Would you let your 7 year old watch Home Alone?

[Anonymous]

My oldest was 8 when she watched it and my little one was 2 at the time. The little one is 9 now and we still watch it, so yeah, she saw it when she was 7. At one point she asked us to leave her home alone so she could do the same things as Kevin. I think she's was 5. I told her Kevin had a bit of a mean streak and she was too sweet, so she wouldn't be able to hurt the bad guys and would probably end up friends with them. She agreed and we still haven't left her home alone.

[Anonymous]

Yes. I was also concerned about the violence but they hit the tone just right and none of it is gratuitous -- the burglars are punished for their own greed and stupidity.

Actually the worst part of the movie is how mean the family is to Kevin in the opening scenes-- you'd never see family members talking that way to one another, but especially not a little kid, in a comedy today. In a drama about an abusive family, yes, but it wouldn't be played for laughs like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, because what all of you are not understanding is that the core of the message to a 7 year old is abandonment. The child in that movie is abandoned by his parents. Your child will think "Oh, wow, will my parents do that to me? Hollywood says so" and now you have a kid with an anxiety disorder

I literally can't tell if you're trolling but I'm a child therapist and Home Alone is not how anxiety disorders are created.

😂

[Anonymous]

Every single violent thing Kevin does to the burglars could have been prevented by them just NOT trying to rob his house. He booby traps the house and doesn't back down when they try to break in anyway. He also I dependently discovers the benefits of cleaning up after himself and having good hygiene. His mom realizes she has been placing value on the wrong things and holds herself accountable for her mistakes (the dad doesn't, which sucks, but is also realistic so a lot of kids will sadly relate).

Also, Kevin discovers his fear of his elderly neighbor is irrational and limiting, and he overcomes this fear to forge a friendship that leads to the man reuniting with his own family.

It's a Christmas movie about family, connection, the importance of home, and how ingenuity and determination trumps greed and avarice. Also at one point a bad guy gets hit in the head with a paint can and the camera work in that scene is terrific.

I wish someone would make a contemporary Christmas movie as perfect and tightly written as Home Alone. I agree it's a very white movie and if it were made to say, Kevin's family would be multi-racial and then at least one of the burglars would be a POC, and there would be minimum of two conversations about privilege, and I truly do not think that would be an improvement. And if your going to have an all white cast, putting Catherine O'Hara in there makes it feel less egregious to me.

[Anonymous]

I guess I'm an outlier because I remember re-watching Home Alone as an adult and being surprised how rough the language was for a kids' movie. I'd let my 9 year old watch it because he understands not to repeat words he hears in a movie, but my 7 year old is pretty immature and I'd rather not fill his head with things like that yet.

I do think the violence is pretty cartoonish so I wouldn't be so concerned about that (and he is trying to stop people who are breaking into his house...).

[Anonymous]

Lol, my kids loved it at age 4.
So far no anxiety or home destruction.

They are 9 and 11

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I was also concerned about the violence but they hit the tone just right and none of it is gratuitous -- the burglars are punished for their own greed and stupidity.

Actually the worst part of the movie is how mean the family is to Kevin in the opening scenes-- you'd never see family members talking that way to one another, but especially not a little kid, in a comedy today. In a drama about an abusive family, yes, but it wouldn't be played for laughs like that.

Wholeheartedly agree with the bolded. So much so, I had a conversation with my kids about how we don’t treat people like this is and this is probably the reason Kevin acts out. I don’t let my kids speak meanly to each other and if anyone in my family ever spoke to my kids the way the uncle does he would never be allowed near my kids again. Period. That said - yes we love it as a family movie for all ages!

[Anonymous]

OP here, we tried and she did not make it through the movie - she was tired and it was "too scary". We'll try again next year.

DH and I watched the rest after the kids went to sleep and man, there's some rough language and people are really mean. The story line with the old man neighbor is really sweet though.

[Anonymous]

No, I would not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe how much “talking through it” Home Alone “requires.” What’s going to happen when you finally let them see the greatest Christmas movie of all time… Die Hard?

We just watched die hard! Kids are 12 and 15. Yippee ki yay. They were sort of expecting that the bad guy would turn out to be not so bad (snape influence). Loved it. And I agree - best Christmas movie ever!!

Bruce Willis disagrees.

https://www.unilad.com/film-and-tv/bruce-willis-die-hard-christmas-movie-176513-20231130

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM, never change. Uptight parents are the norm. Avoid Rudolph as well, it has discrimination against a reindeer with an obvious disability.

np you know there is a difference, right? Not everyone likes violence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, we tried and she did not make it through the movie - she was tired and it was "too scary". We'll try again next year.

DH and I watched the rest after the kids went to sleep and man, there's some rough language and people are really mean. The story line with the old man neighbor is really sweet though.

Adults and older kids are really mean in that movie BUT I found it, not exactly typical of the time, but exaggerated for laughs but also rooted in reality, I guess? I could relate to it as a kid, but my kids now probably could not. It’s weird to think about but times really were different even 30-ish years ago when that movie came out. FWIW my 8 year old watched Home Alone on TV yesterday and was wondering why Kevin didn’t just call his mom’s cell phone LOL.

[Anonymous]

My 5yo watched it last year. We watched home alone 2 this year at age 6. She watched home alone 3 and 4 on the plane alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I let me 7 year old watch is, but only when he's home by himself while I run a few errands.

🤣

[Anonymous]

ok so we watched it with my 6 year old a couple of days ago-- first time I've seen it since I was a kid. And I could not believe my ears when I heard this line and especially that no one else here mentioned it. Buzz says:

He’s acted like a jerk once too many times. And this time? <b>He caught it in the butt.</b>

I collapsed into a fit of giggles because it was so unexpected and then had to tell my 6 yo he said "He's being a butt" lest I have to explain the real reason I was laughing.