We here at FTN love a good fan theory, but this new take on Home Alone has blown our minds. It may be one of the best, feel-good Christmas movies of all time, but could it be that comedy legend John Candy’s brief cameo appearance in the film actually has him cast as the Devil Himself?
Absurd or accurate? Let’s find out.
Reddit (the source of so many delightful fan theory reads) user drewgarr has pointed out some rather interesting points about Candy’s appearance in the flick, when his character, named Gus Polinski, turns up, seemingly out of nowhere, to have a chat with Catherine O’Hara’s character – Kate, or Mcauley Calkin’s mum, for those a little rusty.
Here’s the scene as a reminder:
You can read drewgarr’s theory in full, but here’s a summary. In the airport, after realising the family has left their son behind, Kate says she will get him back “If I have to sell my soul to the devil himself”, which is when Gus takes notice of her and comes over for a chat.
The setting of the scene is very important to the theory; the two sit at a crossroads, located in the airport. He goes on “At this point I want to point out the myth regarding the crossroads demon. In a nutshell it means that you can give an offering to the devil (in this case her soul) near a crossroads, the devil will show up and deliver it in exchange for the offering.”
Spooky stuff. However, it’s after this scene that Gus offers Kate a lift to Chicago, which she agrees to, sealing her fate and selling her soul. drewgarr continues “It is at this moment Gus smiles and points out to his friend renting the van, showing her he is honouring his side of deal since she already put up her side. It is here where she says “Yes” and the next scene we see that she did in fact accept the ride.”
As if this theory wasn’t out there enough, another sliver of evidence that it points towards is Gus’ use of a woodwind instrument; “Sure it’s not as obvious as a fiddle, [but] there are some references in the bible that one of the instruments are created and favoured by the devil.”
Reddit user Honest_Coxy adds, “You could also add in the ironic twist of fate that usually accompanies dealings with the devil, in this case it is the fact that if she stayed in the airport she would have arrived home at almost the exact same time.”
As the post itself says, it’s a bit of a silly one, but it’s given a brand new sinister twist to a film we never saw coming.
Source: Squareeyed
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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