War in My poor angel The story between 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) and two thieves known as the Wet Bandits has been shown on screens around the world every Christmas since its release in 1990.
Every year, for some viewers, the McCallister home and lifestyle inspires its own legacy: wonder how rich this family is.
The New York Times consulted economists and people involved in the film (known in Spain home alone) Find the answer.
The McCallisters belong to the 1 percent
At the beginning of the film, one of the burglars, Harry (Joe Pesci), tells his partner Marv (Daniel Stern) that the McCallister house is their main target in an affluent neighborhood.
“That, Marv, is the icing on the cake,” Harry says, before speculating that the house contains a lot of “valuable things” such as VCRs, stereos, highly prized jewelry, and “marketable securities.” “”They find little.''
The house is the best clue to how much money the McCallisters have.
The icing on the cake, or at least the exterior of it, is a real-world home and located at 671 Lincoln Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Winnetka, one of America's most expensive neighborhoods. According to Realtor.com. Kevin and his four siblings each have a separate room, but it can accommodate an army of visitors.
In 1990, housing was affordable for only the top 1 percent of Chicago households, and that remains the case today, according to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Economists —Max Gillett, Senior Research Analyst; Cindy Hull, assistant chairman of the Financial Markets Committee and acting chairman of the Financial Markets Committee, and Thomas Wallstrom, senior business economist, came to this conclusion after analyzing data covering household income and home equity in the Chicago metropolitan area for 1990 and 2022. Current mortgage rates, and regular taxes and insurance.
Assuming the McCallisters spent no more than 30 percent of their income on housing, economists determined that the house would be affordable for a family with an income of $305,000 in 1990 (about $665,000 in 2022).
By mid-2022, it says a similar home would cost about $2.4 million Zillow rating for home My poor angel. A property of that value would be affordable for a family with an income of $730,000, which is in the top 1 percent of Chicago-area households, according to economists.
How are they so rich?
My poor angel It never explains what parents do.
On the Internet, this question often appears, some have suggested that Kate McCallister is a fashion designer, because there are many mannequins inside the house, which later appeared in one of Kevin's attempts to deceive the thieves by convincing them that, in fact, you are not alone in the house.
Todd Strasser, author of the official novels My poor angel and two of its sequels, he said in an interview that he was not closely monitored by the filmmakers. The direction they gave him, he basically said: “Here's the script, do what you want.”
In the book, he made Kevin's mother a fashion designer because of the mannequins and Kevin's father a businessman because it was a “safer bet,” he said.
He said it never occurred to him to explain in detail how the McCallisters got their money; He thought they were “upper middle class” but “very rich”.
The family has other signs of considerable, but not stratospheric, wealth: they dress beautifully and hire several vans to take them to the airport, yes, but they can when Kate tries to bribe an elderly couple to give them tickets from Paris. Back home, he offers them jewelry and money, but mentions that his Rolex might be fake.
“I don't know how much the McCallisters made, but they sure did a lot for my bank account,” Strasser said.
A fan theory It says that Peter McCallister is involved in organized crime. According to this theory, the McCallister house is the target of some kind of revenge, and Kevin's brutal violence against the burglars is the result of an upbringing exposed to crime.
The Times could not refute this theory.
Uncle Rob paid for the flights
A commonly cited fact about the family's wealth is their Christmas trip to Paris.
Taking 15 people to Paris is expensive, especially if all four adults are traveling in first class, and Kevin's parents aren't paying for plane tickets. First of all In the film, Kate McCallister tells a police officer—who is actually Harry in disguise—that her husband's brother paid for the flights.
That brother is Uncle Rob. In the first film he is a small figure, but the few hints he receives show that he has a lot of money. You pay for the tickets and have an apartment in Paris with a clear view of the Eiffel Tower that can somehow accommodate 15 members of your family. (Continued from film, Home Alone 2: Lost in New Yorkgives more hints that Uncle Rob is rich, but this analysis is based on the first image only).
A third brother, Uncle Frank (with an average face), lives in Ohio and travels with the family from Illinois to Paris. We don't know anything about his income, but we do know that he is stingy. At his brother's house in Illinois, he avoids paying a $122.50 pizza bill. On the plane, while eating dinner in first class, he asks his wife to put the crystal salt and pepper shaker in her purse.
This behavior makes us understand that he is rich. According to a 2008 article, shoplifting is “significantly more common” among people with household incomes above $70,000. American Journal of Psychiatry.
Uncle Frank is a typical adult in the world of John Hughes, who he wrote and produced My poor angelsaid Robert PullmanA professor of sociology at Saint Mary's College in California, he studies representations of youth and high school in film.
A common characteristic of Hughes' films, he said, is the dramatic tension fueled by conflicts between the young and the old, which are always resolved in favor of the younger.
He points out that Hughes' teenage movies—including A club of five Y Girl in pink– Class tensions are also often important and drive the story.
“Their stories typically support the perspective of working-class youth or poor kids trying to catch up with a wealthy peer group, for example,” Professor Pullman said. “But inside My poor angelIt's clear that this is Kevin's success as a kid, but Kevin maintains his impressive prowess as a rich kid.
The film is not about money
Eve Cowley, set designer My poor angelMcCallister was responsible for the furnishings and wallpaper inside the house, which was filmed on sets built at a local school.
He said in an email that the house was not decorated with expensive furniture, but had a deliberately “elegant and luxurious” look.
When the movie was made, Blue and Rosewood were popular colors in the interior design world, said Kelly. But he used rich reds, greens and golds in the family home, inspired by Norman Rockwell paintings and old Christmas cards.
Hughes told him he wanted the house to have a “timeless look.” “He told me that he likes his films to be a little more beautiful and clean than reality because his aim in making films is to entertain and uplift the audience,” he said.
Calle also had some advice for people looking for answers about family income.
“For me, with all due respect, fans who argue about their parents' income or the cost of the house should enjoy the movie instead,” he said.
Hughes and director Chris Columbus “created this moving and humorous film to entertain audiences and lift their spirits during the holidays,” he said. “It raised spirits, and continues to do so.”
Amanda Holbuch Write about general information. Other works by Amanda Holbuch
