In the United States of America, an historically bizarre series of events has been unfolding.
When the sitting president, Donald Trump, helped to foment public outrage with false
claims of election tampering, it led to a violent insurrection by right-wing protesters
who descended on the U.S. Capitol, resulting in destruction, theft, and multiple deaths.
Those events took place on January 6, 2021.
Two days later, Twitter made the decision to permanently ban Trump from the social media
platform, with @TwitterSafety writing:
"...we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence."
While people online debated the benefits and drawbacks of that decision, the House of Representatives
immediately set to work on drafting up Articles of Impeachment.
And on January 13, 2021, Trump became the only president in United States history to
be impeached twice.
In the midst of all of that, a question arose: If we can hypothetically remove Trump from
office mere days before he would be leaving anyway, what else can he be removed from?
The answer, as usual, comes from Twitter, where someone had the bright idea to propose
removing Trump's brief cameo in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Priorities, right?
"Excuse me, where's the lobby?
Down the hall and to the left."
The idea went one step further than just removing Trump from the movie.
Instead of just deleting the scene, one Twitter user made the case for giving young Kevin
an eerie vision of the future, calling for:
"[A] petition to digitally replace Trump in Home Alone 2 with 40-year-old Macaulay Culkin.
"
Macaulay Culkin, star of the first two Home Alone films, is very internet savvy.
He's collaborated with multiple people in recent years to create comedic content -- much
of which pokes fun at his most famous role.
It's safe to say that the former Kevin McCallister still has a lot of fun with Home Alone hot takes.
Naturally, that means people can't feel truly assured that Donald Trump should be removed
from Home Alone 2 until the star himself gives his blessing.
And guess who showed up to do just that?
"Can I help you?"
"It's me.
It's Macaulay."
After much discussion, Culkin weighed in on the original tweet, responding with one simple
word: "Sold."
But how did that surprise cameo in Home Alone 2 even happen in the first place?
It probably won't come as a surprise to hear that Donald Trump was more responsible than
anyone else for his brief cameo in Home Alone 2.
In an interview with Insider, Home Alone director Chris Columbus revealed the entire oddball
story behind Trump's brief moment in the film, saying:
"Like most locations in New York City, you just pay a fee and you are allowed to shoot
in that location.
We approached The Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time, because we wanted to shoot in the lobby.
We couldn't rebuild The Plaza on a soundstage.
Trump said okay."
However, in what also won't come as a surprise to many, Trump's go-ahead came with a somewhat
self-centered catch.
Columbus went on to say:
"We paid the fee, but he also said, 'The only way you can use the Plaza is if I'm in the movie.
So we agreed to put him in the movie, and when we screened it for the first time the
oddest thing happened: people cheered when Trump showed up on-screen.
So I said to my editor, 'Leave him in the movie.
It's a moment for the audience.'
But he did bully his way into the movie."
So, what are the chances that Disney actually would digitally remove Trump and replace him
with an older Macaulay Culkin?
The Home Alone franchise is a Fox property, which means it's also, now, a Disney property.
And if there's one thing we know about Disney+ , it's that the people behind the platform
don't mind editing old movies to include weird stuff.
"Maclunkey."
The classic Tom Hanks mermaid comedy Splash, for example, has a scene where Darryl Hannah's
butt has been digitally hidden by CGI hair, as she runs towards the ocean.
Suffice to say, there was no such CGI in the original film.
As for a Macaulay swap in Home Alone 2?
Well, the chances aren't great, but it's certainly worth noting that Trump's cameo was already
cut from Canadian broadcast network CBC's airing of Home Alone 2 as far back as 2014,
according to The Guardian.
Who knows?
Maybe next year we'll be watching this Christmas classic on Disney+ with a few seconds missing.
"Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal."
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