Things hidden in
plain sight tend to be the hardest to find. That was exactly the case with me
and Home Alone movie. For years, I
understood it in all possible ways, with the sole exception of the one that was
really central to this Christmas story. The thoughtful authors even used that
core lesson as the title (probably for slow-witted people like me). It took me
a quarter of a century to read those two simple words properly.
At first, I thought
that the movie was a modern reading of The
Ransom of Red Chief, a short story by O. Henry, set up around Christmas
this time. O. Henry’s story is about a hyperactive and spoiled boy who can
drive two unlucky abductors crazy. The little protagonist of Home Alone uses the classic Native
American methods of combat, i.e., pawky traps, ambushes, crossbows, nets, and
other tools against the dumb grown-up thugs. The scriptwriters decided to add a
didactic touch to this action movie about the young Rambo because it’s a
Christmas story, after all. The boy behaves badly, he is punished. Infuriated,
he tells his family, “I wish you weren’t there.” Magically, his wish comes
true. He remains alone and endures serious ordeals until he finally concludes
that one’s family is the most valuable asset that a person can have.
In short, it’s a
decent well-crafted sitcom with a bit of morals, what else can there be? In
fact, there’s so much else to be said about it.
Lately, I’ve
recognized another layer of meaning in this movie. It comprises the core
message of this movie, which is hard to see because it’s so obvious.
The main character
found himself alone in his home not when his family left him. He is always
alone. He is alone in the midst of his family who for some reason rejected him
and didn’t want to share the warmth and joy of human interaction with him. He
is alone even though he has brothers and sisters, a good-looking mom and a
handsome dad. Does it matter if his brothers and sisters can only ridicule him
and mock at him, while his parents are always busy doing something that they
deem important and pay attention to Kevin only when he attempts to defend
himself against the mockery of his older brother, an insolent hypocrite, in
which case they invariably side with the offender.
The movie doesn’t
show us a withdrawn kid who cannot get along with people. The protagonist is
open for friendship and normal interaction. He is capable of getting along
extremely well with perfect strangers like the toy store owner or the homeless
woman in the Central Park. He easily adapts to unexpected situations, openly
voices his thoughts and feelings, hurries to help, respects other people, and
values friendship.
Nonetheless, it
happens only outside of the family. He is painfully alone at his own home.
Undoubtedly, it isn’t Kevin who is to blame for that. His attempts at restoring
contact with his family are immediately and rudely blocked by them.
Even when his
family returns—after the happy encounter, mom’s hugs and displays of mutual
affection and all—the boy immediately receives the usual portion of mockery and
scoffing. Remember when the family suddenly returns from another city and the
mom is worried that she hadn’t bought milk for breakfast? Kevin wants to please
his parents and says that he had already been to the store and bought some food.
That’s when the scene that explains it all starts. Instead of being grateful,
his closest relatives pour on him a whole lot of dismissive remarks:
—I went shopping
yesterday.
—You, shopping?
—I got some milk,
eggs and fabric softener.
—What?
—No kidding? What a
funny guy. What else did you do while we were away?
—Just hung around.
—He went shopping?
He doesn’t know how to tie his shoe. He’s going shopping?
That’s it. Kevin is
home alone again. The real loneliness begins for him as soon as his parents and
siblings come back. Only while they are away can Kevin lead a normal life of a
person who is looking for love and who shares his love with those ready to
accept it. He knows from his own painful experience what it means to be
rejected so he understands rejected people better. The old man next door who
was kicked out of his son’s life for some reason, a homeless bird-loving woman
with a broken heart: those disaffected and weary adults miraculously come back
to life when Kevin gets into their lives with his simple but honest words of
support. Suddenly, it dawns on you that it weren’t words that made the miracle
happen: the love and compassion of the good-humored and unusually wise boy did.
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour
unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him.
Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. Home Alone
shows a paradoxical story of the main character willing to show mercy toward
his relatives who, for reasons that are hard to explain, refuse to accept it
because of their stubbornness. So he sets out to find those who want to be
close to him, that is to accept his love and care.
There must be a
miracle in a Christmas story, after all. I believe that it was Kevin who was
the real miracle of the movie, with his pure soul and a heart open for everyone
who needs help.
At the end of the
first episode, Kevin smiles as he looks out of the window at the old neighbor’s
son and his wife who came to visit the lonely old man. The man isn’t alone any
longer. At the end of the second episode, Kevin leaves his family, who are busy
unwrapping the presents that he’d earned, and hurries to the park to
congratulate the homeless woman on Christmas and to give her a dove-shaped
Christmas tree toy as a sign of his friendship.
Apparently, his
true friends were those who felt even more lonely and whom Kevin helped to
break free from this isolation. Unfortunately, he still remained alone at his
own home.
That’s the message
that I’ve taken out of this old Christmas movie. It seems that the authors
wanted to address the viewers: “Look around: are there people in your families
who stay alone like Kevin? Are some of your relatives rejected and sentenced to
isolation within their own family? Stop being mad at them: show mercy to those
people. Give them the chance to love you and to be loved by you.”
God said that it
isn’t good for a person to be alone. Especially if one finds himself alone at
home among his or her family.
By Aleksandr Tkachenko
Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds
Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds
Source: https://foma.ru/odin-doma-2.html
CONVERSATION