Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands (1990) is the story of a man with unusual hands and due to being left in isolation because his creator died he struggles to tell whats right from wrong. Edward lives in a Gothic castle that is found high up on a hill and down below is a suburban neighborhood where Peg the Avon lady takes him in to try and live a "normal" life. His abnormality attracts attention from everyone in the neighborhood, but gets taken advantage of and shunned as quickly as he is accepted.
This story is "told gently, subtly and with infinite sympathy for an outsider who charms the locals but then inadvertently arouses their baser instincts." (Lee, 2014)
The suburban neighborhood is an example of a cookie cutter lifestyle, the houses seem to all be the same designs, little colour variation, the whole neighborhood just seems so similar. This could be symbolism for Burton's time at Disney, "I just feel like a foreigner" (Burton, 2012 NY times article), which the Gothic castle would then represent him as an outsider. Furthermore, there is the attitudes of the neighborhood which seem to fit in with the cookie cutter lifestyle or more so an old fashioned view of a suburban neighborhood. The wives all gossip among each other while also being two faced and also seem to need to know everything that goes on in the neighborhood. As put in the Telegraph, "pastel-hued American suburb, where the husbands go to the office at exactly the same time, and the wives bake apple pies and gossip over the garden fence." There are a few scenes that demonstrate this well such as; when the husbands leave for work and what seems to be moving in sync, and when Edward first arrives and all the woman gather to try and find out about him. Overall, I think the idea of a cookie cutter lifestyle is useful in this film in the sense that it then helps to emphasis the abnormality of the situation Peg is put in by bring Edward home.
One of the standout scenes in this film was the TV show scene. In this scene people ask Edward questions and a few of the questions were based on having surgery to get regular hands and then no longer being special. The fact Edward has scissorhands makes him interesting and unique, however the people in this suburb think if he no longer had them he'd just be like them. This is interesting because it links a little to the idea of a cookie cutter lifestyle, Edward is like a circus attraction in a scene that he has something that don't, which also makes him unique, different and standout. Nevertheless, these people also seem to neglect the idea that maybe with normal hands Edward would still be as talented, but because he is different and possibly because of there normal, similar lives it wouldn't matter because he'd no longer be Edward Scissorhands.
Overall, the movie was very enjoyable having never seen it before it was hard to tell what you'd be getting yourself into, but in the end a film worth watching.
Bibliography:
(Lee, 2014): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11298442/Edward-Scissorhands-review-a-true-fairytale.html [Accessed on 7/11/17]
(Burton, 2012): http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/movies/tim-burton-at-home-in-his-own-head.html [Accessed on 7/11/17]
Illustration list:
Fig 1: http://www.impawards.com/1990/edward_scissorhands_ver1.html
Fig 2: https://www.boredpanda.com/movie-locations-edward-scissorhands-suburb-now-then-pictures-voodrew/
Fig 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiBZ6krki6Q
Glad you enjoyed it Alfie!
ReplyDeleteJust make sure that you reference all the quotes correctly the Telegraph one in the middle, for example, does not have a reference beside it (I assume that is by Lee also?)
Also, just check that your font is the same throughout...