Kevin, Portrait of a Serial Killer
December 4, 2014 12:29 PM Subscribe
I’ve been working on this theory for several years, researching, poring over the film.
This is the part that scares me the most.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 12:35 PM on December 4, 2014 [23 favorites]
This is the part that scares me the most.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 12:35 PM on December 4, 2014 [23 favorites]
I remember seeing Home Alone in college, and one of my dormmates piped up right after that blowtorch scene, "We're watching a snuff film, aren't we?" That, of course, made us all laugh even more at the slapstick, but some grandma gave us a serious stink-eye afterward as she shepherded her kids out of the theater.
posted by Etrigan at 12:47 PM on December 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 12:47 PM on December 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
Kevin believed that he made his family disappear (and later return) simply by wishing for it. Grandiose delusions like this are suggestive of schizophrenia or possibly bipolar disorder. To Kevin, other people are mere playthings in a world that ultimately centers around himself.
posted by dephlogisticated at 12:51 PM on December 4, 2014 [30 favorites]
posted by dephlogisticated at 12:51 PM on December 4, 2014 [30 favorites]
Over to Tom and Jerry. Any takers?
posted by Namlit at 12:53 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Namlit at 12:53 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
In terms of mental states (magical thinking etc described above) schizophrenia is far more complex a disease than that; people living with schizophrenia also are not necessarily violent, and are more likely to be victims of violence.
posted by Nevin at 1:02 PM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Nevin at 1:02 PM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
I was not prepared for how close a physical match they are.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:08 PM on December 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 1:08 PM on December 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
I love this. It reminds me of Cool Papa Bell's Ferris Bueller/Fight Club theory.
posted by painquale at 1:10 PM on December 4, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by painquale at 1:10 PM on December 4, 2014 [8 favorites]
Betteridge's Law is generally accurate, but not absolutely so.
posted by ckape at 1:25 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by ckape at 1:25 PM on December 4, 2014
I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt on his 'working on this theory for several years', but the topic was coincidentally covered just last month on the Nerdist podcast.
posted by jadayne at 1:27 PM on December 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by jadayne at 1:27 PM on December 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
Namlit: Yeah, I had that Tom and Jerry comic that depicted what they would really look like as a result of their constant fights and traps. Gruesome reality: casts, bandages, wheel chairs, and the ultimate casket (for Tom--Jerry always won).
Same thing with Roadrunner vs Coyote (tho I didn't have a comic/results of that one...).
I recall my first take on Home Alone was that it was ultra violence that was just laughed off without showing real consequences.
Nowadays, there's lots of FAIL stuff on video sites that show the "accident," but never the consequences. So it's the modern day "Haha, he failed and fell off the roof!" equivalent.
Interesting comparo here between the two films....
posted by CrowGoat at 1:34 PM on December 4, 2014
Same thing with Roadrunner vs Coyote (tho I didn't have a comic/results of that one...).
I recall my first take on Home Alone was that it was ultra violence that was just laughed off without showing real consequences.
Nowadays, there's lots of FAIL stuff on video sites that show the "accident," but never the consequences. So it's the modern day "Haha, he failed and fell off the roof!" equivalent.
Interesting comparo here between the two films....
posted by CrowGoat at 1:34 PM on December 4, 2014
Any lingering doubts I had were erased by the time I got down to this clip. I can absolutely hear that same thing in Jigsaw's voice just perfectly.
posted by mstokes650 at 1:51 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by mstokes650 at 1:51 PM on December 4, 2014
You ever have a pot dealer from your teen years that just loved to talk to his customers? You know, that weird guy with way to much african art and those funny pill box hats who only has people to talk to because he's a dealer. You just nod and wish your other dealer who just wants your money would have answered his damn pager. Sometimes he's got a good story and you learn what was in the suitcase in Reservoir Dogs and sometimes you get this story and you start to wonder as he slips in to the topic of crazed serial killer if bringing a friend along was a good idea or you just upped the body count.
Finally after he is done with his monologue.
"I gotta get to the Oingo Boingo show now. No, I don't have an extra ticket. Here is your $40 bucks, bye Felipe"
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 1:54 PM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Finally after he is done with his monologue.
"I gotta get to the Oingo Boingo show now. No, I don't have an extra ticket. Here is your $40 bucks, bye Felipe"
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 1:54 PM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Someone linked to the previously on Home Alone injuries, right?
posted by ambrosen at 1:57 PM on December 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by ambrosen at 1:57 PM on December 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
It's weird. I loved this movie (Home Alone) as a kid. Saw a commercial for it the other day ('tis the season) and was kind of horrified. It's full of total assholes.
