Film Critique: Edward Scissor Hands
Tim Burton’s
1990 Edward scissor hands is an updated tale of Frankenstein, following the synthetic
and unfinished Edward as he stays with a suburban family. Social and political history
from the 50’s onwards has huge influence over the film…
The 50’s and
60’s introduced ideas of residential segregation to America. The gradual
collapse and failure of inner cities was becoming an epidemic, fuelled by the
migration of African Americans and Latinos into the country. These poorer
migrants scared the white middle-class Americans out of the cities (also known
as white flight), who then fled to the suburbs. Services in the cities decreased
as residents were mostly poor, and growing independence lead to an increase in
crime rates. The 70’s was a time riddled with overcrowding, white flight, and
inner-city deterioration too. Suburban sprawls were viewed as a haven for the
white middle-class to escape to.
Issues such
as high crime rates began to level out in the 90’s, but the many generations of
residential segregation created a strong city and suburb divide. Suburban
sprawls became a part of modern living, sitting on the outskirts of overcrowded
cities as societies of their own. Suburban sprawls would include a centre hub filled
with shops, surrounded by uniformed houses. Edward Scissor Hands has a strong American
suburb focus. During this time of popular suburban living, “a gigantic boredom
prevailed” – Ballard JG (2006) Kingdom
Come. People began to focus on their own spaces, looking inwards rather
that out. A time of selfishness with people turning docile, dormant and soft. Tim
Burton watched this suburban lifestyle develop first hand, growing up in the 70’s
and 80’s within the suburbs himself, yet feeling like an outcast and misfit.
Tim didn’t believe in the cookie-cutter individuality and inter personal
relationship focus everyone else was striving towards. Suburban houses were almost
identical, colour changing, and decorating were advertised as ways of
expression. A social expectation of suburban life was to be presentable, to
keep your lawn perfectly maintained, nature completely controlled.
Tim was a
goth, a revivalist and icon of this style or movement. As a film director, Tim
aids with the gothic aesthetic visualised through cinema, seen as far back as
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920).
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| Edward Scissor Hands (1990) Poster Art |
Edward
Scissor hands includes many references to the Dutch angle, seen through fonts
and architecture, not just the typical slanted camera angle. Tasteful, childish
exaggeration helps to tell the films story, an assistance that doesn’t damage
the film.
Dramatic
colour contrasts within environments could mark the residential segregation
issues happening in real America. As an example, Edwards ‘castle’ is pure
monochrome, whereas the suburbs surrounding his house are vibrantly multicoloured,
as seen in figure 1. The houses that make up the
unnervingly symmetrical neighbourhood have subtle water stains under some
windows and sighs, as seen in figure 2. This is
a strange environmental element that was clearly intentional and deemed as
important to set design. This element almost brings the suburban environment back
to reality with its uncomfortable undertones. It seems to foreshadow inevitable
deterioration.
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| Figure 1 | Contrasting Environment |
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| Figure 2 | Strange Water Stains |
The plot of Edward
Scissor Hands has extreme similarities with the classic book Frankenstein,
which describes an outsider who is rejected by a love interest and any human companionship,
ultimately turning against people. Edward experiences a similar set of events,
almost receiving total acceptance but is then villainized by the entire neighbourhood.
Love rejection almost turns him mad, but he can come to his senses and live in
isolation once again, understanding it’s the right thing to do. The plot of
Edward Scissor Hands and its strong links to outcasts also has similarities to
Tim Burton himself…” I always had that vibe that it was his autobiography” - Tom
Duffield, Art Director on Edward Scissorhands.
Additional
important themes seen within the plot include goth, ennui, the outsider,
conformity, normalisation, counter culture, and urbanisation.
The suburban
inhabitants of the film hold social status as a huge priority in their lives,
another problematic theme that was an issue in real America. Continuous neighbourly
visits, barbecues, constant phone calls. The neighbourhood becomes is perceived
as an all-knowing entity that individual households can’t escape from. The neighbourhood
almost immediately turns on the main family during Edwards stay, the family’s
social status does a 180 within minutes.
The films
ominous plot themes are cut through with the sweet emphasis of family, and the
strong relationship between the main household. This is a nice twist on the
more sinister themes of inter relationships and social status seen elsewhere in
the film.
The
characters in Edward Scissor Hands play typical domestic roles, nothing that challenges
the bland suburban aesthetics of the film, they are characters to match. Housewives
sit around and wait for their husbands, who all arrive home at the same time
every evening.
Supporting
characters come across as extremely invasive, but this is deemed as acceptable
through the main household’s hospitality towards everyone, going as far as not
having no garden gate, allowing neighbours to enter their property at any time.
This specific point comes across as naive, with many of the houses having little
security or street smarts. This could be linked to issues with ‘white flight’;
the neighbourhood feels a sense of safety from the all-white inhabitants. A
definite sense of racism.
The
character of Edward is clearly an outsider compared to the remaining cast due
to his costume design. Edward matches the monochrome aesthetics of his house with
his black synthetic skin covering his body from the neck down, as seen in figure 3. His pale features remove any hues of colour
from the character. A pale outcast wandering around this manicured and
multicoloured middle-class haven. The suburban inhabitants are maintained and
manicured just like their houses.
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| Figure 3 | The Character Of Edward |
The soundtrack
to this film is reminiscent of Tim Burton films in general; magical, festive,
and derived from Disney. The music’s fluttery attributes amplify the fantasy
elements of the film. It also exaggerates themes of Christmas and winter, even
though they have no significance to the plot. This is simply Tim’s effective
use of atmosphere, a signature of his films.
The sound of
Edward Scissor Hands is also very orchestral and classic, contrasting with the
strong themes of urbanisation and modernity within the film.
Bibliography:
deMilked (2019). Figure 1. [image] Available at: https://www.demilked.com/movie-locations-edward-scissorhands-suburb-now-then-pictures-voodrew/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2019].
Fandom (2019). Figure 3. [image] Available at: https://timburton.fandom.com/wiki/Edward [Accessed 13 Nov. 2019].
imdb (2019). Figure 2. [image] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099487/mediaviewer/rm2975224576 [Accessed 13 Nov. 2019].
Imdb (2019). Poster Art. [image] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099487/mediaviewer/rm1842287616 [Accessed 13 Nov. 2019].
Kingdom Come. (2006). 1st ed. United Kingdom: Fourth Estate.
Taylor, T. (2019). Edward Scissorhands was made for freaks, by freaks. [online] Dazed. Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/28715/1/the-secret-history-of-edward-scissorhands [Accessed 13 Nov. 2019].
Taylor, T. (2019). Edward Scissorhands was made for freaks, by freaks. [online] Dazed. Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/28715/1/the-secret-history-of-edward-scissorhands [Accessed 13 Nov. 2019].
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