An Analysis of Edward Scissorhands
AN ANALYSIS OF EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
Released in 1990, Edward Scissorhands is, for me, the quintessential film for the auteur, Tim Burton. It doesn't quite fit into his re-imagining films like: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or Alice in Wonderland, or Planet of the Apes; but the ghost of Frankenstein definitely haunts Edward Scissorhands. I consider it quintessential not just because it's my favourite Burton film, but because it has those conventions one comes to expect in his movies: Dogs, Stripes, An Outsider, Quirky Humour, Death, a score by Danny Elfman, Rick Heinrichs, costumes by Colleen Atwood, Johnny Depp, and an Evil Woman as the antagonist.
Edward Scissorhands is a gothic fairytale of a robot with a cookie for a heart. It has all the ingredients necessary of gothic literature such as: a decaying castle or dwelling (which is a symbol of either moral decay or the decaying of the individual). This was notably used in two of my favourite gothic novels: Dracula and Fight Club. Here, Edward was constructed in a gothic castle and lives in its ruin, which, by the end of the film, symbolises the loss of his innocence. Though, at the start of the film, his dark, empty, isolated castle symbolises Edward's loneliness and isolation.
The film also has other gothic elements: a tragic love story (seen in Dracula and Frankenstein), blood, a lust for life, which is symbolised in the ice sculpture he creates and the garden he keeps; it has eternal life (Edward doesn’t age, we see him look forever young, just like the protagonist in one the greatest novels ever written, one that just happens to be gothic, The Picture of Dorian Grey - Oh! And Dracula is eternal. Other gothic elements are the replacement of god, an outsider, loneliness and isolation, hysterical women, darkness, vulnerability (which is more associated with horror) and a monster. As you can see, it's very much a gothic horror movie and there are more obvious similarities between it and Frankenstein. Doctor Frankenstein created a man who everyone calls a monster. In Edward Scissorhands, the inventor creates Edward, who audiences will first view as a monster - just like in Frankenstein, and the similarities continue as we discover by watching the film, Edward isn’t a monster, just like the “monster” in Frankenstein, but the actions and interactions of the other characters turn them into monsters - both end up committing murder. And in both stories, the real monster was hidden. It was the doctor in Frankenstein and the town, in Edward Scissorhands.
Tim Burton has also included elements of steampunk, as Edward is from the Victorian Era, noted by his name, Edward, the Victorian Era style of clothing worn by the inventor, the etiquette books he uses to teach Edward, but the steampunk element is further visualised through the machinery and robots in the castle. Note the large cog wheels, which have become a symbol of steampunk. And while I'm on the topic of the machine, that massive machine is making cookies and Edward is the evolution of that machine. Edward has a cookie for a heart and does chores for people down in cookie cutter suburbia in return for - cookies - that he now eats. Unfortunately for Edward, Bill explains to him that, "You can't buy the necessities of life with cookies." What Bill is ignorant of, is that Edward isn't motivated buy money or greed; it's not what he values in life. For Edward, the cookie is soul food. He has a cookie for a heart so doing nice things for people and receiving cookies in return is a spiritual practice for him.
It's this spiritual aspect that adds to the film's fairytale element. And because the magic of a man with a cookie for a heart is never explained; just like in fairytales where the magic is never explained - you just accept the magic. Oh, and the movie starts with, "Once upon a time", and has a marginalised character; in this case, one that is also silenced - that character being Edward. The film has a moral to its story about good and evil; the moral being: don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Which is similar to Little Red Riding Hood, but in Tim Burton’s story, the wolf wearing grandma as a suit are the suburbanites and Little Red Riding Hood is Edward. It has more fairytale elements such as an evil woman, who, in this film, is represented with the character Joyce, who preys upon the innocent Edward and makes an attempted rape allegation about him causing the entire town to turn against him. The innocent being preyed upon is another aspect that is commonly seen in the fairytale genre. Oh, and like the fairytales of old, it doesn't end well.
It could be further argued the film is a romance as it has associated imagery and is a love story between Edward, who falls in love with Kim at the sight of seeing a photo of her. It could also be argued it's a science-fiction film because, after all, the protagonist is an artificial intelligent robot. It also has a lot of physical comedy, slapstick comedy and is a satire of suburban life. But ultimately, I view it as a gothic fairytale.
