Teen Comedy
“Ferris Bueller’s day off” is among the innocent movies with warm-hearted comedy of a teenager who skips school to assist his best friend earn some self-respect. The director, John Hughes, excellently offers some sweet comedy from the movie, which if missed out the audience can enjoy the movie as a travelogue. “Risky Business” is a movie depicting a Chicago teenage boy who is out seeking fun in their home while his parents are on a vacation (Ebert, 12). The situation however becomes uncontrollable. Written and directed by Paul Brickman, the movie is a comedy revolving on a guilty male adolescent who through his life challenges highlights the deep emotional pain he undergoes. The touchy pain is highlighted in a funny manner that makes the audience laugh and deals with them in real life situations. The study analyzes elements in teen comedy movies as portrayed in “Ferris Buller’s day off” and “Risky business”.
“Risky Business” just as “Ferris Buller’s day off” underscores the theme of materialism, capitalism, absence of innocence and coming of age. Both movies are comedies with plots revolving around teenage boys with emotional problems. “Risky Business” is an appealing and funny comedy with good timing. Joel is a teenager with emotional issues as his father’s desire to take after him in academics is contrary to his dreams. Canada in “Ferris Buller’s day off” is an affluent boy from a rich family but has low self esteem as his father values his sports car more than him. He is sidelined and fails to perceive the value within him. To overcome the pent up emotions, the protagonists teenage boys decide to enjoy themselves by revolting and enjoying their time off with their best friends. The comedy in each is maximized during their excursions, away from the vicinity of their parents.
All through the movies, adolescents are celebrated with good features even though some of their activities detail immoral consequences. Teenagers are celebrated as sexually active, cunning, and active. Gym classes are perceived as forced recreation for the prisoners, while students in learning institutions are depicted as subjects of experiment on how long individuals can remain awake in boring and unbearable sessions (Darnton, 3). Adults in these movies are depicted as unloving and venal, ineffectual and comic fools. The characters in the movie are erratic. Joel’s parents are crude caricatures with terrifically unappealing friends. Joel’s father speaks too slowly for his position and introduces less fascinating dialogues wherever he is given time. Joel’s mother dresses like a prostitute and a college girl than a mother and a wife of an affluent man. Her demeanor makes her appear in Joel’s clear daydreams.
In the movie “Risky Business”, Brickman excellently highlights its style. The movie commences with the massive opening shot of Chicago at night, followed by a close-up of Tom Cruise. He is gazing at the camera with downward prop of the sunglasses and cigarette on his mouth. Brickman excellently handles the scene as the parents are leaving to the airport by allowing the audience watches the comprehensive scene through his eyes. The musical addition in the movie is also brilliant and balances with the darkly comic mood in every scene. A song by Phil Collins strikes the audience in the train sequence.
Brickman introduces some aspects of satire and poetry in the movie through Joel’s personality. He appears to be one very boring personality with little exciting hobbies but appears as a rocky model as soon as the idea strikes him of rebelling against his parents’ concerns. Through the predictable scenes, the audience is able to predict the story, minimizing occasional irony in the film. The predictability of the movie further detaches the movie from the actual significance of the character Joel or his challenges. Thus, the audience takes the movie less seriously, which was not the actual objective of the director. The movie however becomes factual when Joel misses the College Board by taking too long in his daydream, thereby ruining his future. The audience is able to relate the movie in real life perspective by coming to terms with real tragedies. For instance, when Joel sinks his father’s Porsche and cracks his mother’s crystal egg,
Although the movie “Risky Business” is full of style, the major problem the protagonist undergoes is barely a world’s concern. Tom Cruise, the protagonist is a wealthy suburban teenager with minimal experience on sexual practice. His real nature is perceived once his parents go on a vacation. He becomes rebellious by spoiling his parents’ belongings with his expensive wine and an impromptu brothel in their home. He takes his father’s expensive car for a drink with his friends near the waters and damages it. All these are illustrations of unresolved emotions in a teenager.
The director also erratically combines the features in the movie. For instance, he favors much portentous, pans camera motions and incidentally interrupts an unexpected scene. For instance, when Joel starts his father’s sports car, a wild music blares and immediately stops when the car is stalled. In relation to the music, the movie is highly based on rock music as it contains electronic incidental music. Joel, the main character is depicted from a monotonous workday personality unexpectedly grabs a candlestick and a fireplace poker, and then pretends that he is a very vulgar rock star.
Works Cited
Ebert, Roger. Review: Risky Business: Chicago Sun Times. 1983. Retrieved July 2, 2008
Darnton, Nina. Ferris Bueller s Day Off (1986). New York Times. 1986.