Pinochio, Frankenstien, I don't really think so

Rating: 10/10 (22 October 2001)

Coming from Tim Burton, you know that the story won't be something you see everyday. although, it will have elements of classic storys and classic dilemmas, but with that creative Burton twist.
A very very ordinary classic 50's style American town sits at the bottom of a huge dark mountain with a scary castle on top. An Avon door to door sales women, discouraged by the fact that everyone in the town knows her and has already bought their supply of makeup, decides to travel up the mountain to try her luck there. She walks right in to the castle and finds Edward there all alone. She sees that Edward has no hands, but instead huge scissors and knives. She assumes he is helpless, and takes him home. The whole town begins to buzz about the irregular visitor. Edward lives with the sales women, and begins to show unusual artistic talents for things like sculpting bushes and cutting hair. unfortunately, Edwards nieve nature is taken advantage of and the town almost immediately all turns against him. To avoid spoiling the movie, I insist you see this movie to learn the rest of the story.
I really don't think this movie is as much about Scissors or even Edward, but more about the little town, and their reaction to him. Its easy to say this is just a warped Pinnochio but instead of a little puppets who wants to be a boy, its a guy that wants hands. but, I think there is more going on here. Edwards Scissorhand's are clearly a sort of prison, but they also allow him to express himself, and really his only way to communicate. I think I watched this movie once and counted him as only haveing about 30 lines in the whole movie. For a main character, he is practically Helen Keller. I think that it could be more that he doesn't want hands as much as everyone thinks he should so he can be like them. Possibly, I think this movie is more about society. They go to great pains to show the ordinary, american dream suburb where everyones house is the same, everyone has the same dreams and hopes, Everyone goes to work at the same time, SAME SAME SAME SAME SAME. One example is what I like to call "the car ballet", where all the cars pull out of the garage at the same time and drive off. Pure symbolism. They are crying out for something new and different but, are also frightened by it. Just like a school of little scared fish, that change directions in quick motions, with no real good reason. One of my favorite examples in the movie is where a man with a prosthetic leg tells Edward to never let anyone tell him he's handicapped, later he calls Edward a cripple.
Is this really about Edward wanting so badly to be like these people, or these people wanting so badly to be like Edward? Or is it simply about the worlds rejection of creativity, and diversity? Truly, these plain, boring, "ordinary," people are just as weird if not more so than Edward. I really think this story is about how the world is full of these people that have no real solo thoughts, and condemn anything different. The crumbling of human society through the effects of purity and perfection. A sad commentary on the current human condition, or lack there of. Love thy common man? only if he is just like you.
Does Edward want to be "a real boy"? I think he probubly already is more than anyone else in the movie.