The Extratextuals

Few movie poster images have proven as iconic as this one. I’d pose that a large part of its success comes from it navigating quite delicate terrain (as does ET): the poster shows a couple of predators looking in on a kid, who, the title tells us, is all alone. This is the stuff that horror films could be made of, or horrifying dramas about abuse. See, for instance, this parody of the poster for a road not taken but close enough. And yet the poster manages successfully to sell the film as a comedy, and does so because the expression on Macaulay Culkin’s face is playful. It’s not saying “Oh my god, I have one minute to live,” in other words, and the text tries its best to assure us that Kevin’s in charge. When the picture suggests the very opposite – a child at the mercy of two thugs – the poster introduces a significant amount of suspense and mystery: how will Kevin reverse the situation, and how will he “kick some butt”? Finally, while Daniel Stern looks psychotic, Joe Pesci (the more familiar face on the poster) is careful to wear a comic grumpy face, not his Goodfellas one, thus taking the sting out of the predators. Ultimately, then, the poster signals to parents that it’s all alright. To kids, meanwhile, it alludes to a horrifying situation and one of seeming powerlessness, yet promises a flip in those power dynamics, hence also promising the child viewer a vicarious experience of child power, with “I don’t need you, mommy” sentiment.

Tomorrow: Pearl Harbor

poster art Home Alone, poster art, posters