The parents who somehow forget their 10 year old child at home when going on vacation? I can get (and have been, hah) leaving your kid behind on a car trip but you're not going to get far before you notice. (They only made it to the end of the street and went "Hey, where's your brother? Oh God!") But an overseas trip? There are so many points at which you'd have to notice that one of your party isn't there. Like maybe when you're taking out your passports (I don't know that many parents who are going to let a ten year old handle their own passport, I don't think) and realize you have one extra? Assholes who just didn't care about their kid.
They also didn't care enough to make sure their kid knew to go to the police in emergency situations, find a friend or relative (surely someone is left in town) to go get him, nothing. I seem to recall a cop shows up from the Keystone PD at some point but that's it.
Kevin, let's be honest, is a total asshole. And hasn't been taught basic self-preservation by his asshole parents.
More than that, though, is the obvious lesson from the movie: it's totally okay to inflict severe physical violence on people. That's not so problematic in a movie aimed at adults, but kids? Enhh.
Urgh, just urgh. Haven't seen the Saw movies because blech torture porn, but from what I know of them this makes all sorts of (fun) sense.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:08 PM on December 4, 2014
The parents who somehow forget their 10 year old child at home when going on vacation? I can get (and have been, hah) leaving your kid behind on a car trip but you're not going to get far before you notice. (They only made it to the end of the street and went "Hey, where's your brother? Oh God!") But an overseas trip? There are so many points at which you'd have to notice that one of your party isn't there. Like maybe when you're taking out your passports (I don't know that many parents who are going to let a ten year old handle their own passport, I don't think) and realize you have one extra? Assholes who just didn't care about their kid.
They also didn't care enough to make sure their kid knew to go to the police in emergency situations, find a friend or relative (surely someone is left in town) to go get him, nothing. I seem to recall a cop shows up from the Keystone PD at some point but that's it.
Kevin, let's be honest, is a total asshole. And hasn't been taught basic self-preservation by his asshole parents.
More than that, though, is the obvious lesson from the movie: it's totally okay to inflict severe physical violence on people. That's not so problematic in a movie aimed at adults, but kids? Enhh.
Urgh, just urgh. Haven't seen the Saw movies because blech torture porn, but from what I know of them this makes all sorts of (fun) sense.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:08 PM on December 4, 2014
We need to talk about Kevin.
posted by carmicha at 2:09 PM on December 4, 2014 [24 favorites]
posted by carmicha at 2:09 PM on December 4, 2014 [24 favorites]
Never talk about We Need To Talk About Kevin.
posted by Artw at 2:17 PM on December 4, 2014 [11 favorites]
posted by Artw at 2:17 PM on December 4, 2014 [11 favorites]
I recall my first take on Home Alone was that it was ultra violence that was just laughed off without showing real consequences.
I think there's a longer tradition of that than you acknowledge, from Warner Brothers cartoons to the Three Stooges .
posted by kewb at 3:30 PM on December 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
I think there's a longer tradition of that than you acknowledge, from Warner Brothers cartoons to the Three Stooges .
posted by kewb at 3:30 PM on December 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
Ha, I love theories like these. Bueller? Bueller? Are you real, Bueller?
posted by a lungful of dragon at 4:08 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by a lungful of dragon at 4:08 PM on December 4, 2014
My favorite part of the Neo-horror film You're Next are the parts where it basically becomes a murderous version of Home Alone
posted by The Whelk at 4:14 PM on December 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 4:14 PM on December 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
a murderous version of Home Alone
But such a thing already existed. It was made 40+ years ago, and it's called Straw Dogs.
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:23 PM on December 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
But such a thing already existed. It was made 40+ years ago, and it's called Straw Dogs.
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:23 PM on December 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
I can like different versions of e same thing.
Also, as previously mentioned, they never once keep to acknowledge that the McAllisters appear to be FREAKING LOADED and a little minor burglary seems petty in comparison.
posted by The Whelk at 4:49 PM on December 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Also, as previously mentioned, they never once keep to acknowledge that the McAllisters appear to be FREAKING LOADED and a little minor burglary seems petty in comparison.
posted by The Whelk at 4:49 PM on December 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Oh jeezus, I never want to watch Home Alone now.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:30 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:30 PM on December 4, 2014
Also, as previously mentioned, they never once keep to acknowledge that the McAllisters appear to be FREAKING LOADED and a little minor burglary seems petty in comparison.
