MovieChat Forums > Home Alone (1990) Discussion > Marley should be given a background

Marley should be given a background


There should be an explanation for why every child in the McCallisters' neighborhood thinks that Marley is a murderer. I have always wondered what has started the rumor, and would like to know what has pushed Marley and his son in to hating each other.

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How do you know every child in the neighborhood thinks that? Buzz is the one telling the story and neither Kevin or the other kid has ever heard that story before. There doesn't seem to be any indication that everyone believes that. Buzz was just full of crap and making up things to scare them. It's possible he's told other kids that story but I'm not sure I believe the whole neighborhood thought that about "Old Man Marley"

But he's a lonely old man that children might think he's "creepy" Because he seems to have no family, alone and depressed.

And the fight with his son could be a lot of things. Really doesn't need to be explained.

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Thank you. JohnnyCastle. Buzz is not the creator of the story. Marley has been on the block for much longer than the McCallisters have, and obviously working around sinister rumors about himself for years. Kevin is only eight, so it's reasonable for him to hear something for the first time at home, and Rod does not live in the neighborhood. Furthermore, Buzz is ignoring his brother by the time he talks about Marley. He pushes Kevin out of the way before he makes his speech and does not seem to notice that the younger boy is still in the room. Marley makes it clear that the whole block has a distrustful aversion to him, and it might even include some adults. You must not be curious about the rage between the older man and his son, but I can't be the only one who is. It's natural to desire details about a time when people lose their tempers and say that they never want to see each other again, so the movie should explain the matter, especially since it could be related to the local tales.

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I always thought Buzz's story was a bunch of Bologna. Nobody kills off half a neighborhood and gets away with it. Especially when the murderer lives in the neighborhood.

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Thank you, GreenGoblinsOck8. The rumors are not Buzz's production. Those are older than he is. The issue is not the truth of the story, since the audience knows that there isn't any. It's what has made the children of the neighborhood think that there is, which ought to be revealed. Also, while we would like to believe that your statement is true, it isn't always. There are unsolved cases of murder and situations in which a lack of evidence allows criminals to avoid prison.

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Yes but can you think of any where someone killed half the people in a neighborhood?

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I can't name any identical ones, but am sure that it has happened. A comparable case is that of Jack The Ripper.

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I was under the impression that the disappearance of his son was the origin of the stories. Nobody knew that he had simply stopped talking to his father and moved away. Kids being kids, as the story spread it got blown more and more out of proportion.

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That was smart, PaladinNJ, but it sounded as though Marley's son had already been on his own by the time he enraged his father. Also, your idea was inapplicable to the older man's wife. Part of the rumor was that Marley murdered his whole family.

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I just watched a video from Chris Stuckmann about his experience with the Jehovah's Witness religion. He talks about a friend of his coming out as gay and his parents completely disowning him. That instead of saying they have 5 kids they tell people they have 4 kids. That person was kicked out of the family, the religion, and was living on the street.

Chris said for sharing his stories on this video that he's going to be kicked out of the religion, and his father will likely stop talking to him for good.

It's something I have a hard time even imagining. But thats how some things could happen. Marley could've been JW, his son converted to Catholic. They get into a fight and Marley stops talking to him. Then Marley becomes depressed and lonely, he leaves JW too. Reunites with his son.

I don't think that would be the story behind it but its a scenario.

We'll never know but there's endless possibilities. Also, Buzz isn't exactly trustworthy. You don't know that the whole neighborhood believes this story or anyhing. Buzz could be making it up or whatever.

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There is also Buzz being a hypocrite later in the movie saying that nothing dangerous has or ever will happen in their neighborhood. Which pretty well means he made up the story about Marley that he told to Kevin and his cousin.

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Yes great point!

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That is a shrewd catch. I'm not certain when or how it fits in to the movie, but there could be truth to it somewhere along the line. Buzz obviously enjoys telling the story about Marley, and it's not his first time doing so. While that could mean that the boy never believes the rumor, there is an equal chance that he is perversely thrilled by living next door to a murderer, which would suit him well. Maybe Buzz has always tinkered with the idea that Marley is a criminal but is later pushed in to ignoring it simply because he is tired of hearing about Kevin. He says that he would welcome something horrible happening to his little brother. His complaint about living on the most boring American street might be fueled by a lack of evidence or recent crimes to have fun with.

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As far as I am concerned Marley is not guilty of any crime and Buzz is a lying emotional sadist who enjoys making other people feel bad.

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What else would you want when Buzz explained his made up story about him?

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I don't know what the basis of your question is, blue1981. Buzz does not make the story about Marley, and offers no information about why his neighbor has supposedly murdered half of the block. Something has prompted kids to talk about the older man as they do, and we ought to be told what it is. The audience should also hear about the cause of a volatile fight.

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No he shouldn’t have , the story is told through Kevin’s perspective , we the audience know what Kevin knows and It’s not logical that Kevin would know Marleys backstory

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