Young - Not so Perfect Suburbia

Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands parallels the average fairytale. However, where many fairytales use violence in order to teach a lesson in morality, Edward Scissorhands leaves the definition of morality to the viewer. In modern life, the morality is determined by the individual or individuals judging the action of himself, herself, or another individual or group. The town Edward lives in made its first mistake when it attempted to make everything seem perfect, and human beings are not perfect. The people within the houses are mainly composed of gossiping housewives. Throughout the movie, the town transforms from seeing Edward as a novel individual into a town that wants to rid itself of any abnormalities in order to sustain the appearance of a "perfect" town. Thus, the morality throughout the story of Edward Scissorhands is vague and not as obvious as that of a normal fairy tale.

 Peg, the Avon Lady, takes Edward away from his castle-like home and introduces him to a town that seems pristine and ideal as they drive through the streets for the first time. Everyone in the town is curious about Edward, and when they find out he has talent, they like him. However, when he is framed later on, they do not help him to understand how he could have done right or question what really happened. This town has a façade of perfection and community, but instead has a mob mentality. The mob begins to want to rid the town of a perceived menace.

This mob mentality is mentioned in other famous fairytale stories; however, Edward Scissorhands is different because there is no obvious moral. For instance, in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, the moral of the story is to own up to your mistakes. Frankenstein's inventor did not own up to his mistake, and the town had to pay the consequence. On the other hand, in Edward Scissorhands, there is no one to own up to the mistakes Edward makes. The lack of ownership leads the viewer to question whether or not Edward was really to blame for his mistakes and what was really immoral about his actions and the town's reactions.

Burton's movie resembles the typical fairytale because there is the element of the "princess" figure seen in Kim. She seems perfect, at least to Edward, and possesses the sort of "damsel in distress" attitude present in most fairytales. However, she is different because Edward is not the hero, and Kim becomes conflicted when she wants to defend him for most of the movie. She is also confused on what the morality of the situation is and how she should treat Edward.

In conclusion, Edward Scissorhands resembles the traditional fairy tales because there is the element of the mysterious castle as well as the village down the hill. In the movie, there is also the idea of the town living together in fear of the "monster" that threatens it. However, the morality is questionable on both Edward and the town's sides because the town does not want a menace there; yet, it tries to be so perfect, that it ends up denying anything that could add individualism.