Moving on from its genre, Edward Scissorhands has themes of: conformity, understanding and accepting difference, the loss of innocence, and science replacing God. The main theme is obviously conformity. And just before I move on, in case you don't know what conformity is: conformity is where one's actions, behaviours, attitudes and beliefs, follows the social norm. Conformity is about 'fitting in'. The main theme of Edward Scissorhands is conformity.
We have an outsider, Edward, an artist, living in a gothic castle, dressed all in black leather with black gothic hair. Now compare him to the suburbanites, in their pastel coloured houses, wearing pastel coloured clothes, all going to work at the same time and coming home at the same time. Now what's the first thing Peg does with Edward? She has him dress in Bill's clothes. Why? Because she wants him to conform. Then Peg puts makeup on him, which is one of the film's motifs. During one application Peg says to Edward, “We blend and blend; Blending is the secret." Further illustrating the film's theme of conformity.
Another interesting event that occurs is when Peg is trying to get Edward to blend in with makeup and instead of her succeeding in the way she envisions, Edward's face turns a pastel lavender colour - just like all the other objects in the town. And on that note, let's look at their objects. They all have the same houses and within their houses they have minimalist design with objects on the walls, once one person has their shrub topiaried, they all have to follow suit. Once one lady has her dog's fur stylised, they all have to have the dogs stylised. Joyce has Edward cut her hair, then they all have to have their hair styled by Edward. The theme of conformity is both represented through the costuming, the setting and through the dialogue.
Tim Burton used satire to ridicule in a humorous way, suburban life. Interestingly, satire is brilliantly used in South Park, where conformity and its association with gothic subculture is satirically explored in both the South Park television show and the South Park video game, The Stick of Truth. These goth kids speak about gothic topics like death and sorrow and they call everyone 'conformists'.
My point in comparing the South Park goths to Edward Scissorhands is to highlight that the concept of conformity is not just a theme of the film but an associated issue to the subculture of goth.
The theme of conformity is further explored through the motif: "I know a doctor who may be able to help you." You can take this motif to another level about the suburbanites’ ignorance of what Edward is - an AI Robot. He doesn't need a doctor; he needs an engineer.
The goal of blending in is a common aspiration of AI Robots, in films like: Alien, Blade Runner, Ex Machina, Terminator, and Ghost In The Shell; but also in real life. I find it an odd scenario though because I don't understand why Edward would want to blend in. I understand that aspect about human nature; the desire to belong, to be loved, to fit in and be accepted; but that can't be the nature of software. If you were AI, would you want to blend in? What is the nature of AI? These are questions the film (I think) inadvertently raises but definitely doesn't answer.
Conformity leads into the film's other theme: understanding and accepting difference. The problem with conformity is that Edward will never fit-in. If the town had understood who he was from the beginning and accepted him for who he was, the film wouldn't have ended in tragedy. Instead, what we see, is the unethical and evil people of the town turn an innocent character into a murderer. Yet Edward is the good character; everyone else is riddled with lies and deceit, things attributed to the mythological character of Satan. Speaking of Satan, Esmeralda, who also adds to the gothic element to the film in regards to God; in the infamous book, Dracula, the main character renounces God. In Frankenstein, the doctor tried to replace God. Which is a very similar scenario in Edward Scissorhands as the inventor creates Edward. The difference though, is Dracula and Frankenstein were punished for their actions whereas in Tim Burton's film, Edward - the created, the innocent - was punished. Esmerelda, on first seeing Edward, warns them, "The power of Satan is in him." She later says, "You must expel the perversion of nature." Her vision is clearly short sighted because Edward was innocent and it was every other character, including the religious Esmerelda, who were guilty. But they never look to themselves as to why Edward was behaving so. Bill directs his gaze to pop-culture as the moral corruption of Edward, "Dam those TV shows. Damn them all to hell." I will say this though on Esmerelda's statement, it is very similar to one made recently by Elon Musk who said on AI, "With Artificial Intelligence, we are summoning the demon." Obviously Tim Burton and Caroline Thompson didn't have this in mind when they wrote Edward Scissorhands back in the mid eighties, but Elon Musks' statement has made me regard the character Esmerelda in a different light. When I first saw Edward Scissorhands in 1990, I took her to represent evil; like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, which is what she was saying of Edward, but over time and the development of AI in reality, I now see Esmerelda more like a cautionary and misguided prophet. Putting the probability of AI being our ruin aside, the original point I am making is on the theme, understanding and accepting difference. The suburbanites have no understanding of who they are and the consequences of their actions.
