Let The World Hurry By-God, I love Pretty Lights- Dylan Seals-Here's my post

Well, what to say.  I love this movie.  Johnny Depp plays Edward so perfectly, Winona plays Kim lovely, and I just want to yell all the housewives for being so disgustingly immature and nosey.  We learn that our smiley and determined Peg is not so peachy as Avon makes her out to be.  She finds a piece of her loneliness and uniqueness in Edward so she brings him to her perfect little neighborhood.  But those bright colored houses are filled with crappy, grey, closed minded people who follow one another and have nothing to do but gossip and get in other people's business- especially Peg's when she brings home a strange pale man in black.  So the town is definitely not as squeaky clean as it looks.  Edward is a beautiful artist and everyone wanted a piece of him for themselves- not in the good way.  Edward can you steal for me, cut my grass, my dog's hair, and my hair?  Even Peg knew she could make a buck out of him.  I felt that Kim was the only person who truly saw the beauty inside him which is why they fell in love.  

It makes me angry to think about how naive the townspeople were and how much they used him.  In the whole midst of creating a new business did Joyce or Peg ever ask if cutting hair is what he wants to do?  Then Joyce tries to seduce poor inexperienced Edward and covers it up with rape to make herself seem perfect and wanted.  When the women were discussing that on the phone I cringed.  "Did you hear what he did to Joyce?"  That's where the neighborhood started to transgress.  What I also found so annoying is how famous he became, but then how the police officers didn't even recognize his scissor hands and almost shot him.  That scene was intense yet corny.  It seemed like he turned into a monster very fast in their eyes, as these people are so open to judging what they don't know.  He saved Kevin, and people just saw it as an attack, while Edward relived the hardest fact about his life, in that he can't touch anyone without hurting them.  Run.... and then we see the Frankenstein mob go after the confused being which is where the town truly transgressed.  

This fairy tale showed true love and violence, but violence as we know it.  The boyfriend physically defended his girlfriend and cops went after the wrong person.  In the end the good and evil have had it and the good wins, but surely not emotionally.  Although he is alone, I don't Edward would have fit in anywhere.  He's too good for humans.  

Arceneaux-Ed, Edd, and Eddy.

Burton’s twist on the traditional fairytale may deviate in the specifics but the “meat and potatoes” of the story remain intact. Perhaps not only does one have to think of Burton as a teller of stories but also as a bit of a Dr. Frankenstein figure himself in the way he mixes stories in with one another. Violence in contemporary life has always been a key part of society. Even in classical life violence was always regarded as a spectacular and heroic endeavor (gladiator, anyone?). But even so now we still have a brutal system of entertainment that involves men tackling each other and, of more recently, women tackling each other in lingerie. Interesting. Our thirst for violence in media and social life has spilled over into the opposite sex. Which is totally cool, if you’re into that kind of thing of course. What I think Burton is trying to demonstrate is that the more violence influences a culture, the more that culture is going to try to maintain some sore of sane cover. Like some kind of façade to hide the fact that they need to fill the bloodlust. To blend classical fairytale into modern fairytale one must remember that the author needs to change a few minor details to ensure the same outcome, to keep the story and moral intact. Burton does this so equivocally well in Edward Scissorhands that the viewer rarely notices that the only thing Burton is doing is retelling a traditional fairytale that has been told a countless number of times. He avoids the obvious by changing the time, setting, and characters. In changing these factors we can see that in reality the archetypes stay the same. Nothing changes but the names and the faces.

           

            At first I found it difficult to pinpoint the moral of Edward Scissorhands then I realized that it had not just one but many morals. Edward teaches the society that something so strange could be good in a way but not to abuse the creative powers that he has. In tired little suburbia, strange Edward is introduced and suddenly the neighborhood becomes bright and vibrant. Edward carves beautiful garden sculptures and creates fantastic new hair-dos but what is he but not a slave to a bunch of attention starved women? What we often overlook as viewers of a monster story is the point of the view of the actual monster itself. And unfortunately, the term “monster” takes on a negative connotation but what we see with Edward is that he is no monster, just a misunderstood child.

