In Tim Burton’s 1990 film Edward Scissorhands, Burton portrays the highly stigmatized society of suburban life in the late 1970s and the repercussions that ensue when something threatens this homogenized lifestyle. Everything from the neighborhood to the men and women that live in it are extremely one-dimensional and display the quintessential values and appearance of a suburban neighborhood of the 70’s.
The residents of the neighborhood are comprised of the standard nuclear family, with a mother, a father, and kids; leaving little room for any exceptions to this norm. In creating these characters, Burton displays a highly satirical view of essentialist philosophy to produce such one-sided individuals. All of the women are very much the same in regards to roles and characteristics. Jobless, as per the standard of suburbia, during the day, the women will get together on the street corner to gossip about the latest news, and rush home to see to their husbands when they arrive home from work.
In the same way, all of the men follow the same pattern. They all drive the same cars, and leave and arrive home all at the same time. While families may strive for individuality in their sickly pastel colored homes, as every home in the neighborhood displays similar sorts of garish coatings; all desire for separation and distinction is forgotten in the face of an overwhelming sense of sameness.
Upon the arrival of Edward Scissorhands to the neighborhood, everything from his physiognomy to his attire is a complete deviation from the norm expressed in this community. The fact that he has had little social interaction with others is practically negligible in a space where appearance defines who you are. Thus, someone who has scissors for hands is clearly not going to be accepted. Furthermore, Edward’s outlandish attire sets himself even further apart with his dark clothing set against an otherwise colorful place. While Edward is clearly an outsider to this community, a curious thing happens when Edward is taken up by the community as an object of curiosity. Once Edward’s skills of cutting greenery and hair are discovered, all pretenses of abnormality and rejection are disregarded.
The acceptance of Edward into the community represents the fickle nature of the members of this neighborhood. Once it is seen that is the trendy thing to do to be enamored by such an anomaly as Edward clearly is, pretenses of his initial abnormality are forgotten. Perhaps everyone is so enchanted by Edward because he is such a stark contrast to the community; where all sense of individuality has been lost.
Overall, many foils exist between the many differences of Edward in comparison to the neighborhood he is brought to. Before he was brought into the neighborhood, he lived upon a dark, dilapidated mountain home, a stark contrast to the perfect pastel homes below. Despite the dreariness of Edward’s home though, he relished in the landscaping of bushes to create garden images. Edward brings his landscaping skills with him and begins creating them all over the neighborhood. While these garden fixtures would have been viewed as garish and outlandish; the hype placed over Edward makes them acceptable.
Further expressing the neighborhood’s fickle nature, when Edward is taken advantage of by several of the kids in the neighborhood and tricked into breaking into a house; everyone suddenly turns on Edward as if he is some vile creature and forget whatever fascination they had with him to begin with. Burton’s expression of the flippant nature of the community display how afraid everyone is of being ousted to the margins of society. Thus, the bandwagon effect almost exists in hyper mode in this community where ostracism is akin to social suicide.
In all, Burton strives to express the dangers of a community becoming a solidified homogenized group wherein all sense of distinctiveness is lost. Such a community faces the loss of ability to think for themselves and decide what they themselves truly believe in as opposed to the majority as a whole.
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