Family has its pros and cons in Home Alone. Pros? They provide the joys of togetherness and assuage one's solitude. Cons? They might act like jerks, devour a cheese pizza that had been set aside for you, and say things like, "I wouldn't let you sleep in my room if you were growing on my ass!"
Overall, though, the pros outweigh the cons. While Kevin thinks he wants his family to vanish, he actually loves them, and he ends up asking a guy playing Santa to bring them back. When they come back, it's a "reunited, and it feels so good" moment.
Questions about Family
- How does Kevin's attitude towards his family change during the course of the movie? What changes it?
- How do Kevin's siblings change their attitude towards him—if they do?
- Is Kevin at all to blame for the way some of his family members treat him at the beginning of the movie?
- What is the movie trying to say about the importance of family? What makes families important (according to the movie)?
Chew on This
At the beginning of the movie, Kevin's a bit of a brat and his family is largely right to be irritated with him. Throughout the course of the movie, Kevin earns his right to have them come back, as he grows more self-sufficient and capable of dealing with family life in a non-bratty fashion.
Kevin's family ignores and insults him and he's right to be angry with them and wish for them to disappear. The fact that he manages to survive so well on his own shows that they were holding him back.