Lake - Is what you see, what you get?

In Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton sets up the film where a grandmother is telling her granddaughter a bedtime story.  This allows the story of Edward to be told in a fairy tale type fashion because that is exactly what it is to Kim, a fairy tale, even though the story might be slightly twisted to the listener.  The fact that she has such strong ties to both the story and Edward in her old age shows how much she loved and loves Edward.  The film begins and ends with this "after the fact" view and helps set up and further explain the plot.

Although Edward is different in terms of appearance and social skills, he is arguably the purest and kindest character in the movie.  This seems to be a common theme for Burton because in both of the Batman films, Beetlejuice, and now Edward Scissorhands, the character that Burton wants the viewer to view as "good" comes from a dark place or embraces the "dark" lifestyle.  Similarly, the brighter and more robust characters are naturally evil.  This further proves Burton's cynical view of the world.  Batman comes from a very dark and sad childhood, but utilizes the cards he was dealt to make something of himself and become a force for good in a community that desperately needed it, similar to Tim Burton.  On the contrary, Batman's opposition is a bright, in your face character who attempts to manipulate his way to glory.  He has a very bright white face and is dressed in very bright, festive attire.  In Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder's character starts the movie as a very dark, misunderstood girl who feels disconnected from her family.  It isn't until the end where she finds a family that she truly loves and is loved by, that she loses her dark and mysterious appearance and starts to look like a "normal girl."  Whatever that is.  Edward is dark and different but he is a pure, lost soul attempting to find a normal life and a family that was taken from him.  In the suburban town the story takes place in, the houses are all colorful pastels, but the people who fill them are selfish gossiping housewives and the poor saps that married them.  Burton is trying to convey the message that books should be based on the content of the story, not the cover.  Burton himself feels out of place and misunderstood and it is blatantly obvious in most of his films.

Johnston - Edward Scissorhands

Green lawns, brightly colored houses, blue skies. The perfect disguise for the not so perfect neighborhood. When we first meet Edward we see him as a misunderstood creation, separated from society. We look at him sort of as a child, naïve and unaware of the hatred the world has to offer. Edward and the neighborhood are exactly the opposite. From his clothing one could make the assumption that Edward is a dark and gloomy person, but on the inside he is kind and full of nothing but good intention. The neighborhood on the other hand seems like the ideal neighborhood, but all that lies with in is people full of judgment and hatred. In the beginning it seems as though Peg is rescuing the damsel, or in this case the gentleman, in distress. She seems to have saved Edward from his life of isolation and misery. She brings Edward into her home and before we know it the neighborhood loves him. He is creating art out of peoples shrubbery, pets, and even their own hair. It seems as though Edward’s happily ever after is finally coming true. But what really happens after the happily ever after? Is that really the end or is there more to the story that we aren’t told? Does Snow White’s forest burn down? Does Cinderella’s Prince Charming leave her? 
http://www.fallenprincesses.com

For Edward his “after happily ever after” is filled with animosity and misunderstanding. How did Edward turn from the naïve, child-like character into the character that the people of the neighborhood want dead? Society. Society has taken Edward, someone who has the kindest heart in the world and has turned him into a monster, or at least that’s what the people of the neighborhood start to see him as. Jim uses Edward in order to steal from his own father, but in the end Edward is the one who takes the fall for the crime. Like in the story Frankenstein, Edward is not a monster he is simply misunderstood. For instance, when Edward saves Kevin from being killed by Jim and his drunk-driving friend. Instead of realizing that Edward has prevented any harm that would have been done to Kevin, the people of the neighborhood think that Edward is attacking Kevin and begin to attack Edward. In the end of the movie, the mob of people from the neighborhood chases Edward back to his mansion. This can be interpreted as society chasing away or destroying everything that is pure and wholesome. So, in the end, did Peg really save Edward? 

