A Comedian's Take on Home Alone Gets Real Dark Real Fast
There is no doubt that Home Alone is a Christmas movie classic, often topping the list of many people's holiday film favorites.
The 1990 comedy about a boy left accidentally home alone for Christmas, is the perfect film for getting into the holiday spirit with some hilarious gags and a few iconic scenes.
However, not everyone's take on the family film is quite as festive. As comedian Trevor Moore pointed out on Twitter, the movie is much darker than you first expect.
The day after Christmas 2018, Moore tweeted his interpretation of the holiday classic.
Clearly inspired by the time of year, he reminded fans of the film that the character of Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) was far from helpless at home by himself. He continues to state, as Kevin did not attempt to contact the police for help, he was not concerned for his safety at all. And instead was enjoying 'hunting' the burglars who were trying to invade his home.
Kevin McCallister could have phoned the police at any time. He was a child who had accidentally been left alone. One call and he would have been safe. But it was never about safety. He was hunting those men. He wanted them to die. It was fun for him. He enjoyed it.
This is clearly a dark opinion on the fun family movie with some valid reasoning. Yet not all fans were convinced by the comedian's commentary on the film.
Fans responded to the initial tweet, giving their own view on Kevin's supposed sadistic tendencies. Many pointed out straight away that there are numerous references throughout the film to the phone lines being faulty. An engineer explains at the beginning of the film they would not be fixed until after Christmas. However, other Twitter users were quick to fire back. Questioning that if the phones were down, how did he order pizza?
Others come to the defence of Kevin (and the film) differently, by maintaining Kevin had no reason to trust the cops. After meeting Harry (Joe Pesci) as a disguised police officer casing homes at the beginning of the movie, he recognises him later out of uniform. Clearly frightened by outsiders, when Kevin's mom (Catherine O'Hara) finally convinces the real police to go check on her son, his response is to hide under the covers. Whether his intentions were overly cruel or not towards the criminals, in the end, Kevin certainly didn't start out that way.
What can largely be agreed by fans of the movie, and what Moore's revelation best highlights, is at the end of the film neither party is interested in their original goal. Kevin is clearly over being scared, and his intention is to not only evade the thieves but catch them in his own trap. The burglars also are no longer interested in solely robbing the house. They're out for vengeance against Kevin, ignoring the many opportunities to escape. All three characters are locked in a battle for victory.
Unfortunately, Trevor Moore died in 2021 after a fatal injury. A comedian best known for his comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U' Know (WKUK). However, his humor continues to live on, with his hilarious criticism of one of the most loved Christmas movies. A dark, but surprisingly accurate representation of this holiday classic comedy.