Edward Scissorhands is my favourite Tim Burton film. Its a beautiful modern fairy tale, brilliantly cast and acted with great designs (fantastic use of colour and costume), and a lovely Danny Elfman soundtrack that soars and sweeps you along with the unfolding drama. It's a delightful entertainment-clever, funny and satirical. It asks us to consider what exactly is
normal and how we respond to difference. From the perspective of psychotherapy this film may also be of interest for anyone interested in developmental issues related to the self; how we develop the capacity to reach out and form relationships and how this may be compromised by premature separation.
For those unfamiliar with the plot I'll give a brief synopsis (plot spoilers!). Edward (a youthful Johnny Depp) is a man made creature created by an ailing benevolent Frankenstein like inventor/father figure played by Vincent Price in what poignantly proved to be his last film role (a great exit for the maestro playing against type here as a good guy with a kind heart).
 |
| Vincent Price as the kind inventor whose work is cut short |
We see the inventor attempting to prepare Edward for life outside the mansion home. 'Ettiquete tells us what is expected and guards us from all humiliation and discomfort'. He reads Edward funny limericks reassuring him that its okay to be amused and smile. Unfortunately for Edward just as the inventor is about to lovingly attach his hands he has a heart attack and dies, and Edward is left alone, an orphan.
 |
| Everyone lives in identical homes and goes to work at exactly the same time, and they think he's weird! |
One day Edward is discovered by Avon saleslady Peg played brilliantly by Dianne Wiest. 'What happened to you?' she enquires, shocked by his traumatised appearance, his ragged clothes, his scarred face, his scissor hands. 'I'm not finished' he says apologetically. Reassuring him she's 'as harmless as cherry pie' and wont hurt him, she drives him home to her house in a suburban cul-de-sac (a real location in Tampa, Florida) where he's introduced to her family; husband Bill (a bluecollar worker who's always in his work uniform and ID played by Alan Arkin), son Kevin, and teenage daughter Kim (Winona Ryder). After consulting her 'big Avon handbook' Peg, attends to Edwards wounds, 'light concealing cream and blending is the secret'.
 |
| Traumatised and in shock |
Word soon gets around the neighbourhood about her strange visitor, and in a fever pitch of curiosity and excitement and just a little sexual hysteria the desperate neighbours (including a nymphomaniac played to great comic effect by the brilliant Kathy Baker), convince Peg to throw a barbecue and pot luck lunch to introduce her mysterious exotic guest.
In a key scene his carer Peg is dressing Edward, getting him ready for the big reveal. Picking up on his nerves she says;
'there's no need to be nervous. You just have to be yourself, your own sweet self.'
This is of course completely useless advice as Edwards sense of self is practically non-existent, her advice presupposes there is a self to be. Edward doesn't know who he is, he hasn't had sufficient mirroring. Burton plays on this theme and there are several scenes where we see Edward looking in the mirror. The first occasion he is looking in Kim's mirror which is partly collaged with a montage of photographic images of eyes torn from fashion magazines. We see Edward staring into the mirror perplexed by what he sees, he seems to be searching for himself. On another occasion after Peg has been dressing his wounds, she shows him his reflection in the mirror and says 'you look fine, just fine' and at that moment we're reminded of the maternal deficits in his life, just how undernourished he is. Later as Edward discovers his rage we see him looking in a mirror once again this time clawing and shredding the wallpaper surround with his scissorhands.
 |
| Looking for the self, the mirror is a recurring motif. |
Although his scissorhands make him inept at most activities, including feeding himself, everyone is thrilled when they discover Edward's special gifts, the upside of his disability; his flair for topiary and cutting-edge hairdressing, his fun designs enlivening their dull conformist lives. In his punky ragged tight fitting black leather suit theres also just a touch of rock'n' roll about him which adds to his appeal. The outsider becomes a sought after celebrity, even making an appearance on TV, though not everyone is as impressed and fanatical Christian Esmerelda urges the townsfolk to 'expel him' and 'trample down the perversion of nature'. In another existential reference to his lack of self and identity we see him trying to open a bank account (that great rite of passage for any foreign immigrant), of course he has no ID, no credit, the bank manager declines him commenting 'you may as well not exist'.
Edwards clumsy attempts at reaching out to others or simply defending himself result in inadvertant harm to others. He accidentally hurts the ones he loves most, drawing blood with his 'hands' whenever anyone gets too close.
Predictably the the townsfolk turn against Edward, their blood is up, what identity he had is spoiled, ruined by gossip and innuendo. False allegations of rape and violence circulate and eventually he gets fitted up for a crime he didn't commit. Ironically in the season of peace and goodwill to all men, the neighbours now no longer fans, more of a baying mob dressed in outlandish festive yuletide costumes drive Edward out of town and back into the solitary confinemnet of the old house on the hill.
 |
| Frozen |
In the final scenes we see Edward alone in his castle, making ice sculptures of the ones he loves, his adoptive family, they have become fixed and frozen in time, and being artificial, Edward himself will never grow-up, never reach maturity, never age.