Suarez-And they all didn't live happily ever after

From its appearance, the town in which the movie Edward Scissorhands takes place seems to be perfect, but like so many other things, its appearance is only surface deep. Perfect blue skies, brightly painted houses, freshly mowed lawns; these are the characteristics of this suburban nightmare that holds almost exclusively within its streets shallow, gossipy, self-interested persons. The story of Edward Scissorhands is not a happy one, rather, it is the story of a pure hearted creation whose mangled up exterior represents the polar opposite of what lies within, but because most people are unable to see past his looks, he is out casted from society. Because of something that is completely out of his control, Edward is forced to live a life of solitude; a life that is “incomplete.” Fairy tale setting and a monster that isn’t actually a monster? A twist to the traditional fairy tale cookie cutter scenario. Instead of a hero, or a handsome or beautiful protagonist, the moral of the story is taught through the contorted Edward, the outsider. A recluse from society, unable to be taught by others, Edward has more compassion and selflessness than the entire suburb combined. Is this to say that society is the one that teaches people to be conceited and self interested? That bad traits like that are taught, not inborn? Like in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the monster is not truly a monster, he is just a misunderstood creation that society is unable to comprehend because of his form. Tales like these are intended to show readers how heartless humanity can be, especially towards anything that does not fit into the category of normality. When Edward is first introduced, he is the exciting new attraction that everyone wants to be a part of. By the end of the film, the town’s people go from an interested crow, to an angry mob. Angry with their own lives, they gather and combine their anger to project elsewhere. Without any sort of actual plan, the mob of suburban dingbats heads toward Edward’s house, in an attempt to protest just him as a person.

 

Buzaid- Edward

 

The film Edward Scissorhands incorporates many fairytale like qualities. One example of this is the beginning and the ending of the movie where Winona Ryder plays a grandmother telling a story to her granddaughter. This is used as a device to allow the story to be told in a fairy tale like manner as a type of framing device. This movie also incorporates a moral as most fairy tales do, although the moral is rather sad and vague.  This movie is also marked by brutal violence not often found in most fairy tales. For example, Edward is always cutting himself accidently with his scissor hands, and in the climax of the   movie Edward stabs Winona Ryder shitty boyfriend, and watching him fall out of a window to his death. Winona Ryder also covers for Edward, saying the two killed each other, using a spare scissor hand found in Edward’s mansion. The plot of this movie speaks to how Tim Burton views morality in the world; as found only in the random few, like Peg, and the innocent and naive, like Edward. The suburbia Edward comes to live in is marked with people who are obsessed with popular opinion. They all live, what they assume to be, an ideal lifestyle. For example, when Edward first moves in, everyone wants to be directly involved in his life and have him cut their shrubs and eventually into interesting designs, especially the woman. When Edward eventually is caught inside Winona’s boyfriend’s house, everyone changes their opinion about him. They all demonize him, saying they always knew he was weird, and one woman even accuses him of attempted rape. The town truly transgressed when they ended up rounding up a mob to chase Edward to his mansion, in a Frankenstein-esque event. The scene that really caught my attention was when the town’s people gathered at the mansion, standing around Jim’s dead body. They acknowledged that the young man is dead, but they do not make any attempts to call the police or check his vitals. Instead, they are more focused on the physical state of Edward. When they are told that Edward was killed they then chatter, then turn back around to head to their homes. The town’s people treated the entire situation like a show. They dismissed the tragedy of it all. Once they heard Edward, was dead they became uninterested because there was no longer a main attraction to the situation, there was no longer a creature of difference to judge.

Falconer-The Tim Burton Fairy Tale

One night at a sleepover my friend and I decided to watch Edward Sissorhands. My friend’s mom is all about including the whole family so her younger brother and his friend watched it with us. All night they each pretended they were Edward, acting him out as a villain. I found it interesting that they ignored the real Edward and saw him as a crazy villain. It was just like the towns people in the movie. At first they loved him but it was so easy for them to turn on him. An interesting theme in most fairy tales is a dark or violent meaning. When researching many of my favorite fairy tales such as Snow White or Hansel and Gretel I found that originally they were dark and disturbing before being written for children.