Yeah, but the wet bandits could do serious property damage, what with all the water
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:34 PM on December 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yeah, but the wet bandits could do serious property damage, what with all the water
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:34 PM on December 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'm convinced.
I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt on his 'working on this theory for several years', but the topic was coincidentally covered just last month on the Nerdist podcast.
Well, he does link to his having tweeted it two years ago.
posted by Zed at 10:01 PM on December 4, 2014
I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt on his 'working on this theory for several years', but the topic was coincidentally covered just last month on the Nerdist podcast.
Well, he does link to his having tweeted it two years ago.
posted by Zed at 10:01 PM on December 4, 2014
Keep the beartrap locked onto your face, ya filthy animal.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 10:50 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 10:50 PM on December 4, 2014
So that's why "Kevin" was on the board in Cabin in the Woods.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:11 PM on December 4, 2014 [21 favorites]
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:11 PM on December 4, 2014 [21 favorites]
My favorite part of the Neo-horror film You're Next are the parts where it basically becomes a murderous version of Home Alone
The ending of Skyfall is pretty much Home Alone in the Scottish highlands.
posted by brundlefly at 11:44 PM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
The ending of Skyfall is pretty much Home Alone in the Scottish highlands.
posted by brundlefly at 11:44 PM on December 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
OK. Jigsaw leaves a veritable treasure, extorted from a life of villainy. His most fiendish and diabolical traps are reserved for this one, last game, and the prize is worth a fortune...
... and Mikey needs to pay for an operation to cure his mom, so his gang - Mouth, Chunk, Data, with their new friend Sloth - well, they'll play this game. It's up to Mikey's brother Brand and his classmates, Andi and Stef, to make sure they come back alive.
SAW VIII - GOONIES NEVER SAY DIE!
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:05 AM on December 5, 2014 [7 favorites]
... and Mikey needs to pay for an operation to cure his mom, so his gang - Mouth, Chunk, Data, with their new friend Sloth - well, they'll play this game. It's up to Mikey's brother Brand and his classmates, Andi and Stef, to make sure they come back alive.
SAW VIII - GOONIES NEVER SAY DIE!
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:05 AM on December 5, 2014 [7 favorites]
There are so many points at which you'd have to notice that one of your party isn't there. Like maybe when you're taking out your passports (I don't know that many parents who are going to let a ten year old handle their own passport, I don't think) and realize you have one extra?
It's a bit of a "just so" solution, but the way the movie handled this was that when Kevin tackled Buzz, the scuffle led to milk getting spilled on all the tickets and passports. There's a clear shot of Kevin's ticket getting thrown away in the cleanup (and maybe that's the passport seen in the wad in his dad's hand before he chucks it in the trash?). The next morning, as they're rushing to load in the airport vans, the mom asks "where are the passports and tickets?" Dad: "I put them in the microwave to dry them out." They were grabbing the pile out of the microwave last minute.
(I'm not a Home Alone expert, I just remembered the above link circulating last Christmas.)
posted by neda at 5:47 AM on December 6, 2014
It's a bit of a "just so" solution, but the way the movie handled this was that when Kevin tackled Buzz, the scuffle led to milk getting spilled on all the tickets and passports. There's a clear shot of Kevin's ticket getting thrown away in the cleanup (and maybe that's the passport seen in the wad in his dad's hand before he chucks it in the trash?). The next morning, as they're rushing to load in the airport vans, the mom asks "where are the passports and tickets?" Dad: "I put them in the microwave to dry them out." They were grabbing the pile out of the microwave last minute.
(I'm not a Home Alone expert, I just remembered the above link circulating last Christmas.)
posted by neda at 5:47 AM on December 6, 2014
Really given the trouble the kid represents and that they eventually seem to abandon the notion of robbery they should just phone the CPA and have then come down on his and his families asses.
posted by Artw at 6:33 AM on December 6, 2014
posted by Artw at 6:33 AM on December 6, 2014
If you like hilarious scourings of source texts, you'll love Pitch Perfect 237.
posted by Rhomboid at 1:36 PM on December 6, 2014
posted by Rhomboid at 1:36 PM on December 6, 2014
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No, actually seems pretty plausible. Boy, that movie is violent.
posted by Artw at 12:33 PM on December 4, 2014 [8 favorites]