- 1
Kevin's Parents Blame Him For Being A Victim Of His Brother's Abuse
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Why is it that Kevin is always the one getting in trouble when he's with his whole family? Buzz certainly is not hiding the fact that he is tormenting his brother. He regularly screams and curses at his brother. He tells their sister that he hopes something bad happens to Kevin. He even loudly pretends to throw up a slice of pizza, when he ate the entire precious cheese pie – the only one that Kevin would eat. When Kevin finally snaps and charges at Buzz, it's his mother who blames him for the whole thing. She even watches as Jeff calls Kevin "a disease" and doesn't step in. It's absolutely wild to believe that the family would tolerate this type of bullying.
Is this messed up? - 2
Buzz Publicly Humiliates Kevin At Their Recital And His Parents Laugh
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Kevin's brother Buzz is undeniably the worst, but the parents almost agree with his abuse. He publicly humiliates his little brother during their Christmas recital, and actually gets a laugh. Who would laugh at an eight-year-old's embarrassment? His very own parents. All Buzz has to do is utter an insincere apology. Meanwhile, Kevin is literally banished to the attic for spilling some milk.
Is this messed up? - 3
Uncle Frank Verbally Abuses Kevin And No One Cares
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Throughout the film, Uncle Frank is show to be generally selfish, verbally abusive, and possibly sexually inappropriate with Kevin. Yet no one ever calls him out.
In the first Home Alone, Frank berates Kevin, calling him "a little jerk" for spilling a soda bottle (if you look at the footage closely, it's actually Fuller who spills it). Kevin's parents listen to Frank scream and remain silent.
In Home Alone 2, the verbal abuse continues with an extra twist. Uncle Frank famously threatens Kevin saying, "Get out of here you nosy little pervert, or I'm going to slap you silly." Kevin then approaches his parents to tell them that Uncle Frank was literally talking to him about his penis. The eight-year-old admits, "he says if I see him naked, I’ll grow up never feeling like a real man." What parent doesn't investigate what the heck is going on?
From refusing to pay for the pizza dinner to wanting to steal the crystal glasses from first class (on a ticket we're not even sure he even paid for), Frank is disgustingly cheap and beyond rude. He doesn't even seem to mind that Kevin is missing and happily serves up shrimp cocktail to a solemn family gutted about leaving their son behind.
Is this messed up? - 4
The Police Don't Do Anything, Even When An Eight-Year-Old's Life Is At Stake
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It took an insanely long time for the McCallisters to notice that Kevin was missing, but when they finally realize, they frantically call the police. What do the police do? Next to nothing. Sgt. Balzac seems to think it's ridiculous that some lady wants the police to check on her eight-year-old child who's been left all alone (in a world rampant with child predators, burglars, and internet pedophiles).
A lazy officer does drop in, and he rings the doorbell a couple of times. He doesn't ever go inside to check on the kid (who could very well have electrocuted himself to death). Instead, Kevin's mom is told to recount her kids.
Is this messed up? - 5
The McCallisters Left Kevin Home Twice
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A year after their son was forgotten at home and subject to a traumatic robbery, his parents go on vacation again. For the second time, they forget Kevin. Once is bad enough, but at a certain point, this has to be neglect. Why hasn't child services stepped in?
Is this messed up? - 6
Kevin's Mother Sends Him To The Attic Without Dinner The Night Before A Really Long Flight
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What kind of parent doesn't pack a bag in advance for their eight-year-old kid? What kind of parent lets their young son watch everyone eat dinner, but sends them to bed (in the literal attic) without having a single slice of pizza? Kate McCallister is who.
Kevin's mom is wildly messed up – or she's just an idiot. The mom trusts her eight-year-old kid to wake himself up on time, pack his clothes, follow the family as they're running through an airport, and board a flight to Paris all by himself. She also trusts him to not have the very human need to eat or not get peed on while he's sleeping. Or maybe she just doesn't care very much at all.
Is this messed up? - 7
The Concierge Berates Kevin For Credit Card Fraud Instead Of Being Concerned
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Kevin commits credit card fraud in Home Alone 2 – it's definitely bad behavior, but he had to survive somehow as a kid alone in New York City. The concierge could have been Kevin's biggest savior, but instead chose to berate him like an adult criminal.
The suspicious concierge never connects that Kevin is alone in this hotel. Even when Kevin runs up to him screaming that he's being chased and needs help, the concierge instead tries to get him arrested for credit card fraud (as if you can arrest a third grader). Why does no one ever help Kevin?
Is this messed up? - 8
Kevin's Siblings Are Aggressively Hateful
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Yes all siblings fight, but the way Kevin's older brothers torment him is beyond the realm of normal sibling rivalry.
Kevin's oldest brother Buzz might be the worst. When Kevin kindly asks if he can sleep in his bed (to avoid literally being peed on by cousin Fuller), Buzz calls him a "phlegm-wad" and barks, "I wouldn't let you sleep in my room if you were growing on my ass." To make matters worse, when Kevin goes missing Buzz actually wishes he that something would happen to him. Megan asks if he's worried, and he says, "No, for three reasons: A, I'm not that lucky. Two, we use smoke detectors and D, we live on the most boring street in the whole United States of America, where nothing even remotely dangerous will ever happen. Period."
