Hasty- Edward Scissorhands

Tim Burton’s film, Edward Scissorhands, has a classic representation of a fairytale from the very beginning. The film starts with an old woman telling her granddaughter a bedtime story of a mystical man who lived in big castle and what happens once Edward leaves the castle. The suburb Edward is taken into is full of extremely wishy-washy people who surround themselves in all things pastel. Although the people of this suburb appear to have this goody persona, it is just the opposite. Their morals change depending on what is popular amongst the group. This is shown when Edward is first brought into this suburb and every woman not only loves him, but wants him around constantly. They ask him to cut his grass, cut their dog’s hair, and even cut their own hair. They trust him and he becomes somewhat of a gem in this place. However, once the group begins to decide Edward is an enemy- they all go against him. He goes from being wanted to them demanding his death.

 As Edward’s story goes on you start to really see how his story can be compared with typical fairytales. An example of this can be compared with Beauty and the Beast. Edward, known to be the beast of society, has a romance with the beautiful girl in town named Kim. Although this can be compared, Tim Burton tended to make this romance a bit more twisted. For instance, Edward’s “beastly” quality obviously comes from his scissors as hands and due to this he cannot even completely hold Kim when she asks him to. Even though she still goes to him, he can’t ever touch her without hurting her. Due to his beastlike qualities, Edward is eventually driven out of town to live back in his castle. This permanently separates Kim and Edward, making it apparently obvious that they will always belong to two different worlds. A happy ending cannot solve the problems in their romance, but rather they must deal with the reality of their problems. Which ultimately makes this fairytale much more twisted than the usual.