Ah yes Home Alone, a joyous Christmas movie about the spirit of childish ingenuity. A celebration of the true magic of Christmas and the unfettered joy it brings to a child. A wonderful glimpse into that childhood euphoria of being left, aptly home alone; how it felt as if a day would stretch into infinity before you – its possibilities endless, a vista without horizons. A great childhood film celebrating the virtues of childhood, showing what Christmas truly means to children everywhere and exhibiting the boundless creativity of a child‘s mind.
Obviously, if you were to transpose an adult into the exact same situation the entire context would shift irreparably and it would instantly be stripped of all of its charm. CUE THE VIDEO:
#heygoogle Have you ever wondered what Kevin McCallister is like as an adult? Me neither. But just in case you’re curious you should totally watch this #ad pic.twitter.com/uO9qMPrUT3
— Macaulay Culkin (@IncredibleCulk) December 19, 2018
As we can all see, Macauley Culkin – now a 38-year-old man remember – has reprised his roll as Kevin McCallister for the twin purposes of a) trying to get a you to purchase a Google Home and b) acquiring a payout to ensure he’s able to fund his various increasingly obscure and unprofitable passion projects.
The ad attempts to address to the unmistakable issue, that there is a very different tenor to the idea of an adult man being trapped alone in his parent’s home – he’s 38 remember – rather than a small child. At one point, while jumping on his parent’s bed – he, a 38 year old man – he grabs at his back as if he’s pulled a muscle. Beyond this, it recreates an ersatz trimmed down take on Home Alone pretty much at face-value.
In the original film, Kevin McCallister, as a 10-year-old, is evidently trapped at home when his parents accidentally leave him behind, the safest and most reasonable thing for him to do is stay put- at least until all of the attempted burglaries etc. However, a 38-year-old man, celebrating with wanton glee that he’s been left at home by his parents has a far seedier vibe. His decision not to leave the house, or to attempt to spend Christmas with any friends or loved ones, makes it seem as if this isn’t his decision. It makes it seem as if he’s actually under house-arrest. I’ve done a frame by frame analysis of the trailer, but I was unable to see any evidence of an ankle-tag to corroborate this theory, but I stand by it.
One can only imagine that, given the evident abandonment issues he inevitably developed as a child from the fact that he was repeatedly forgotten and forsaken by his parents, Kevin McCallister has grown up to be a deeply troubled man. As he no doubt sought the comfort and security that was so frequently denied him by his parents, he descended into a life of petty theft and crime, seeking community among the more sinister aspects of life. His troubled past ensured that his present remained troubled and he delved deeper and deeper into a criminal underworld, culminating in several convictions and this current phase of house-arrest that we see him in. His personal development and growth have also been arrested and he has been forced, by wont of circumstance, to remain living with his parents.
Indeed, the very fact that he is still having to deter burglars using an elaborate set-up of pretend ‘grown-ups’ silhouetted in the window, makes it seem as if this is not the entirety of the situation. It can only be reasonably deduced that these are not just the humble burglars of the first movie, deterred by the evidently populated house, but rather they are people who Kevin McCallister has crossed in his life of crime and are attempting to exact revenge – perhaps for some drug-deal gone wrong? It is also distressingly plausible that his decision to surround himself with so many adult mannequins now serves a dual purpose, to help abet his evident loneliness. There may also be a worrying sexual element to these relationships, but again, not enough is made clear in the ad to say for certain.
