Absurdity vs Normality

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2008)

Edward Scissorhands is a deeply peculiar and philosophical story that questions the peculiarity of life. It is a story that challenges people's ideas as to what is considered strange versus what is considered normal, and how by calling something strange or normal is really just a prejudice that identifies itself with the other side. In other words, what one person calls normal is what another may call strange. People typically use the word "strange" to alienate themselves from that which they don't understand, or are afraid of. The truth of the matter is that everything and everyone is strange; which is to say, everyone and everything is not completely understood, each of us being quintessentially unique. We have to familiarize ourselves with the strange and welcome it with open arms in order to understand ourselves, others and life in general better. The story of Edward Scissorhands is no different.
Edward is a part machine part man whose creator dies before his completion, leaving him with scissors for hands. He lives life as a social outcast within the vacant walls of a lonely, deserted castle, and is one day invited to live a "normal" lifestyle amongst a neighborhood of gossipy Suburban folk. He timidly accepts the offer, descends from his gloomy abode and enters a world that is not entirely familiar to him. He gawks inquisitively out car windows, jolts when telephones ring, pokes the mirror to examine the reflection he sees, struggles to eat food like everyone else, and overall lives in this new world like a foreign yet wondrous traveler. As the Avon lady who gave him this invitation concludes, "It'll take some time to getting used to Edward before you start feeling at home." Profound are these words. They seem to strike at the very core of the pilgrim within us all; traveling like foreigners on an unfamiliar planet as we try and familiarize ourselves and search for the cure to our divine homesickness.
That which we typically familiarize ourselves with to a great degree we call "home", or comfort. Conveniently for us we have quickly grown accustom to our home since birth. Earth is our home, and it is a place that has become familiar to us through repetition and time. For an individual like Edward, howeverone whom many of us would view as alien because of his differenceshe, to the contrary views our home as alien, and if you really stop to think about it, he's right.
The film's objective correlative seems to argue that it's OK to view life as absurd. Life is absurd. Life's absurdity will hopefully motivate us to learn more about what we are a part of, and to make that which was once considered absurd seem more reasonable. This only happens by descending, like Edward, from our homes of comfort and discovering the beauty that lies within the unknown. I believe we all bask in our own private wonderlands that at times make sense, and other times make nonsense. We're all still so naïve about who we are, where we came from, why we're here and where we're going, that to call something strange, I think, would be an indirect compliment to the God who created us all. It just means that we haven't explored enough. With time and repetition, however, things will become more familiar until we reach the status of feeling like we've finally arrivedfinally made it home.
Edward Scissorhands is truly a wonderful story that reminds all of us not to lose our child-like ingenuities, but to embrace fear with loving hands and a confident smile.