Conformity In Edward Scissorhands

The most appealing films are those that keep audiences guessing, surprise them at the most unexpected times and break conventional film boundaries. Edward Scissorhands (1990) directed by Tim Burton, is a feature film that does exactly that. It blends a fairy tale story with a gothic horror film, to engage the viewer right from beginning until the resolution. It tells the tale of Edward, who was the creation of an inventor who died before he could give Edward proper hands, and was left with scissors as hands. When he was taken from his gothic mansion, into a “normal” suburban community, he was at first welcomed, but then heartbreakingly rejected when things went wrong. The character of the “monster” is an

Usually a change occurs in the main Character of a Fantasy Film e, this could be in a good way or a bad way. In Edward scissor hands Edward is the main Character. He is lonely innocent person who lives in a big mansion. Edward has never had contact with humans so when Peg first sees Edward he is very frightened and decides to hide. Moreover the dialogues that Edward says when he first meets Peg is very desperate and scared however at the end of the movie Edward speaks louder and more confidently. During his stay with Peg he wore white clothes as he returned to the castle he cut off the white clothes leaving the black underneath. This shows a change in personality and figure as Edward becomes himself and doesn’t want to change for the people in the community. However during the course of the film Edward gets more and more comfortable with Humans. Even

He is looking at things with wide eyes because he has never seen these things before. He even pops Kim’s waterbed with his Scissorhands. While the audience finds it humorous, the author conveys a deeper meaning, showing that from the start, Edward was not able to fit into the “perfect society” that was created. He was an abnormal child, but Burton still manages to show that it's okay to be abnormal. He feels relatable to Edward, who grew up with no parents and in an isolated castle, and when brought into the real world, he was looked at as an outsider. But he was still treated the same as us, in the beginning. He was seen as special. So, Burton’s use of lighting and camera angles to show his pitiful

In ‘Edward Scissorhands’, Edward goes through new experiences that show his individuality and how he is different to all the community. In the film, characters such as Joyce and Jim firstly rejected Edward as he was different, they then adored him as he did unique art such as hairdressing, gardening, grooming dogs, cutting meat and ice sculpting. Once Edward discovered his talents, he became very popular amongst the community. They used him so that they would have an easier life, but then when he did something wrong he was then rejected again. Being the individual Edward was in the community, he experienced so many new things such as his growing relationship with Kim. His new experiences with Kim made him learn what true feelings for a girl really was. As great as being and individual is with all this said however, being an individual can also be dangerous in a way, as you would get judged by others around you for being yourself. Edward in the beginning of the film had that exact problem, everyone would be judging him for having scissors as hands and would think of him as a scary monster. The reason Edward went to the community in the first place was because of Peg. Peg

In addition, mise-en-scene is used to show the contradictions between the two understandings of life. The barbecue and dinner scene show the emotional overkill and unstable conduct of the residents in the town by using the lively and distinctive color (Burton, 1990). The distinction with Edward’s gothic punk style of fashion, hairdo and makeup is unusual and marks him as an outcast. It is not only his exterior that points out his detachment from people, but also his ideas which represent his own reality and separates him from the world that he does not belong to. When the people discover Edward’s talents they begin to request different tasks from him. Overall, it seems as if the society is only accepting of Edward for their own benefit. However, Burton makes it clear that there is no true acceptance for Edward when he is forced to leave Peg’s house. Kim, the girl Edward falls in love with, knows she cannot change society, so she leaves him in the castle and tells everyone he’s dead so he is protected.

Another example from the movie is when Edward is introduced into this brand new style of living where he is the new ‘toy’ and uses his creative side to make people’s lives more enjoyable and fulfilling by cutting neighbours hair and turning a hedge into art. Tim Burton makes us think to look beneath the surface and not too just leave out someone who doesn’t look normal, he makes us think about our everyday life how we can be ignorant, rude and reject people who don’t look like us and have a disability. In Edward Scissorhands Edward isn’t always seen as the good guy from the town’s perspective. In the opening seen when we are given a bird’s eye view of the cars moving in and out of the town, this gives us the thought that the town is bright, bubbly and organized to the split second that the cars come out of the drive way but really as the movie goes on they seem to take the tag of being the ‘bad town’. In the movie the town thinks he is the bad guy because of what people have been gossiping about. Edward becomes the ‘bad guy’ as he is being betrayed/forced into the role of the town devil when he is the town hero as he has bought something to the town that will

In usual fairytale movies, filmmakers intend to make films that give happy endings with simple miraculous entertainments. However, in the fable movie, Edward Scissorhand, the director, Tim Burton, positions the viewers to understand the significant meaning of particular issues. “E.S” is can be seen as a story of stereotypical suburbia with social criticism. In this essay, starting from analysing this film and providing dominant discourse, the use of characters will be discussed followed by debate of technical and symbolic codes which help to put up the discourse. In particular, this essay will consider the technical code of camera angle and symbolic codes of colour which emphasize the dominant discourse.

