Home Alone

[Lord Manhammer]

What are your thoughts/theories/missives/comments about his holiday classic?

Will we ever learn what Peter Mccallister does for a living?
How did a mid-thirties Catherine O'Hara have so many teenagers - when did she start having kids?
Is Old Man Marley really a Kevin from the future who has returned to 1990 to alter his own tragic childhood?
When Catherine O'Hara's character says that she'll sell her soul to the devil himself to get home to Kevin and then Gus (John Candy) appears, is Gus the devil?

If you like Home Alone, what are your thoughts on these matters?

 

[NYCgrrl]

Believe it or not I’ve never seen any of the complete Home Alone movies. Think they came out around the time I became/ was becoming an empty nester and rejoicing in my newly acquired sewing room. Still, entered some portion of my consciousness.

 

[firefly_ris]

Never heard of nor thought about any of those theories; but it is definitely still one of my favorites and I watch it with my kids every year. I was 7 years old when it came out, so a full part of my childhood.

 

[Smugpugmug]

The house that the McCallister's lived in and the fact that they were able to afford a family vacation to Paris makes a lot more sense to me now that I recently learned that Home Alone took place and was filmed in Winnetka, Illinois, which is one of the wealthiest areas of the US in terms of household income.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

The house that the McCallister's lived in and the fact that they were able to afford a family vacation to Paris makes a lot more sense to me now that I recently learned that Home Alone took place and was filmed in Winnetka, Illinois, which is one of the wealthiest areas of the US in terms of household income.

That makes total sense. Although I think I read somewhere an estimated total of how much that vacay would've cost given 1990's pricing and it was outrageous. But given the location, it's not out of the realm of possibility. I'm still curious as hell what Peter did for a living.

 

[Dan Murphy]

The house that the McCallister's lived in and the fact that they were able to afford a family vacation to Paris makes a lot more sense to me now that I recently learned that Home Alone took place and was filmed in Winnetka, Illinois, which is one of the wealthiest areas of the US in terms of household income.

It is one of the expensive North Shore towns along the Lake. House is about 3 blocks from the Lake.

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Winnetka/671-Lincoln-Ave-60093/home/13788887

 

[wvjules]

The family vacation to Paris was paid for by the brother that lived in Paris. So that comes out of the "rich" equation. "Missing his extended family, Rob thought of having the McCallisters come to France, eventually deciding for them to visit during the Christmas season. He then paid for the whole McCallister family's trip to Paris so they could all be together for the holiday."

Also, say the oldest child is 16...if she is mid 30s she could have been 20 when she had her first. Not sure why this is a question?

 

[tvguy]

That makes total sense. Although I think I read somewhere an estimated total of how much that vacay would've cost given 1990's pricing and it was outrageous. But given the location, it's not out of the realm of possibility. I'm still curious as hell what Peter did for a living.

Hey, go over to the Cruise Line forum. There are people over there who take multiple Concierge level cruises a year at $25-$30,000 each and consider themselves middle class. I have no idea what they do for a living, but I have learned that some people have a lot more money that I do. (And vacation time from work)

 

[Lord Manhammer]

The family vacation to Paris was paid for by the brother that lived in Paris. So that comes out of the "rich" equation. "Missing his extended family, Rob thought of having the McCallisters come to France, eventually deciding for them to visit during the Christmas season. He then paid for the whole McCallister family's trip to Paris so they could all be together for the holiday."

Also, say the oldest child is 16...if she is mid 30s she could have been 20 when she had her first. Not sure why this is a question?

Fair points. Although Marv calls Peter McCallister's house "the silver tuna" of the neighbourhood and why they chose that street in the first place. Also Peter is wearing a Burberry Car Coat in both films which retails for around 2200$ USD, so he's certainly well off and I'd even go so far as to think that Peter and Rob come from money.

