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.