If it's not a good game or catholic...who do you call?...why Pokematic "hi."
So I make it no secret that I don't like Catch in the Rye. I can say that practically ruined my opinion of English lit class. There were other books I disliked in English class, but I've managed to suppress those memories to the point that I can't remember what they were (and when I tried to look them up on my old teacher's web pages, turns out that they don't read them anymore and they read some actual good books now). But Catcher, it stuck with me. I remember one teacher saying "oh, you'll appreciate it when you're older." Well, I tried it again and couldn't make it past the first chapter I was so annoyed. It comes down to the fact that I just don't understand the "angst filled teen." I never "hated my parents;" I always got along really well with them. I was never "angry at the world for lying to me" because I never felt that the world was lying to me. I could go on with why I don't connect with the lazy "angst by default" character, but I did in a podcast I haven't uploaded, yet. Long story short, it's not creative, you aren't leaving the character up to interpretation for the reader/audience to insert themselves into and connect with, you are being lazy for not giving your character a legitimate reason for being angry. "This character isn't adjusting after a loved one died years ago? That's life, mourn and move on." If you ever were an angsty teen, you might be able to relate to the character, but if you weren't, you're just going to see a poorly adjusted emo kid. Anyways, what I want to do though, is talk about how John Hughes was able to make that character type, dare I say, interesting. The genius coming of age movie director John Hughes was able to take the laziest character type, and tell an engaging story in his film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Now the first question you might be asking is "where's the connection? Ferris is a care free guy whereas Holden and his kind are tight wad emo kids." And that's because you are looking at the wrong character. What character doesn't get along with his parents for...reasons? Camron. Who hate's life that would rather not do anything fun? Camron. What character is "so tight that if you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, in two weeks you'd have a diamond?" Camron. What character is also like this? Holden and other "angst by default" characters. Camron is the "coming of age angst by default" character my English teachers love and I hate.
So where does Ferris succeed where Catcher fails? First off, there's multiple character types to observe and relate to. Lets say you do relate to the "angry at the world, angst by default" character. You can relate to Cameron as he complains about Ferris and his craziness. However, if you're a "happy, life's good, lets make things great" kind of person that never a day in your life just felt "angry at the world, because teen angst," well, you'll relate to Ferris. If you just want to go with the ride of life, you're Soloane. If you try to do things right, but things just kind of don't go your way while your sibling gets away with anything, you're Jeanie. Each of these characters gets just the right amount of attention to make you figure out who you like and identify with; unlike the "angst by default" stories of Catcher and similar where you just have the 1 character to "identify with."
Then there's how the story is told. Maybe it's just because I'm a Ferris, but I like my stories to be uplifting. I like my main characters to be optimistic, see the world as a good place, succeed, and just make me feel good. If I want to get depressed, I'll just watch the news and listen to Mr. Lonely. With Catcher and other angst by default stores, it's "I hate my current state in life, so I'm going to reject it, stumble around for a majority of the story only to find out I actually had it pretty good after I decide to take control of my life." Oh, and during most of that stumbling, it's kind of depressing because the characters are learning all their lessons the hard way. OK, now what about Ferris. I'm convinced that the story of Ferris Bueller's Day Off is really about Cameron (due in part to the fan theory that Ferris is actually a figment of Cameron's imagination). Cameron is the only character that actually grows in this movie (along with Jeanie to an extent, but not as much as Cameron). Cameron goes through all the points of "I hate my current state in life, I'm going to reject it, stumble around for most of the movie, and in the end find out I have it pretty good after I decide to take control of my life." The difference here though, is the stumbling isn't about "learning lessons the hard way." The other stories tell the events through the eyes of the "angsty emo kid who hates everything," and I swear JD Salinger could make puppies eating ice cream depressing. Instead, we see the events through the eyes of Ferris, an optimistic teen who sees the good in everything, and Hughes conveys that through the tone. We see Cameron resisting, but we also see him have fun; and when he's resisting, Ferris is having fun, and the scene is fun. Hughes made Ferris nearly getting caught fun and "everything will work out, just think positive." I like that in a story, and it makes it good.
Then there's the quotes. Now I remember my English teacher saying "Catcher is full of great quotes, perfect for epithets." Riiiiiightttttt..."life is a game, and a game you need to play by the rules," and "mother nature will take care of you," and let's not forget the mother of all bad philosophies "a foolish man wants to die for a great cause, but a wise man wants to live long enough to see one happen." I hate this, because what if the movers and shakers of the world believed that? What if Abraham Lincoln, of Martin Luther King Jr., or Malcom X, of George Washington, of John Hancock, or all the ally troops of World War 2 lived by that? The world would be a far worse place I tell you what. Now lets look at some quotes from Ferris Mueller's Day Off.
"I am not going to sit on my ass as the events that affect me unfold to determine the course of my life. I'm going to take a stand. I'm going to defend it. Right or wrong, I'm going to defend it." Yeah, do something with your life, that's positive.
"Hey, Cameron. You realize if we played by the rules right now we'd be in gym?" OK, not the best, but it at least says "I determine my own destiny."
"You're not dying, you just can't think of anything good to do." Ding ding ding ding ding, we have an answer to all those angst by default stories.
And lets not forget "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Now that, that's a great quote. Forget this "you can't change the world around you" BS quotes from Catcher, THIS is a great quote. This is what I would want for an epithet if I had to chose one. That's the kind of optimism I would want to be remembered for.
So yeah, Catcher in the Rye sucks, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off does everything it tried to accomplish right. If anyone's currently forced to read Catcher against their will in school, I recommend watching Ferris Bueller to see what a real coming of age story is. This has been Pokematic, signing off, and bu-bye.
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