went to high school [with] who were close to that, aren't exactly successful in life. So we see what that behavior leads to and no longer idolize it."

Many Gen Xers feel the movie is cinema gold to this day. "I still love it. Stop acting like a boomer 😜," one wrote. Another added, "This movie is the GOAT. It aged like wine." Another agreed: "The movie aged fine. We're the ones that aged out of its target demographic."

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However, Gen Xers championed Cameron as the film's most redeeming character. "My kids thought it was great. I’ve always considered Cameron to be the actual protagonist of the story - he’s the one who experiences character growth and conflict," one commented.

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A fellow Gen Xer added, "That is critically accurate. Without Cameron, this movie is a fable. Ferris learns nothing and does not change. He is the narrator—we know this because he talks to the audience and is definitely aware he’s in a movie. Someone else pointed out that Ferris is Cameron’s manic-pixie dream girl. That’s a good way to look at it. Another is that he is the wise mentor figure (like Ben Kenobi) and Cameron is following the heroes journey. We just don’t see his confrontation with his father as the REAL confrontation is internal."

While Gen Xers may not all agree on the movie's current-day relevance, many had fun theorizing where Ferris may be today, with one noting, "I bet Ferris would use AI to write his English papers :/."