Many have theorized that original Home Alone character Buzz McCallister.
Since Home Alone’s release in 1990, viewers have been quick to poke holes in how valid it really is that Kevin McCallister couldn’t his family or vice versa. The phone lines were apparently down at his house, but somehow they worked so he could call to order pizza and the police at the last minute? He also could have easily used a payphone or asked Old Man Marley to use his phone and let his parents or the police know he was doing fine. It wasn’t as easy for a 10-year-old to get in with people across the globe back in 1990, but it’s hardly an issue in 2021. For this reason, many have wondered how Home Alone could work in real life as a believable conflict today.
As technology has grown over the past decades, it’s been common for viewers to dismiss Home Alone’s premise as impossible in modern times. The fact that a 10-year-old is left home alone with no way to his family or reliable adults was more plausible in 1990, but in 2021, he could easily send a text or message via the internet to tell them he’s alright. Today's technology makes Home Alone’s underlying conflict less conceivable, but the Disney+ reboot already dispels this. Home Alone’s reboot features a family even more well-to-do than the McCallisters, so why wouldn’t a 10-year-old enjoy a week at home with access to everything he wants without his family bothering him?
The simple fact of the matter is, he probably doesn’t want to call his parents. In a callback to Kevin’s realization in the original, Max Mercer declares in the Mrs. McCalister (Catherine O’Hara) had in Home Alone, but she probably already ed Max by the time she was arranging the flights.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York actually set a precedence for this plotline, where Kevin easily could have ed the police but chose to use up his dad’s credit card instead. The main difference between the early 1990s-set Home Alone movies and the 2021 reboot is cell phones. It would have been harder for Kevin to his parents when he didn’t have a phone number for their hotels, but in Home Alone’s Disney reboot, there’s no way Max doesn’t have a cell phone or iPad to text his mom. Since Home Alone and the reboot are set in the same universe, it’s possible Max heard stories about Kevin McCallister's (AHS’ Macauley Culkin) Home Alone defense and wanted to try it out on the burglars for himself without outside help.
