Tim Burton treats the character of
Edward Bloom as a breath of fresh air in a community. This leads Ed to easily
mix and intermingle with all of the different, dark, and grotesque characters
he meets during the course of his life. Ed has such a bright and positive
attitude towards life that he draws in the people he meets on his fantastical
life journey. This is seen in many
different scenes in Big Fish, but it
is especially prevalent in the scene in which Ed meets Karl and the scene in
which Ed meets the witch.
When Ed meets Karl for the first
time, Ed is trying to get Karl to leave Ashton because Karl is unintentionally
scaring the townsfolk. So, Ed volunteers to deal with the situation. Ed tells
Karl he is there as a human sacrifice, but Karl does not want to eat Ed. Ed
soon realizes that Karl is just misunderstood, and so Ed tells Karl about how
great the city would be for him. And so, Ed and Karl set off for the city. In
this scene, Ed uses his natural charm and wits to diffuse the situation of Karl
scaring the town of Ashton. Ed’s confidence and convictions about the world
around him causes Karl to really like Ed, which ultimately leads the pair to
travel together. Ed ends up liking Karl because Ed ultimately likes everyone.
Ed lives his life with no judgments towards people. This causes Ed to be very
welcoming with everyone who he meets in his life, even the old scary witch from
the beginning of the movie.
Ed meeting the witch is a very
important moment in his life. Because of this, Ed is set up to live his life to
the fullest. Ed was already an unafraid child, but after meeting the witch,
this aspect of his life is amplified. Ed is not afraid of the witch; this is
what causes the witch to treat Ed as an equal rather than another person who
she scares. Ed’s is unafraid of the witch because he was already not afraid of
the unknown. Ed would constantly be willing to try anything, even if that meant
trying to see the witch’s eye. Ed was always able to see the better side of
people, and that ultimately helped Ed to be drawn to the darker and grotesque
characters in the film and in turn, have those same characters attracted to Ed.
Do you think that Ed was just naturally very polite and respectful or do you think that it was Ewan McGregor's take on the role? I am a little sad at how Burton has not used him in any of his other movies because I think he would have gotten along well with Depp and Carter as Burton's entourage of misfits. I also think this movie is about Burton's life in the way that there is an entourage of misfits (i.e. the carnival people). I like how you point out the matter of respect in the movie and how Edward lived unafraid of the unknown. I think that, like you said, Ed was afraid of the unknown long before he discovered how he was going to die because no harm had ever been done to him. In the movie as a youngling he seemed like a well cut, clean kid that always used his manners and respected people so he naturally had no fear of other people. -Nick Arceneaux
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