In Tim Burton's, Edward Scissorhands, the classic fairytale is revisited with a twist! The movie opens just as any other fairytale begins- storytelling. A little old lady tucks her granddaughter into bed and begins to tell the tale. The story opens with what appears to be a perfectly polished neighborhood from the 1950s- all the homes are painted in pastel colors, the lawns are all green and well-maintained, all the men are at work, and all the women are at home. It is not long before we realize that this neighborhood is not all that it appears to be - this utopian society that we were introduced to turns into a violent uproar by the end of the movie. Perhaps it is because the townswomen are all bored out of their minds, and they need a little drama and action in their lives; but they are all immediately interested in Edward. When they first meet him at the barbeque, they all want him to trim their trees, then groom their dogs, and then later cut their hair. They think that he is awesome at first, but as we as all know very well - people tend to fear what they do not understand - and thus by the end of the movie, they all turn on him when they have no one else to blame for the recent chaos that has broken out in their perfect world.
And speaking of chaos, this tale like many other fairytales (i.e Snow White and Beauty and the Beast) is rather violent. As one would imagine, having scissors for hands can be hazardous, and although Edward is not a vicious, violent person, he does end up killing Kim's boyfriend (in self defense) at the end of the movie. Before that however, there are many things that he manages to get blamed for - breaking into Kim's boyfriend's house, attacking Kim, and trying to kill the little brother. We as the audience know that these are all misunderstandings, but these events cause the gossipy townspeople to form a mob to drive Edward away from the city.
In some ways it seems as if the townspeople project their ugliest flaws onto Edward to make themselves look like better people. We see this happen continually throughout the movie. For example, the woman who tried to seduce Edward went around telling the townspeople that he practically raped her because she was not able to have her way with him.
Its quite sad actually how quickly the townspeople jumped to conclusions, how they believed every negative thing they heard about him, how they turned on him, and how they banished him. But I guess "getting rid" of him was the only way to ensure that their "perfect" little town stay perfect and peaceful.
Linsey Shubert
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog! I really liked how you set up the story and mood in the second sentence. I also really liked how you kept bringing up the "perfect" world that the suburbians are trying to maintain and how they do that by blaming their own problems and faults on Edward till he is eventually run out of the town. This idea that they blamed their own faults on him was not something that I originally though of until reading this blog. I also liked your reference to popular children's fairytales as a comparison to the violence present in this film. I think that your blog was written very well and I was able to clearly understand all of your points on suburbia and fairytales. You included a lot of really good examples and comparisons that made understanding your points easier so keep up the good work!