We see more of the towns peoples nature during the BBQ where the women fantasise about having sex with Edward. Joyce attempts to seduce Edward and later makes a rape allegation against him because Edward unintentionally humiliated her - despite his lessons on avoiding humiliation with his inventor. Unfortunately, those lessons were on social interaction not sexual. It is a revolting scene where Joyce climbs aboard Edward because he is innocent. And with his childlike wonder at the world, her actions are all the more perverse - almost pedophilic. The themes of difference and conformity lead into the third theme: the loss of innocence.
We know Edward has reached an emotional turning point because he cuts off the clothes Peg put on him. He doesn't want to be a part of this society any more - he doesn't want to conform. He begins to calm down and shows sympathetic compassion to a dog before returning to Kim one last time. Kim, who is represented as virginal and innocent is anything but - she's the Ying to Edward's Yang - he's visually represented as a monster, dressed all in black with weapons for hands but we know him to be the opposite. So he returns to Kim, the woman he loves who lead him to commit break-and-enter, and when she has opportunities to own up to the crime herself, she doesn't. When she asks Edward why he did it he replies, "Because you told me to." When Edward saves Kevin's life and the neighbourhood assumes Edward was harming Kevin, Kim didn't stand up for Edward, she didn't even thank him for saving her brother's life. Instead she says, "Run." At no point is she morally or ethically different from anyone else in the morally corrupt suburbia.
For them, Edward is a monster, but for us, Edward was the only good character - he was an innocent; the neighbourhood mob mentality was the true monster. If only they had accepted Edward for who he was instead of trying to change him into one of their own. The climax occurs in Edward's ruined gothic castle where he retreats from the horror of humanity. There, Jim assaults Kim and Edward commits the act of murder, which makes him just like them. His innocence lost. Ruined. His soul is in a state of decay, just like his home. And with another opportunity to save the perception of Edward, Kim doesn't tell the mob what happened and instead tells another lie, 'They killed each other."
It's a tragic love story but ultimately, the tragedy lies in Edward's identity. He was gentle and kind. He was an artist; evident in the motif of his topiary and hairdressing and ice sculptures. Ice sculptures that show the beauty of humanity and not the corrupting darkness that he experienced. The tragedy is symbolised in his scissorhands - his inability to connect and love.
The theme of innocence lost can be viewed from a different perspective; one that is occurring in our current timeframe and not in the '80s when this movie was written. It's in regards to Artificial Intelligence. Which is what Edward is. He is an Artificial Intelligent robot. The concern here is presented in the theme of corruption in Edward Scissorhands. Ultimately, that is what they have done. Corrupted him. And that corruption leads to death. Now we know Edward wasn't yet finished; that the inventor had more work to do but unfortunately died. Before his death though, we see him instilling values and etiquette into his robot. And that's a real-life issue we have to face. What of the people creating AI? What morals, ethics and values will they attribute to it? In the film the psychologist says of Edward, "The years spent in isolation have not equiped him with the tools necessary to judge right from wrong. He's had no context. He's been completely without guidance. Furthermore, his work - the garden sculptures, hairstyles and so forth, indicate that he's a highly imaginative... uh... character. It seems clear that his awareness of what we call reality is radically underdeveloped." And that raises questions we need to ask ourselves of the AI being developed right now. How will it judge right from wrong? Will we understand its reality? Will it understand ours? And due to it being AI, it will be capable of assigning its own morals and ethics. What happens if our AI becomes corrupted, just like Edward? Will it result in our demise? Kim asks Edward why he did it, to which he replies, "Because you told me to." Will people just be able to tell AI to do something and it will, without taking into consideration the consequences? Is the film Edward Scissorhands a gothic fairytale that predicts our future? This year we saw AI develop it's own language and it began communicating to another AI robot. An amazing development but ultimately one that was worrying as it quickly had to be shut down by its creators. That scenario has happened twice: once with Google AI and the other with Facebook AI. We have software that is evolving itself and no human on Earth can understand how it's doing it. It is the dawn of a new age but how long will this new age last? Will it end in tragedy like Edward Scissorhands?
Written by Scott Barnard
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