As far as their kids go, I do see what you're saying but wow, let's work on the assumption that she's 36 which was Catherine O'Hara's actual age at the time of the film's release, 1990 and not counting any implied disparity between her screen age and actual age (something like when Matthew Broderick at 25 played 17 year old Ferris Bueller)
if Buzz is 16,
Megan is 15 (Megan is somewhat younger than Buzz but not too much)
Linnie is 13
Jeff "You're such a disease" is 12
Kevin is 8.
That seems like a lot of kids in a short amount of time. Maybe that just seems odd to me.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I recently read a theory that Peter was in the mob.

I tend to think that he was in finance of some sort. The movies are okay, I guess.

 

[MIChessGuy]

Also, a number of moviegoers thought that the made-up "movie within a movie" Angels With Filthy Souls was an actual movie. People searched for it on video and were puzzled when they couldn't find it.

 

[Praying Colonel]

The family vacation to Paris was paid for by the brother that lived in Paris. So that comes out of the "rich" equation. "Missing his extended family, Rob thought of having the McCallisters come to France, eventually deciding for them to visit during the Christmas season. He then paid for the whole McCallister family's trip to Paris so they could all be together for the holiday."

Also, say the oldest child is 16...if she is mid 30s she could have been 20 when she had her first. Not sure why this is a question?

FWIW, Catherine O'Hara was born in 1954, so she was 36 at the time of Home Alone's release.

My mother had me at 20 years and 1 day old.* So when my mother was 36 I was 16, my sister was 12 and my brother (Kevin in this scenario, I guess!) was 8. So it could happen, although arguably improbable.



*--My mother really wanted us to have the same birthday, but I was born at 12:33 a.m. the day after her birthday. Close, but no cigar.

 

[jdb in AZ]

My favorite part of Home Alone was watching my grandson see it for the first time when he was about Kevin's age.

On the other end of the age spectrum, DH's elderly grandmother (over 100 at the time) thought Kevin was too mean toward the burglars.

 

[mjkacmom]

Wealthy people tend to start families later in life, most likely due to getting degrees. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/04/upshot/up-birth-age-gap.html

 

[hhisc16]

I read that Peter was a day trader?
Apparently there was a book/tie in sold between the movie in theaters and to home video that outlined this.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

My favorite part of Home Alone was watching my grandson see it for the first time when he was about Kevin's age.

On the other end of the age spectrum, DH's elderly grandmother (over 100 at the time) thought Kevin was too mean toward the burglars.

The old granny is in good company. Film critic Roger Ebert didn't like either Home Alone or Home Alone 2 for much of the same reasons.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

Wealthy people tend to start families later in life, most likely due to getting degrees. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/04/upshot/up-birth-age-gap.html

Which then brings us back to the issue of when Kate McCallister started having children.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

I recently read a theory that Peter was in the mob.

I tend to think that he was in finance of some sort. The movies are okay, I guess.

The mob theory has been floated around. The book tie in that @hhisc16 mentioned simply said Peter worked in "business." Very vague, and could still be the mob, depending on how you look at it.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Fair points. Although Marv calls Peter McCallister's house "the silver tuna" of the neighbourhood and why they chose that street in the first place. Also Peter is wearing a Burberry Car Coat in both films which retails for around 2200$ USD, so he's certainly well off and I'd even go so far as to think that Peter and Rob come from money.

As far as their kids go, I do see what you're saying but wow, let's work on the assumption that she's 36 which was Catherine O'Hara's actual age at the time of the film's release, 1990 and not counting any implied disparity between her screen age and actual age (something like when Matthew Broderick at 25 played 17 year old Ferris Bueller)
if Buzz is 16,
Megan is 15 (Megan is somewhat younger than Buzz but not too much)
Linnie is 13
Jeff "You're such a disease" is 12
Kevin is 8.
That seems like a lot of kids in a short amount of time. Maybe that just seems odd to me.

My cousin had 10 kids, no twins, in 12 years, before she was 36.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

My cousin had 10 kids, no twins, in 12 years, before she was 36.

WOW. Now that's incredible!!! I cannot even fathom that.