Martinez- False Fairytale

Edward Scissorhands may not be a traditional form of a fairytale, but it has qualities, which resemble the framing of a fairytale story. The movie starts out with the grandma looking back into her past to tell the story to her granddaughter. Telling a story from the past is very common in fairy tales. Also, when the audience sees Edward’s house, we see that it has many colorful and vibrant plants and flowers. His decorative and vibrant yard gives a whimsical feeling to the story. The fact that Edward’s home is separated from the rest of the community is also very characteristic of fairytales. In Shreck, the tower in which Princess Fionna is in is far away from the rest of the land and in Repunzel, she lives in a very tall tower.

Like many fairytales, Edward Scissorhands has a violent theme behind it. The violence in fairytales helps enhance the goodness of the moral people in the tale who are trying to stop the violence. Edward’s hands of scissors are the violence in this story as he accidentally cuts himself a few times as well as other people. His hands of scissors are a violent image in itself because they induce feelings of fear in not only the audience, but also the characters in the movie. Acts of violence in the movie are when Jim attacks Edward and starts a fight with him and then in trying to defend himself, Edward cuts Jim. He also accidentally cuts Kim when she startles him. Even though Edward is not a violent person, his violently figured hands make him seem that way, but once you get to know him you realize he is a very soft and lonely being.

When it comes to small suburban towns, appearances are everything. The same is true for the suburbia in which Edward is taken too. When Edward is first brought home, he is the center of all the gossip by all the women of the neighborhood because of how different he looks compared to everyone else. The rest of the neighborhood women only like Edward because of his talents and not necessarily because of who he is. In contrast, Peg and Kim genuinely care for Edward and love him for the person that he his, exemplifying what it is to be a true moral person. Peg’s morality comes in the form of understanding, tolerance and her ability to see beyond his appearance. Even after Edward is framed for the robbery, Peg still loves and cares for him where as the rest of the neighborhood women no longer like him because they see him as a bad person. The women that are “friends” with Peggy contrast the image of the clean and simple-minded people of the suburban neighborhood in Edward Scissorhands. The close-mindedness of the women in the neighborhood is their ultimate flaw because they are constantly gossiping about each other, they only like Edward for a short time because of his talents, and they are quick to judge anything or anyone that doesn’t look like what they are used to.