The movie Edward Scissorhands starts off with an unusual character named Edward who was very different to the others. At the start, everyone seems to like Edward because he is able to do things others can’t, which means he has something different to give. The film shows that people who are different are treated differently for example when Edward was deemed interesting by the town but as soon he's done something wrong he is not liked.

The American Dream has always been the unattainable idea of a perfect life, often causing disorder when it is not realized. In response to society’s unrealistically high standards, and the human desire to be accepted, people shape their existences to fit within the quixotic ideals of society. The ubiquity of this conformity is demonstrated by its omnipresence as a theme in American literature. The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, along with Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, demonstrate how these perspectives of social mores are centered on the prevalence of the unrealistic views of normality. The Great Gatsby, Tender is the Night, and

The film ‘Edward Scissorhands’ by Tim Burton is a story about a lonely boy with a unique disability: scissor hands, it follows Edward as he experiences life outside of his isolated home and through his hardships of dealing with prejudice and people treating him differently. It also follows him when he makes judgments of others wrongly and shows the consequences to both parties from those decisions made on them.

Tim Burton, the director of Edward Scissorhands, draws inspiration for his work from fairytales and children’s stories. He has always had an affinity for the darker elements of these stories, which is made evident in the film Edward Scissorhands. The film’s main character is a man named Edward who has scissors for hands. Later, it is shown that he was a metal figure brought to life by his inventor, an elderly man who dies before he is able to give Edward human hands. Edward lives in a mansion on a hill on the edge of town, all alone, until a woman named Peg finds him and bring him to live with her family. Edward immediately develops an attraction to Peg’s daughter, Kim, though she has a boyfriend. Towards the end of the film, Kim tells Edward that she loves him, and Edward seems to be completed. However, Edward struggles to conform to society, and eventually is forced by the members of the community to return to his mansion, isolated from any human interaction. The film combines a make-believe character, as often found in children’s books, with elements of a horror film, like suspicion and violence. The film features several flashbacks throughout that elaborate on Edward’s past and show how he came to be. Burton uses these flashbacks to grow the audience’s understanding of Edward, explain events, and emphasize themes.

In ‘Edward Scissorhands’, conformity is a main theme throughout the entire movie, which is shown through the community and the characters that live within it. Many things throughout the movie show how the community conforms. For example, their houses are all one solid colour and all have the same shape, the characters are all dressed the same and all act very similarly. When Edward is introduced to the community, he is immediately looked upon as an outsider who does not follow the community’s nature. Most importantly, Edward is different because of his scissor hands. This does not only make him an outcast, but it makes him dangerous to the community, but surprisingly special. Both of Edward’s positive and negative differences show how he does not conform to the community; however, this does not stop him and his friends from attempting to make him indistinguishable. “But if you had regular hands, you'd be like everyone else.” There are many attempts to make Edward conform, whether it is the Bogg’s, the people in the

In my essay I am going to reference two films, Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Vincent (1982), directed by Tim Burton. Edward Scissorhands, is Tim Burton’s take on the Frankenstein story. We can clearly see the influences that have appealed to Tim Burton in the classic Frankenstein (1931) was not the character’s monstrousness appeal but the sense of sad sorrow that audiences sympathized to in Boris Karloff’s performance. Whereas in Tim Burton’s vision, we see a “Special” character as the Frankenstein Monster, in the similar way that we call people with disabilities Special. And then we have Vincent, a short stop-motion animation. The short film itself is an entertaining aspect of a suburban boy named Vincent who recites Edgar Ellen Poe and categorizes with Horror film star, Vincent Price. With similarities to Edward Scissorhands, the main character is a chance for Tim Burton to represent himself on the screen as a tortured boy, outsider and artist. I am going to discuss how cultural and psychological concerns are represented through characterization, art direction, cinematography, and sound. I will support my discussion by analyzing a reflection on both the similarities and differences between the two films, and whether a distinctive “Burton” signature (aesthetics, cultural and psychological concerns) is evident.

Moreover, Burton uses satire to emphasize Edward’s innocence; all characters represented a different flaw in society. For example, all of the housewives were nosy. One of them was particularly religious and judgmental. Burton portrays Joyce as a flirtatious liar. Kim’s boyfriend, on the other hand, was controlling and impulsive. In contrast, Edward had none of these faults. The town that they live in is made out to look perfect and neat, while Edward’s home is scary and intimidating. In reality, the castle is more of a humane place than the town. The real monsters are the “regular” people. To sum up, Burton gives a negative connotation towards society, verse praise towards uniqueness using satire.

Much of the world has been taught to fear the unknown and usually even the new. When most people were just children they were taught not to talk to strangers, which is a good thing. However, this made them fear the new and unknown, which is now a large part of society today. A popular movie director named Tim Burton has illustrated this concept in many of his films using several different cinematic techniques. He has shown that we should be more accepting, and what good can come of it. Burton uses outcast characters and the art of contrasting settings to show that society believes the unknown and new is not acceptable, and even dangerous.