Thursday 25 October 2018

Film Reviews: Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Fig. 1: Edward Scissorhands Poster (1990)

This review will focus on Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands (1990) and how the concept of the American dream has been interwoven within the film's set design, characters, and overarching plot. The key sources that have been used are Sarah Jay's How is the 1950s Re-Imagined Through the Lens of Tim Burton's Films? (2008), which analyses how the film uses elements of the time period to successfully create an idealized version of the lifestyle, and Eric Drown's A Suburban Fairy Tale: A Simple Visual Analysis of Edward Scissorhands (2014), which explores the visual language of the film. 

Edward Scissorhands is a film about the titular creation (played by Johnny Depp) of an elderly inventor who passes away before being able to complete his invention, thus permanently leaving him with scissors for hands. Edward lives alone until being found and cared for by Peg Boggs (Dianne Wiest) and her family, with the exception of Peg’s daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder), who is initially afraid of him. The neighbourhood in which they live eventually warms up to Edward after he performs favours for them (in the form of haircuts, ice sculptures, and the like); however, the peace is quickly disturbed after a confrontation between Kim’s boyfriend, Jim (Anthony Michael Hall), and Edward, which leaves the former dead and the latter returning to his state of living in solitude.

Fig. 2: Edward and Kim embrace one another after Edward is accused of purposely injuring Kim’s younger brother, Kevin. (1990)

The American dream is based around the idea that everyone should be able to pursue their desires and happiness, in turn contributing their utmost to society. Initially, the concept was the creation of white property owners, but this was changed alongside societal views and became accessible to slaves, women, and non-property owners as well; “the idea of inalienable rights was so powerful that laws were added to extend [them]… In this way, the American Dream changed the course of America itself” (Amadeo, K. 2018). Eventually, from around the 1920s onwards, the desire to achieve happiness was replaced with a desire for material objects. The notion of the American dream became possible due to many factors, including a single government controlling a large land mass with very few neighbours and an abundance of natural resources which allowed the growth of the economy, which still continues at present.

Edward Scissorhands makes use of the American dream primarily in its use of prim pastel aesthetics that engulf the setting, as well as the stereotypical personality traits associated with the characters (which root themselves in the societal expectations of women and men at the time that the film was set). Combined, these aspects successfully provide “a mild social satire of suburbia” (Rondeboom, V. 2006) which aims to subtly poke at the underlying problems with the ‘perfect American dream’ idea - Burton himself said that "Growing up in suburbia was like growing up in a place where there’s no sense of history, no sense of culture’’ (Jay, S. 2008), which seems to have served as the inspiration for the somewhat unsettling identicality of the setting.

Fig. 3: The uniformity and normality of the neighborhood’s design is intended to highlight the lack of individuality that can arise from the population’s attempts to strive for the same ‘American dream’. (1990)

Bo Welch, production designer of the film, said that the team were looking for “a kind of generic, plain-wrap suburb’, which they then ‘made even more characterless by painting all the houses in faded pastels, and reducing the window sizes to make it look a little more paranoid” (Smith, J. and Matthews, C. J. 2002). The intent to showcase the idealized American suburb as lacking in individuality can further be supported when considering the character of Edward (alongside the mansion from which he came as it looms on the outskirts of the neighbourhood) – Edward brings with him a sense of creativity and imagination which seems to be unlike anything witnessed by the inhabitants of the suburb. This unconventionality is a stark contrast against the rigid orderliness, but it quickly turns from a positive influence to one much more sinister.

Fig. 4: Edward’s castle serves as a reminder that he is in constant juxtaposition with the ordinary, carbon-copy lives of the neighbourhood that thrives below (1990).

This “sunny, idealized representation of suburbia” (Chernov, M. 2015) could very well be a nod to the critics of American society in the 1950s, as there was a very prominent fear that the society striving for the same goals and sense of perfection would begin to encourage a “creeping consumer conformity” (Drown, E. 2014), which Edward Scissorhands proves can be an unsettling visage. Not only are the buildings identical, but the lifestyles and mentalities of their inhabitants are, too. The residents quickly develop a mob-like attitude towards Edward after believing he attacked Kevin; “[Edward's] innocence is slowly chipped away, basically by the American dream, the perfect suburb, whose inhabitants are… easily turned.” (Tauchert, C. 2009). This, however, is not before the residents attempt to attach their sense of normality onto Edward, with some of them (Peg included), trying different ways to make him fit in, and subsequently fail.

Fig. 5: While the suburbs presented by the film may seem ideal, the sense of conformity that is fascinated by Edward for his ‘otherness’ is also the same attitude that turns against him later on. (1990)

The satirical view of the American dream could be explored further with defining traits presented by many, if not all of, the main characters; for example, Peg is a well-established housewife who takes pride in her family, Kim is the representation of the all-American teenaged girl who is initially confined to the social order presented by the suburbs, and Joyce is typically the flirtatious woman who spends most of her time indulging in idle gossip. These were the expected ideals of women in the 1950s, while men were anticipated to “settle into steady white-collar careers… to raise families, in achievement of the Great American Dream” (Jay, S. 2008) – hence why many of the husbands are rarely present in the film besides Peg’s husband, Bill (even then, he isn't as prominent a character as the rest of his family).

Fig. 6: The women in the film are an example of the conformity that caused the population to not only be charmed by Edward, but to turn on him as well. (1990)

It becomes clear that Edward disturbs this normality; “his work upsets the perfect orderliness of the suburban environment” (Drown, E. 2014), but there is still a sense of the population lacking individuality. This can be seen when the entire neighbourhood receives haircuts from Edward alongside other favours which, while it can be seen as deviating from the norm, actually proves that there is a strong sense of conformity and rejection of ‘otherness’ as once again, everyone has the same types of ‘quirky’ haircuts and the like. 

Fig. 7: the strict orderliness of the suburb is displayed as each of the husbands leave at the same time for work, all departing from identical houses in similar cars in an eerily robotic fashion. (1990)

Overall, Edward Scissorhands could be seen as an obvious criticism to the ideals of the ‘American dream’ and perfect American suburbs, as not only do the inhabitants end up rejecting Edward out of fear with a mob mentality, Edward himself never actually ends up conforming to their values and lifestyles; “Burton offers an accurate depiction of 1950s America; traditionalist yet destabilized by unacknowledged undercurrents of change and fear” (Jay, S. 2008). In the end, Edward and Kim do not end up together and remain separated, both returning to live out their lives in their respective residences with Kim remembering the tale many years into the future. Little to no changes have been made to either party’s lifestyle or attitudes, showing that non-conformity and the American dream are doomed to be incompatible. As Drowns (2014) states, “suburbia is the place where a truly human society has stopped evolving.”

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