With Christmas around the corner, many families are participating in annual traditions, such as watching holiday movies, decorating cookies, or singing carols. ‘90s kids have created their own unique tradition in recent years: rewatching Home Alone and wondering how in the world the McCallister family is so rich.
Home Alone was released in 1990 and went on to become one of the most beloved Christmas films of all time. Practically every ‘90s kid grew up watching the McCallister family around the holidays. A lot of Christmas classics, like Elf and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, are timeless films that remain relevant to both children and adults. However, Home Alone is the kind of film that looks completely different when you watch it as an adult than when you watched it as a child. As a child, you probably thought Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) was a genius and longed for the day when you might be left home alone to do whatever you pleased and build cute little booby traps.
Rewatching the film as an adult, your thought process is a lot different. It’s a little more like: Ummm, why is this little eight-year-old more vindictive and sadistic than most serial killers and horror movie villains? He literally just woke up and chose violence. Your thoughts will inevitably turn to the McCallister family’s finances. How did you never notice that this family was probably in the top 1% of the wealthiest Americans?
Just how rich are the McCallisters?
Many of us ‘90s kids grew up with Home Alone, Cheaper by the Dozen, and The Brady Bunch. It was just normal for us to see families with a bajillion kids and not think much of it. However, now that most of us can’t even afford one person (ourselves), you start wondering how these families afforded all those kids. The McCallister family already has five children of their own, plus two cousins who appear to be staying with them while their parents are in Paris. Then there’s an aunt, an uncle, and their four kids who are also temporarily staying with the McCallisters. Huh, having 15 people in one house and traveling with them sounds pretty expensive. Where did they say they were going on their trip again?
Paris. 15 people went on a trip to Paris. Just the thought of paying for a trip to Paris for 15 people is enough to make most adult viewers lightheaded. We also can’t forget that plane ticket prices were higher in 1990 than today, and the four adults sat in first class. The Washington Post estimates that the same flight today would cost about $25,200, but back in 1990, the McCallisters would’ve paid roughly $35,620. So, the McCallisters spent on one flight what many people earn in a year nowadays. Not to mention the thousands of extra dollars they spent on food, transportation, and emergency flights home to get Kevin.
However, it was Kevin’s uncle, Rob (Ray Toler), who paid to fly out all 15 people. So he’s the only wealthy member of the family, right? Not quite. Isn’t the house that Kevin lives in awfully big, though? In fact, as adults, we all probably realized that it wasn’t a house at all. It’s a full-fledged mansion in the suburbs of Chicago. Today, the mansion is worth a whopping $2.3 million. While housing prices have risen, The New York Times still estimates a family would’ve needed an annual household income of at least $305,000 to afford that house in 1990. Plus, by Home Alone 2, the entire family is jetting out to Miami for Christmas, while Kevin spends an estimated $26,000 in New York City, all on his father’s credit card.
What do the McCallister’s do?
It’s a bit sad as an adult, watching Home Alone and having to tell your childhood self, “Sorry, but you’ll never be Kevin because you’re not part of the wealthiest family in America.” Plus, the film makes a little less sense considering the family’s income. This family is filthy rich, and we’re supposed to believe they didn’t have a whole team of nannies, cooks, and housekeepers at their home 24/7 to care for Kevin? They didn’t just shrug and decide to buy another kid when they realized Kevin was gone? They didn’t send their private jet to get him?
But the biggest question you’ll be left with is how the McCallisters attained their fortune. The films never reveal what Kevin’s parents’ professions are. It’s quite rude. I just watched this family spend more in one day than I’ve earned in my life, and they won’t tell me how? At the same time, it could make the movies a bit more fun to watch, considering the fan theories about the family’s mysterious wealth. A prominent theory is that Kevin’s family is involved in organized crime, which explains their fortune, why their home was targeted, and how Kevin learned his brutality. Even The New York Times acknowledged it couldn’t rule out this theory.
There’s also the possibility that they simply inherited their fortune. What are the odds that both Kevin’s dad and uncle are extremely wealthy? The wealth was probably passed down from the dad’s side of the family. Other theories suggest the family was involved in the commodities market, while, according to the movie novelization, the parents worked in hedge funds and fashion design.
I think the theory that the father was in the mafia is a little more satisfying, though. You can watch the Home Alone series and smirk at the McCallisters enjoying their mansion and Paris and Miami trips, knowing that they’re probably going to jail and their son’s going to be a mob boss by age 12.
(featured image: 20th Century Studio)
