Is there such a thing as bad?

Rating: Null/10 (6 September 2003)

"Ed Wood" is unique among Tim Burton's films in that it is the only one of his films based on a true story, and in being that, it is devoid of fantastic elements (other than those in Wood's films, which, admittedly, weren't that fantastic). This is because, I think, Burton is making the sort of observation with this film he doesn't in the others.

One way this film does fit in with all the others is that its protagonist (indeed most of his characters in this film) is an outsider. Characters from other Burton films like Beetlejuice, Pee-Wee Herman, Batman, Ichabod Crane, and especially Edward Scissorhands are all individuals with special skills or attributes that set them apart and end up, in some way, foiling their attempts to be accepted by others. Ed Wood is the same, but in this case the problem isn't his skills, it's the lack thereof. He is, as fan polls have noted, the "worst director of all time."
Therein lies the paradox of "Ed Wood," because despite a total lack of ability, Ed Wood firmly believes he is as multi-talented a genius as his idol, Orson Welles.
Burton, however, uses a unique approach to portray this. Although we get film moguls and audiences clearly showing their distaste for his films throughout the film, Johnny Depp, who plays Wood, consistently displays such confidence, even in the face of genuine doubt from his assistants and actors, one is given a curious feeling he, and not they, are right, to do things like leaving in shots where tombstones are revealed to be false.

Indeed, when Wood is making what has been voted elsewhere as "the worst film of all time," "Plan 9 from Outer Space," Burton cuts together the sequence, and adds triumphant fanfares, to give the impression Wood is indeed creating a masterpiece.
The clue to this is when he actually does meet up with hero Orson Welles, in their conversation, Welles bemoans how after "Citizen Kane" he lost all control over his films. Welles then tells Wood, "Ed, visions are worth fighting for." Burton is saying for a creator it doesn't matter what others think, but what the creator thinks. If Ed Wood (or anyone) thinks their vision is worth fighting for, it is.
Unfortunately, Ed Wood, like most comic heroes (and despite some serious moments, and the fact this is a biopic, it still is a comedy), lives in a universe where he must fail. As he watches the world premiere of "Plan 9" in a veritable trance of ecstasy, he whispers, "This is it. This is the film I'll be remembered for," and the irony of how he was remembered for this film is, perhaps, the film's greatest moment of pathos. In it, we are brought back to the realization that regardless of a vision, regardless of the fact there may be no real thing as bad or good, Hollywood is merciless to all its visionaries, even to Orson Welles.