Film Review: Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Fig. 1 Edward Scissorhands (1990) Film Poster

Director Tim Burton tells the story of a young man with scissors for hands who is at first

shunned from society due to his abnormity. A more contemporary depiction on the theme of don’t

judge a book by its cover ‘Edward Scissorhands’ does in some ways remind of David Lynch’s ‘The

Elephant Man’ through the growth of the character Edward throughout the film as well as the

empathy the audience exhibits towards him.

The story is told through a flashback into the mind of character Kim Boggs’ (Winona Ryder)

older self where the question of where the snow comes from is used as a metaphor for Edward’s

(Johnny Depp) purity and delicate nature.

‘Edward Scissorhands’ takes inspiration from gothic stylised films however, subverts genre

beliefs with the ‘peculiar’ gothic character not being your stereotypical gothic horror representation,

instead an archetype of gentle outcast imprisoned within this ideology. The gothic costume and

make-up itself does foreshadow Edward’s later behaviour but in a way this is unexpected because

Burton takes it upon himself to stray from typical gothic horror so that the audience are more likely

to empathise and relate with his character.

Burton offers an alternative view of an outcast in society with the use of satire and bricolage

of European fairy-tales to create a more contemporary American fairy-tale. However, this view is

especially evident through the sets of ‘Edward Scissorhands’. The striking gothic nature of Depp

surrounded by this stylized, artificial neighbourhood full of pastel colouring which reminds of sugar

almonds and could be connotative of the sickly sweet nature of the livelihood of these inhabitants is

so contrasting that it automatically feels peculiar and unnatural. The colours themselves are so

strong and prominent that they alone express the personalities of the characters. ‘The vibrant

colour scheme conveys the emotional excess and unstable behaviour of the inhabitants of the

town.’ (NIFTC, Unknown)

Fig. 2 Vibrant artificial pastels of the neighbourhood

‘Edward Scissorhands’ is a film that audiences can easily relate to because we are all unique

and at some point feel like an outcast from some aspect of society. The binary oppositions

throughout the film just add to heighten Burton’s ideology on estrangement and add typical

‘Burtonesc’ production to the story. The post-modern construction of the fairy-tale also adds to the

reception theory of the film because of the contemporary representation appeal.

‘Edward Scissorhands’ strays from the normal portrayal of judging a book by its cover

through the idea of all of the characters being an outcast is some way whether it is Edward and his

scissorhands, Peggy and her job at Avon which doesn’t attract sales appeal or Kim’s puberty and

trying to find herself. Yes Edward is strange, but so are the rest of the characters. All of these

characters face struggle within society at some point in the film and are affected from then on in the

way they behave. ‘It shows the limits of people’s tolerance for what is different from them… those

who stray from the norm, commonly named ‘misfits’, awake mockery or fear from a society which

will use them and ultimately reject them, thus breaking their innocence and goodness.’ (Raceme,

Unknown)

It can be argued that if it wasn’t for the sets and production Burton’s film would fail to be as

powerful and appealing to audiences. Burton’s character building and storytelling do not seem as

influential as the production itself as the film follows a simple narrative with an ending that is

suggested unimaginative and doesn’t match up to the creativity of Burton’s sets.

The film seems more about the environments and contrasts than the dialogue which doesn’t

feature as heavily which implies the sets can pretty much do the speaking for themselves. This is in

fact likely because it is easy to see the outcast nature of Edward within the sets. When he puts his

own personality to work on the neighbourhood with his haircuts of plants as well as the dogs and

females of the film this stands out from everything else as if it doesn’t belong there. These actual set

elements explore the disruption of uniformity to the neighbourhood’s life and metaphoric nature for

the break down the characters express due to Edward’s arrival pretty much through their

ununiformed nature such as none of the haircuts being similar. ‘Edward Scissorhands’ is not about

exploring the film’s morals through realistic predictable ways but through symbolic imagery.

‘Sumptuous production design sprouts seemingly from a stream of unmitigated inventive

consciousness. Settings are not limited by the parameters, logic, and physics of reality, operating

instead by rationales of Burton’s own creations.’ (Magliozzi, 2009)

Fig. 3 Disruption of the neighbourhood’s uniformity

Bibliography

Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission. (Unknown) Studying Edward Scissorhands

http://www.digitalfilmarchive.net/clda/docs/StudyingEdwardScissorhands.pdf (Accessed 19/11/11)

Raceme, C. (Unknown) coco.raceme.org

http://coco.raceme.org/films/edwardscissorhands/review.php (Accessed 19/11/11)

Burton, T, Magliozzi, R, He, J. (2009) Tim Burton. U.S.A. The Museum of Modern Art (Accessed

19/11/11)

List of Illustrations

Fig. 1. Edward Scissorhands (1990) Film Poster From: Edward Scissorhands Directed by: Tim Burton.

[film poster] On fanpop.org http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/16000000/-Edward-

Scissorhands-Poster-edward-scissorhands-16068615-1011-1500.jpg (Accessed 19/11/11)

Fig. 2. Vibrant artificial pastels of the neighbourhood (1990) From: Edward Scissorhands Directed by:

Tim Burton. [film still] On blogspot.com

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_X1AhMcOiZUk/TSYbFs5o2eI/AAAAAAAABjs/Sp3bvfdM10U/s1600/edwar

d+scissorhands+-+pastel+houses.jpg (Accessed 19/11/11)

Fig. 3. Disruption of the neighbourhood’s uniformity (1990) From: Edward Scissorhands Directed by:

Tim Burton. [film still] On newyork.timeout.com

http://newyork.timeout.com/sites/default/files/export_images/753/753.fi.x491.edwardscissorhand

s.w480.jpg (Accessed 19/11/11)