Shubert-Big Fish

        

         Tim Burton’s movie, Big Fish, is a mostly sunny movie, headed by the character of Edward Bloom. However, throughout the movie, there are many darker settings and characters that give the film a grotesque undertone. Burton is able to balance these two polar opposites in the film with the character of Edward Bloom. Because Edward is not afraid of the darker characters and can see past their darkness, he likes them and they in turn like him. He also likes people and places that are exciting and not exactly normal. These darker and grotesque people represent that in his mind.

         One particular scene that shows the merging of Edward Bloom’s bright characteristics and another character’s darker grotesque characteristics is the scene where Edward and his friends go to see the witch. In this scene Edward is goaded into going into the witch’s house and bringing back her glass eye. At this request he is not afraid and walks proudly and bravely up to the door where he speaks to the witch. The witch is dark, mysterious, and scary-looking but Edward is not afraid to talk to her. One might say that he even befriends her throughout the scene. She can tell that he is not afraid of her and she likes that about him. He likes that she is outside of the realm of the normal.

         Another scene that shows Edward’s bright and sunny personality coming together with a darker personality is the scene where he meets the ferocious dog that turns out to be the ringleader of the circus, Amos Calloway. At first Edward is trampled and attacked by the dog but he is not scared of the dog. In fact, when Mr. Soggybottom pulls out the gun Edward says no because he does not want to kill the dog. He is more afraid for the dog’s life than his. Then, when he takes a stick and throws it the dog acts just like a dog: he goes and fetches the stick. Edward says that he realized that the dog was just lonely and wanted someone to play with. Edward saw past the dog’s dark and grotesque exterior to see that he was just a lonely soul. For this reason, Amos likes him. Edward likes Amos because he is a fairytale character.

         The scene with the werewolf is interesting because it relates to Burton’s own life. When Burton’s dad had to wear dentures because he had only his canine teeth left, he would take out the dentures and howl just like a werewolf to scare the neighborhood children. Burton even called his father “a real fairytale character.” This shows that just like Edward, Burton, as we have come to know, is interested in the outlandish and grotesque.