Home Alone, the movie where a kid complains about his family so much, they disappear. Literally.
Ok, maybe not literally, but to him they literally disappear. Haven't we all wished for this now and again? How much fun it would be to have run of the house, no one to bother us, watch whatever we want, eat whatever we want? But, just like Kevin, most of us soon realize that being alone at the holidays is a lonely existence.
Except when we come to the realization, we're not also engaging in wacky hijinks with a pair of bumbling home invasion con artists.
(On a side note, am I the only one that wants to punch the uncle repeatedly? Every time he speaks I want to reach into the TV and sock him in the face.)
I'm not going to get into the caper aspect of the movie, but rather want to say that the moments I really love in this movie are the calm moments between all the humor, all the goofiness. Kevin coming downstairs to the quiet, empty house and sitting in the kitchen briefly before he realizes that something isn't right; the moment before being startled by the "scary" neighbor when Kevin shops for a toothbrush; his "last meal" moment before the robbers arrive; and his time in the church when he realizes that the old man next door isn't scary after all.
I love these moments because they mirror those moments of calm we all try to find during the holidays. Between all the running around shopping, cooking, decorating, these moments are what make the holidays all worth while. Taking a moment to sit and enjoy your Christmas tree, or pausing in the middle of present-madness to appreciate being with those you love. These moments may be brief, and they may be few and far between, but they're what reminds us that all the other craziness is worthwhile.
Which is, essentially, what happens to Kevin. Kind of. Maybe I'm stretching. But after everything he goes through in the movie, he comes to the realization that despite how crazy, sometimes mean, and often annoying his family is, he loves them and wants them with him for Christmas.
And, as is with every Christmas movie, if you learn a lesson, you usually get what you wish for. Kevin is no exception. Just in time for Christmas, he saves the neighborhood and gets his family back. Now if only his family had learned a lesson like he did, maybe they wouldn't have lost him for a second time a mere 2 years later. But then, we wouldn't get a sequel and the joy of meeting another weird old person, the bird lady.
But more on that in a future post.
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