Edward Scissorhands by Tim Burton

Societal issues in Edward Scissorhands

In the movie Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton displays societal issues within a unique story about a man that was created with scissors as hands. Burton demonstrates how society tends to manipulate people into wanting to fit in and not become the outcast. In my own life I can relate to Edward’s environment of being told what to do because of my height and talent. In the contrary I can not relate to the fact that Edward was oblivious to some of the actions the town wanted him to do.

Within the movie Edward is shamed and then loved because of his unique attributes. Edward did not learn to say no, which caused the people in that society to abuse Edwards talents; similarly, my parents and my coach made my play another season of travel basketball when I did not want to, which resulted in me not finding joy in playing anymore.

Exploitation in Edward Scissorhands

Edward always saw himself as “not complete”, yet everyone around him exploited him for the way he was (Edward Scissorhands).

When Edward was first brought into the neighborhood everyone gathered around to see the new man in the neighborhood. At first glance all the women judged Edward based on his appearance. Just like the movie Shrek, people in society tend to judge others based on their appearance instead of who they are inside. Mentioned by Shrek the ogre, “sometimes, things are more than they appear” (Shrek). Even when the women of the neighborhood move past Edwards appearance, they still do not see who he is a person but rather use him for their own benefit.

Get quality help now

Writer Lyla

Verified

Proficient in: Edward Scissorhands

5 (876)

“ Have been using her for a while and please believe when I tell you, she never fail. Thanks Writer Lyla you are indeed awesome ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Edward was not taught how to stand up for himself and how to say no.

Once he finished trimming Pegs yard, the rest of the neighborhood wanted to follow the trend. Much like the yards, Edward trimmed up a dog just because he had the urge to do so. Following this action the rest of the neighbors wanted their dogs to look nice as well. Along with the yards and dogs, Edward was then cutting hair for everyone in the neighborhood. These three events that happened within the movie demonstrate a perfect example of society in his day. The people within the neighborhood all wanted him to do as he was told and expected him to follow. Without Edward saying no, he would continue to do as he was asked or even told to do.

Another example of when Edward did not stand up for himself was when the people within the neighborhood started calling him “Eddie” and “Ed” (Edward Scissorhands). Peg tried to stand up for him and correct people so they would respect him, but Edward would have had to do that to show that he actually has a voice and cares about how people treat him. Without standing up for oneself, a society will not respect and value one’s character. Edward lacks the ability to say no to people because he is so determined to fit into their society. Edward loses who he is in the process of trying to fit the neighborhoods mold of a normal person.

Manipulations 

Just like how the society around Edward was manipulative, they also were not very forgiving. Even after Edward did so much for everyone in the neighborhood like cutting their hair, trimming dogs, and making their yards pretty, after one one mistake the twn already started to turn on Edward and view him differently. When Jim says, “You can’t touch anything without destroying it”, it shows how with one mistake a society will disregard everything positive about the person, and now just see the one flaw (Edward Scissorhands). After everything Edward did for the neighborhood they still do not treat him like one of them and quickly judge him again once he makes a mistake.

In society everyone wants to fit in and be accepted. All Edward wanted was to be as human and normal as possible and as Peg said, “blending is the secret” (Edward Scissorhands). With the role that society plays, Edward felt that he was not finished and desperately wanted people’s approval. The only way he knew how to be accepted was to follow what people asked him to do. Kim, Pegs daughter, asked Edward to break into Jim’s house. Kim asked him why he did it and Edward said, “Because you asked me to” (Edward Scissorhands).

Edward was so focused on wanting to fit in and be accepted that he went to great length to be considered one of them, the normal people with hands. Instead of standing up for himself and saying no to Kim, Edward followed through with what she asked him to do because he wanted to be liked and felt that the only way he would be accepted is to use the talents given to him because of his hands. The people of the neighborhood took advantage of Edwards talents just to help themselves fit in more in their own neighborhood.

Trends of society

The trends of society are always changing and the people caught up in it tend to follow the unspoken rules of how to fit in. This involves changing how we look and present ourselves, how we dress, who we associate with, and our talents. Peg wanted Edward to fit in and did so by trying to change his appearance. As soon as she brought Edward home she gave him new clothes and tried to cover up his scars. Edward became caught up in the neighborhoods society and that is what brought out Edwards anger which resulted in him destroying his own yard scupltures, slashing tires, and running away. The people within the neighbour took advantage of Edward and he let it happen. This movie is a perfect example of how society manipulates and affects people.

Much like Edward, I too have been told what to do because of my attributes and skills. When it comes to basketball, it is smart to place a tall person as the position under the basketball hoop. I did not want to play for a traveling basketball team again for the second year. I did not want to end up getting caught up with all the demands of being on a travel team. My coach kept enquiring about if I was coming back for another season and my mother was pushing me to play as well. With a coach and a team depending on me along with my mother pressuring me, I felt that the only way to settle this was to play another season.

Feeling like I was forced to play, I did not enjoy the season at all. With my own example of being in Edward’s shoes, it shows another example of how society works. Edward was amongst a neighborhood and mine was just a team, but it shows the same pattern and outcome. Just like Edward was lured into the neighborhood and became an important aspect of their society, I felt impelled to join the team and compete in basketball games. I did not want to turn down my coach, the team, or my mother in fear that I would disappoint them, much like Edward did not want to disappoint the people he wanted to be like. I wanted to make my them happy just like Edward wanted to make Kim and everyone else happy. In both situations, whether it be Edward’s or mine, it shows how society impacts people.

How society affects how someone acts

Even though Edward and I share a similar scenario that shows a perfect example of how society affects how someone acts, my scenario is different in that I learned to say no. The word no was not in Edwards vocabulary because when Edward asked Kevin if he wanted to play rock paper scissors, Kevin said no, and Edward said, “Why not”(Edward Scissorhands). Since Edward never said no to someone and he experienced someone saying no to him, he questioned it and was confused why Kevin did not say yes like he would have done. At the end of the movie Kim faked Edwards death to protect him. This caused them to never see eachother again. Edward did not stand up for himself and become an individual but rather continue to listen to what others told him to do.

Near the end of my basketball season an event came up that took precedence over a basketball tournament. I arose to the occasion and told my coach no, and said that I needed to be somewhere else. At that point I stood out as an individual that acted for myself, not to make someone else happy or to try to fit in. When Dumbledore from Harry Potter says, “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices”, he is implying that we should not be defined just by our capabilities, just like Edwards talents, but rather how we act and choose to respond to our surroundings (Harry Potter ). I did not want to be defined as only a basketball player so I stood up to those who began to make decisions for me and I made my own.

In the movie Edward Scissorhands there are many scenes that show how society plays a major role in how we develop as a community. Throughout the movie the neighborhood takes advantage of Edward and tries to push him into becoming someone he is not. They try to mold him so he can fit into their society. I can relate to Edward with the sense of feeling that I need to do something or act a certain way to achieve approval from others. Just like when Gandalf from Lord of The Rings says, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us” in The Lord of The Rings, we have to have strength to take control of our lives and know when to listen to others and when to say no (Lord of the Rings). With similar sceneriors of falling into societal habits, I am different than edward because I learned how to become an individual and not try to fit in.