Edward is an unfinished invention that comes to life. He is brought into society and then forced to leave due to his inability to be accepted into society

Rating: 10/10 (30 April 2011)

Edward Scissorhands was about a man made by a scientist. The scientist dies before he is able to give Edward (Johnny Depp) real hands instead of scissor hands. He is later picked up by Pegg (Diane Wiest) and brought into town to live with her and her family. Edward has a tough time adjusting to normal life, but ends up charming almost everyone. His love for Pegg's daughter, Kim (Wynona Ryder) does him in. Her jealous boyfriend, Jim (Anthony Michael Hall), makes Edward out to be a monster and finally banishes Edward back to his mansion to live in isolation.
The theme of the movie was about isolation. Once Edward's inventor died he did not understand it or know what to do because he was just brought into the world. So, there he was all alone in the dark and dreary mansion isolated from society until Pegg discovers him and brings him into her world. Edward is misunderstood by Pegg's neighbors and they further isolate him by keeping their distance at first and gossiping with one another when he first arrives in the neighborhood. Once everybody discovers he has a talent for sculpting and haircutting, he becomes popular in that little community. Edward gets pushed into the spotlight once everyone gets over their fear and become interested in his cutting abilities. This act again isolates him because he becomes "special". Edward just wants to fit in and be like everyone else instead of a showpiece. Once Jim starts to see that Edward has feelings for Kim, he becomes very jealous. He makes Edward out to be a thief. This also isolates Edward from his community because they all start to fear him again. They do not agree with what he is doing so they turn their backs on him. Edward then isolates himself for good by going back to the mansion at the end of the movie.
Another film, Frankenstein, reminds me of Edward Scissorhands. Frankenstein was also a scientist's invention that came to life. Frankenstein was also misunderstood and people were frightened of him because he was different. People chose to isolate themselves from Frankenstein out of fear of the unknown. Frankenstein, like Edward did not choose to live and be targeted by people for being different and not fitting into the cookie-cutter version of society.
One technique in Edward Scissorhands that was used was the lighting. When Pegg goes into the mansion it is made to look dark and ominous by just having sunlight shine through the windows. It gave a look of abandonment since it was the middle of the day and it was pitch-black in the mansion. Another technique was the display of motifs. One motif was Edward's mansion. The mansion symbolized Edward and his isolation from society. The mansion was big, black and creepy looking and isolated from the other bright and cheery houses on the block. The people in the neighborhood were also a motif. They were meant to portray society and how they treat people that do not look or act like them. People like Edward feel isolated because society does not want to accept that not everybody is like them.