MovieChat Forums > Home Alone (1990) Discussion > Would never have happened after 2000

Would never have happened after 2000

posted 6 years ago by AmeriGirl26 (15062)
25 replies | jump to latest

One thing I noticed in our current culture is how convenient it is to have internet and cell phones. Due to not having either in 1990 (I'll explain the cell phone thing below), and the trees falling in the wind storm and messing up the phone lines (that's Chicago weather for you), and everyone on the street being gone during the holidays, Kevin was completely cut off from communicating with his family, and vice versa.

If this family had left Kevin behind today, they would have easily been able to talk to him on cell phones and Skype, regardless of what the trees did to the power lines today. It wouldn't have taken very long to fix those, and with WiFi, it would have taken a LOT more to cut Kevin's family off from communicating with him in this day and age.

Note: while cell phones did exist in 1990, and were invented in the late 70s/early 80s, nobody used them, save for very, very rich people, such as business executives and billionaires, and even then, they had limited range, were the size of bricks, and only worked in certain areas. Heck, cell phones didn't become cheap, easy to use, and have better reception until 2001/2002. So even if Kevin's family had owned a "brick phone," he was still screwed in Christmas of 1990.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7954) 6 years ago

That is true. Also in today's world the line, "From the tree house!?" wouldn't exist either. Then again in today's world they wouldn't have made it past security if they were late to the airport. I'm curious how this movie could even work in today's world with people waking up to cellphones which even if low on battery, their alarms still work.

[–] BillySlater (4281) 6 years ago

Its crazy how very different 1990 was to say 1995-96 simply because of the internet. I think that´s what gives the movie its charm tho. You are right in that the movie wouldn´t have worked other than in the early 90´s.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (15062) 6 years ago

It would have worked in the 70s and 80s too. The early 90s had a lot of the same tech as the 70s and 80s, even after the internet became available in '94.

[–] PaladinNJ (21762) 6 years ago

In today's environment, if the family had left Kevin behind, there's a very likely possibility that they would be brought up on charges.

[–] strntz (12773) 6 years ago

If this family had left Kevin behind today, they would have easily been able to talk to him on cell phones and Skype, regardless of what the trees did to the power lines today. It wouldn't have taken very long to fix those, and with WiFi, it would have taken a LOT more to cut Kevin's family off from communicating with him in this day and age.

Where there's a will, there's a way. If they wanted to remake this (another argument) as a current time story, they could have the McCallister's house in a secluded area where a landline internet connection could be severed easily.

I live in a small town, and I have an AT&T Microcell connected to our cable wifi for cell access. Without the wired broadband connection, I'd have to leave my house and walk to the road to get even marginal cell service.

[–] wearsalan (5554) 6 years ago

In todays climate Kevins parents would have to accept responsibility for his actions and would have been sued for malicious wounding by the Wet Bandits.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (15062) 6 years ago

Sad, but true.

[–] moviechatterer (16282) 5 years ago

really? you can do that?
Because we have tribes of hooded hoodlums running round the neigbourhood doing what the hell they like and the police cant do anything much because they are young .
Their parents dont give a shit.

[–] wearsalan (5554) 5 years ago

Move from that area. ASAP!

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

Do you live in the UK by any chance?

[–] moviechatterer (16282) 4 years ago

yeah

[–] moviechatterer (16282) 4 years ago

they vandalised the village xmas tree couple days ago!
little asshats

[–] PaladinNJ (21762) 6 years ago

This is what happens today:
http://time.com/5485740/mom-arrested-home-alone/

[–] eastangliauk (402) 6 years ago

This is now days

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKYABI-dGEA

[–] jonathan_k80 (6436) 6 years ago

Here's how the story could work in the 21st Century:

After Kevin caused the scene at the dinner table, Kate (Mom) pulls him aside.
"Since you can't behave, you can go to bed early. In the attic bedroom."
"But, Mom," Kevin protested. "It's scary up there."
"You should have thought of that before acting up. Now go to bed," said Kate. "And you can give me your phone. You're grounded."
"Aww, Mom," Kevin groaned as he handed over his cell phone. Kate hastily stuffed the phone into her purse.
"There will be no Internet or TV, either," Kate added. "I'm locking the computer."

The next morning when the family is rushing to make it to the airport, Kevin is left behind. Kate forgets she has Kevin's phone in her purse. When Kevin gets up he has no cell phone and can't access the computer without the password. And the McAllister home hasn't had a landline in years.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7954) 6 years ago

But that would mean he can't call the cops on Harry and Marv.

[–] jonathan_k80 (6436) 6 years ago

Maybe Mr. Marley would call the police after knocking the two out with the snow shovel.

But then, Kevin couldn't have called for pizza delivery, either. That was one of the funniest parts of the movie that would have to be left out.

[–] Utpe (658) 6 years ago

Interesting that you brought this subject up a month prior to the "Home Alone" Google Assistant commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKYABI-dGEA

It really doesn't seem like it would work with all the tech we have nowadays. But, I'm sure Harry and Marv would still try to rob the house simply because that's what they do.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (15062) 6 years ago

I actually didn't know about the Google Assistant commercial. I don't trust devices like Alexa or the others. They reek of Big Brother.

The robbing thing I can definitely agree with. Just because it's the 2010s does not mean cat burglars have quit trying to rob houses, particularly the houses of rich people.

[–] Costumer (1833) 5 years ago

I think you may be a bit off on when cell phones became reasonably affordable. My wife and I are middle class (low to middle middle class). We got our first flip phones in 1999. We couldn't have afforded anything particularly expensive. And we waited a couple of years before they were readily available to buy them.

Now, we did have issues. We got them for a trip. When we got to our destination we decided to try them out and couldn't make calls. We used the hotel phone to call the carrier and were told that cloning phones was a problem, so for our protection the ability to make calls was shut off while we were out of our service area. (we had not left the country).

We complained that we got them so we could call each other while on our trip since we were at a conference and wouldn't always be close to each other. We were told we could just call the operator (that number was available) and supply a credit card number to make our calls.

We sent a rather nasty letter to the carrier. I doubt our letter was the cause, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were getting a lot of them. A month or two later that policy was removed.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (15062) 5 years ago

Let's put it this way, we had internet (first phone-line, then cable) and digital phones were on the rise. It would have been much too easy for Kevin's family to get a hold of him with the tech we did have in the first decade of the 2000s. This film definitely wouldn't have been able to happen in the 2010s, with smartphones and wi-fi. It's better to have happened in the time before the internet.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7954) 5 years ago

My thought now is that maybe they might have a spare emergency cell phone for some circumstances. Or maybe instead of putting it in her purse she puts Kevin's cellphone in her pocket and then forgets about it being in her pocket and throws it in the dirty clothes. She doesn't remember that she left his cellphone in that pair of jeans she threw in the hamper til after she realizes Kevin is home alone while on the plane. Then he'd have it and they could call to talk to him but wouldn't be able to do much else.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Well today, laws about child neglect/safety are 10x more stricter than it was 30 years ago.

So Kevin's parents would definetly be in hot water, get sent to jail, or even lose custody of all their kids for leaving their 8-year-old home alone TWICE.

Now a days, even letting a kid under 10 go outside to play with no supervision or go to a nearby liquor store alone to buy chips and candy is risky.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7954) 5 years ago

Yeah. I know. I remember back in 1992, when we lived in the city of Peoria, my brother and I rode to the comic store (he on his bike and me on my scooter) which was quite a distance from the house. Me and my other siblings also used to go to park near our house there. That's a big no no in today's world.