            Edward Sissorhands is supposed to be about a misunderstood creation of a lonely inventor forced to feel alone and incomplete after the death of his creator. But  within this emotional story are many violent acts that leave you questioning right and wrong. Is Edward a monster or did society just make him that way? The suburban neighborhood in this movie gives a very realistic look into the mob mentality. At first Peg who is a total outsider suddenly has a friend the neighbors are interested in and they all begin to treat her like their best friend in order to relieve their curiosity. Then when Edward rejects Joyce coming on to him out of confusion she decides he is a monster. Next he helps Kim break into her boyfriend’s house because he really cares about her and would do anything for her. That was the final straw for the neighbors. With Joyce’s negative testimony to his character combined with his recent run in with the law they all decided to turn on him. In turn they turn on Peg as well, proving they were never really her friends.

            In the end Peg, Kim and her family prove that they have really cared about him all along and attempt to stick by him. But the power of the mob is able to chase him out of the area. Then there is the truly dark and violent scene between Kim, Jim and Edward. Edward and Jim fight for so long until finally Jim is stabbed and thrown out the window in Edward attempt to protect Kim. What kind of fairy tale has such a violent murder scene you ask, a Tim Burton fairy tale. 

Garcia-Ruiz, Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands is much like a traditional fairytale except it is not entirely like the Disney fairytales most of us know of. Tim Burton closely relates and grasps ideas from the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Frankenstein is a European tale that tells the story of an inventor and his creation, the monster. Just like Edward Scissorhands, Edward is seen like the monster at some point in the film and is isolated once again by the people he was beginning to get comfortable with. Burton took the idea of a European novel and created this suburban American setting for the film. The town is set around the 50s where men worked and women stayed home as housewives. This could relate to fairytales in the way that men are seen strong and warrior like and the women are the princesses. The castle that Edward lives in is very specific like a haunted house in a fairytale. There’s a scene where Peg goes into the house looking for someone to sell her Avon products and she becomes a bit terrified by the emptiness and machinery inside the house. It makes the house seem almost haunted until later in the film Peg finds Edward in the house. 

The people in the film are very stereotypical; Burton mixes generations between Edward, the adults, and the teens. When Edward first comes into the town he becomes an object of sympathy just like the monster in Frankenstein. The town is more than what it seems; there are pastel colored exterior and interior homes and the people around seem to be friendly, united, and perfect. Burton digs deep in this town and throughout the film the audience realizes that there are many flaws to the people living in the town. They’re immoral and ignorant towards the different and artistically creative. There are a few scenes in the film where the audience see snow fall. In the end of the film the grandmother is finishing telling the story and she talks about the snow with a magical explanation. In most fairytales there’s always a magical explanation as to how or why the environment looks the way it does. The film does keep Burtonesque tradition with the gothic castle and the way that Edward is dressed in the beginning and end of the film.

Esteva - Edward Scissorhands

One could say Tim Burton’s movie, “Edward Scissorhands” is, in some way, a fairy tail. In my opinion, the most important aspect of the film that allows me to categorize is it as a fairy tail is that, as many other stories of this type, it develops as a bedtime story an old lady was telling her granddaughter. One could say Edward Scissorhands is the classical fairy tail with an abstract twist.

       At the beginning of the movie one can see the classical suburban neighborhood of the 50s, perfect little houses in pastel colors with green yards, children running around, stay at home women and working husbands. When Edward is first taken to Peg’s house he becomes the most popular person around. Every single being wants to know him, and in result of this Peg is forced to host a barbecue so everyone can meet him. When the neighbors finally meet him, he becomes more popular. People start to ask him to fix their yards, cut their dog’s hair and even their own hair.

      Nevertheless, as quickly as he became the most sensational human being around, everyone soon hated him. It’s like the entire neighborhood shares one brain, they all together love him or hate him, and for what is worse, they do not have an specific reason for neither of these feelings. They all just go along with the rest of the town and change their minds about Edward pretty fast.

        As the typical fairy tail, Edward Scissorhands has a moral behind the story. It shows how people can make you feel like you are the most important person in the world and then, out of the blue, turn completely against you without any concrete reason.

      In my opinion, the town transgressed when they did that to Edward. It showed how shady and superficial the can be.