You’re asking all the right questions, Hunter. HOME ALONE is an interesting case! Funny enough, it shares some similarities with DIE HARD in that the crooks - the Wet Bandits - use the Christmas season to their advantage. The big difference is that Marv and Harry are low-level and rely way more on the holiday for their scheme to make sense/work, unlike the DIE HARD dudes, who, I imagine, could pull their heist off any time of year.
Another point is that HOME ALONE imparts strong morals about family unity, togetherness, and charity. No, the movie doesn’t neeeed to take place at Christmas time for those messages to succeed, but it helps! And those morals are a huge reason why it’s beloved as a Christmas classic.
Also, the McCallister house is SO decked out (soooooo many reds and greens!!) that removing all that decor would severely diminish its warmth. Think of it like this: Kevin protecting the home is, in a way, protecting Christmas.
There’s also the problem of the fully-booked flights, making it impossible for Kevin’s family to return home. That’s hard to justify without the seasonality.
I’m here to say Home Alone is absolutely a Christmas movie
I got nervous I was going to hear Its A Wonderful Life isn’t a Christmas story - I’m relieved it qualifies. So Home Alone isn’t one? I’m ok with that.
You’re asking all the right questions, Hunter. HOME ALONE is an interesting case! Funny enough, it shares some similarities with DIE HARD in that the crooks - the Wet Bandits - use the Christmas season to their advantage. The big difference is that Marv and Harry are low-level and rely way more on the holiday for their scheme to make sense/work, unlike the DIE HARD dudes, who, I imagine, could pull their heist off any time of year.
Another point is that HOME ALONE imparts strong morals about family unity, togetherness, and charity. No, the movie doesn’t neeeed to take place at Christmas time for those messages to succeed, but it helps! And those morals are a huge reason why it’s beloved as a Christmas classic.
Also, the McCallister house is SO decked out (soooooo many reds and greens!!) that removing all that decor would severely diminish its warmth. Think of it like this: Kevin protecting the home is, in a way, protecting Christmas.
There’s also the problem of the fully-booked flights, making it impossible for Kevin’s family to return home. That’s hard to justify without the seasonality.
I would say HOME ALONE is a Christmas movie.