Kevin's other brother Jeff is just as mean. After Kevin spills milk (a result of Buzz's incessant bullying), Jeff screams "Kevin, you're such a disease." The parents watch him say it, and instead, punish Kevin.
Is this messed up? - 9
All Kevin's Dad Is Concerned About Is A $967 Room Service Bill, Not His Son's Safety
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In Home Alone 2, Kevin was left alone in New York City, and he had to eat (though we already know his mother doesn't really care if he eats or not). Room service is absurdly pricey, especially at a posh hotel. Kevin racks up the room service bill out of necessity, but manages to get free Christmas presents for his family which should in theory save hundreds of dollars for his parents. When his parents finally come to get him, however, all his father seems to care about is the room service bill, never mind the fact that it was totally his fault that Kevin was there in the first place.
Is this messed up? - 10
Why Don't Kevin's Parents Send A Family Friend To Check On Their Son?
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Kevin's town is a typical suburban town. The McCallisters have a huge family, with lots of kids in school. We're supposed to believe that out of all the parents they probably interact with on a daily basis, the McCallisters don't have a single friend they could call to check up on Kevin after they've left him home alone? There has to be a reason, and it's either because Kevin is legitimately a psychopath, and his parents don't want to subject their friends to his sadistic ways (likely considering he shares blood with Buzz) or his parents are wildly self-involved and have failed to make a single real human connection.
Is this messed up? - 11
Fuller Is Way Too Pleased About Making Kevin His Bedwetting Victim
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Most little boys are deeply embarrassed that they can't stop wetting the bed. Not Kevin's cousin Fuller. Fuller actually seems like he's doing it on purpose – but why?
Kevin groans about having to share a bed with his bed-wetting cousin after Fuller downs a full can of Pepsi. During the dinner scene, Fuller smiles with his Pepsi can and raises his eyebrows at Kevin like he's just waiting for his chance to pee all over Kevin's parade. The parents are also totally okay with this. Does it not border on child abuse if you're knowingly putting your son behind a closed door where someone's going to urinate on him?
Is this messed up? - 12
Marv And Harry's Van Is A Child Predator's Dream Car And Kevin Lures It To His House Of Horrors
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It's every mom's worst nightmare to find out their child was followed home by two dudes in a van. It's the stuff Law and Order: SVU episodes are made from, and that's exactly what happened to Kevin McCallister.
Marv and Harry almost run the young McCallister over in their blue kidnapper van (you know the type – no back windows to see the terrible things that happen inside). After he nearly dies, the van starts slowly following him home. This is already disturbing in and of itself, but what's really unsettling is Kevin's behavior. He doesn't run away, probably because he's confidently luring Marv and Harry into his sadistic house of horrors.
Is this messed up? - 13
That Blow Torch Booby Trap Is Particularly Heinous
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Is a petty robbery justification for burning someone alive with a blow torch? For Kevin McCallister, it's a perfectly reasonable – nay, hysterical – thing to do. You probably remember the infamous blow-torch scene from when Harry breaks into the back of Kevin's house. The second he opens the door, a blowtorch ignites his head for about seven seconds. Har, Har. What idiotic robbers! Try again.
The truth is, this stunt is actually sick (and not in the good colloquial sense). According to Dr. Ryan St. Clair, a practicing physician who spoke to The Week, this kind of stunt causes massive bone injury and indescribable pain.
“Harry has an interesting reaction to having a lit blowtorch aimed directly at his scalp. Rather than remove himself from danger, he keeps the top of his skull directly in the line of fire for about seven seconds. What was likely a simple second-degree skin burn is now a full thickness burn likely to cause necrosis of the calavarium (skull bone).”
To put it plainly, Harry’s skull is so damaged after these shenanigans that his skull bone is essentially rotted through and will probably need a transplant."
Is this messed up? - 14
Kevin Is Clearly A Psychopath With No Human Empathy
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Kevin McCallister is a psychopath. He's anti-social and exhibits no human empathy whatsoever. Through the course of the film, Kevin performs egregious acts of torture – he burns a man alive, he looks another straight in the eye as he coldly shoots him with nails, he revels in joy after one of them walk on glass, and he swindles the low-paid pizza guy with no remorse. Admittedly, frightening the pizza guy is just kind of jerky, but shouldn't a human (much less a child) have some sort of emotional response to pointing a gun at someone's head? Not Kevin. Not Kevin at all.
Is this messed up?
COLLECTION22 LISTS
Revisiting Childhood FavoritesLists that dissect and analyze (and possibly ruin) some of the movies and TV you watched over and over and over and over when you were a kid.
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21 MORE LISTS
Revisiting Childhood Favorites
Lists that dissect and analyze (and possibly ruin) some of the movies and TV you watched over and over and over and over when you were a kid.
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