Edward Scissorhands
In this essay I will be talking about how the film Edward Scissorhands follows
the theme of Edward being different and being rejected by society. Edward
Scissorhands is a film about a man who was made by a mysterious inventor. He
was originally made from a chopping robot and the inventor originally planned
to make him into a real human. However, the inventor was old and before he
could give him hands, he died. This led to Edward having scissors for hands.
Edward was then found by a middle-aged lady who then adopted him into
their family and village. This film was made by Tim Burton and was released in
1990. Tim Burton originally came up with the character of Edward Scissorhands
when he was 15 in school.
The genre of Edward Scissorhands is difficult to define to one genre. This
makes it a hybrid genre. Edward Scissorhands is a mixture of fantasy, horror,
and fairy-tale. This is shown throughout the movie through the music, the
costumes, and the set. We are first introduced to the film in a small cosy room
with an old lady staring out of the window whilst it is snowing. The camera
turns to a young child in a large bed that is much too big for her. The room is
large and is filled with warm colours like yellow and orange to make it look
cosier. This contrast with the dark and snowing outside makes the room seem
even more cosy and warm. This warm and cosy setting makes the genre seem
like a fairy-tale. However, in the opening credits we are taken through the
mansion on the hill that the old lady was looking at. We see lots of dark colours
and we see ominous looking robots moving about. We also see lots of cobwebs
everywhere and we see a large menacing statue. All these aspects make the
are seem like the movie is of a horror genre. Edwards clothing and appearance
also matches this horror genre with his long and sharp scissors. This horror
theme of Edward and the mansion make him seem like an outsider to the rest
of the town because the town is mostly soft colours and are mostly pastels.
This makes the town look very normal and bright however compared to the
dark colours of Edward.
The film Edward Scissorhands follows the Classical Hollywood narrative
structure. The Classical Hollywood structure is a guideline that filmmakers
follow to create a structure to their movie. It consists of having a Normality
which then follows into a Disruption, a Recognition of the Disruption, an
attempt to repair the disruption and then the new normality. This structure
can be repeated multiple times in movies. The normality is when in the movie
everything is normal. For example, in Edward Scissorhands the normality is
with Peg going around the town trying to sell her Avon products. We see
children playing and people going on in their normal lives. However, we are
then introduced to the disruption, the action or thing that changes the
normality. In this movie it is Peg finding Edward and taking him to the town.
Everyone is trying to see him and find out more about him. Everyone also sees
Edward as s something else and separates him from themselves. The attempts
to repair the disruption in the movie are often said but not done. Multiple
times in the movie people say that they know a doctor who could help him fix
his hands but we never actually see a doctor help him. Peg also tries to make
him fit in by giving him normal clothes and by using makeup to make his pale
face look more human like. Edward then starts to decorate all the
townspeople’s gardens by cutting out extravagant sculptures out of their
bushes. He also starts cutting their hair and plans to open a salon with is
hairdressing skills. This is the new normality that is set into the town with them
all starting to accept Edward.
Edward then goes to the bank with Peg to try get a loan to start his new
business. However, when he arrives, he is refused a loan because he has no
social security number which makes it so to them, he technically doesn’t exist.
Edward has nothing a normal person would and should have further implying
that Edward is an outsider. In the background we a large vault open when
Edward arrives and we see guards working inside. However, when Edward is
denied the loan, we see the workers close the vault and stand back as guards.
This further implies that Edward wasn’t going to get any money even though
the people working in the vault had nothing to do with him. Throughout the
bank scene there is no music. This focuses our attention to what is happening
on screen and lets us focus on the characters more.
