Fairy tales are no
strangers to using violence in their stories to teach a moral. However, more
often than not, they usually take place in some far-away place. This is not the
case with Edward Scissorhands, which
makes the violence in fairy tales all too real.
Edward
Scissorhands is not your typical fairy tale. In
fact, the only real things it takes from a run of the mill fairy tale are a
mysterious castle (which blends kind of awkwardly with the suburban setting of
the rest of the movie), a book-end type of framing, and a so-called “monster”
that no one really understands. Edward’s creation is pulled straight out of the
confines of a fairy tale world – he is in the middle of human and creature, and
no one really knows how to react to him.
Edward, as the story
progresses, gets taken in by a more or less friendly family and, by the end of
it, becomes known to be a murderous monster by the suburban families (except
for the family that takes him in). What goes on in between those two events is
a commentary on human morality – and how it is shown in a more modern setting.
The movie asks the question of “Where did all the good people go?” It is a
question that most people will likely point to themselves in answer. I,
however, think that the “good people” asked about never existed simply because people
cannot be categorized as either good or bad.
While I would not say that
the suburban townspeople are evil and want anything that is different to go
away and die, they do have normal human faults. They use Edward for his
creativity and his scissor hands, but, as soon as they are given reason to
believe he is a monster through and through, they forget what he has done for
them and shun him for the supposed “monster” that he is made out to be.
I think Burton has
shown us a unique new perspective on the fairy tale that is fairly ironic. Burton
manages to make the typical monster that has nothing but hate for those it
terrorizes (seen in countless fairy tales) the townspeople, and he manages to
make the innocent thing being terrorized the so-called “monster” – Edward Scissorhands.
