FYW Blog Week 9: Response to Home Alone

The Home Alone movies are classics that remind me of my childhood as well, and I still keep watching them whenever I see them on TV. Kevin McCallister is probably one of my favorite movie characters of all time because his shenanigans never seem to get old. Home Alone is also one of those movies that I feel like just about everyone has seen, making them quotable and referenceable films. The scenes when Marv and Harry are going through the traps are priceless as well, not to mention Kevin’s impeccable innovation in constructing such traps. The description of Kevin as “a skilled assassin, executing his crimes perfectly” is a funny way to think about an eight year old, but in this case, it could not be more true. I find the relationship between Harry and Marv to be one of the funniest concepts of the movie, because Marv is always saying or doing something extremely stupid and Harry is constantly degrading him for it. One of my favorite quotes involving them is after Harry goes through the trap gets him covered in feathers and turns a corner to see Marv who ask him, “Why the hell you dressed like a chicken?” I also enjoyed the parody video of grown up Kevin still continuing his eight year old shenanigans. In the movies he doesn’t seem too traumatized by these scary events, but these youtubers decided to change that. Overall, I think the Home Alone movies fall under the realm of the incongruity theory. The concept of an eight year old defending his house from two grown criminals is pretty absurd, as is the fact that he does the same thing a couple years later while alone in New York City.

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 25, 2018 at 8:09 AM

    I guess it is pretty incongruous for an 8 year old to be able to defend his home, especially in the way he did, with Indiana Jones-level booby traps. I also love the relationship between Harry and Marv.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shane HerronOctober 25, 2018 at 6:46 PM

    Interesting that you pick incongruity as the consensus so far has been that superiority is the main attraction. However, I certainly see that the central premise itself is inherently contradictory and involves flipping the ordinary roles of adults and children.

    ReplyDelete

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