Matthew Jimenez 22 November 2019

GAH.1055.001/Fall 2019 Film Response #9

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Tim Burton

1. Give three examples of how Edward and Travis (Taxi Driver, 1976) are similar.

An example on how Edward and Travis are similar are that they both like a girl that is

“out of their league,” each for their own reasons. In Edward’s case, him and Kim can never be

together, because of his appearance, and how he doesn’t blend into society. Travis and Betsy are

from different social classes, as well as different sides of New York. Another example is that

they are both social outcasts/part of a low social class, this is depicted by where they live, as well

as how people look at them. Finally, another example is how at the end of both movies, nothing

was solved in the grand scheme of things. Edward ended up isolated in the castle again, and after

Travis got out of the coma, he ended up back driving a taxi, judging people from his rearview

mirror.

2. Focus on hand imagery. Why does Burton have this body part missing on Edward as opposed

to other body parts? [Think beyond the reason Edward remembers in his flashback; rather think

in terms of the film overall.]

In the flashback, when the inventor looked at the robot that would eventually be Edward,

he held a heart up to it, meaning that he started with the heart. He then gave Edward a torso and

face in the later flashbacks to make him look more normal. His plan was to add the hands last,

since the robot already had scissors where the hands were supposed to go. This left Edward to
forever have scissors for hands. He creates topiaries in the shape of hands because that is what he

wanted most.

3. Why the haircuts and topiary?

Edward gives out haircuts and creates topiary to help blend into society. Peg wants to

blend Edward into the neighborhood as fast as possible, so she encourages Edward to turn bushes

into works of art in order to try and start a new, more normal life, despite his visible differences.

4. What does Kim represent?

Kim represents the normal life he wants. Edwards wants to be normal, but simply can’t.

This is true because every time someone says that they know a doctor who can fix him, he says

that he would like to meet him. Even though Edward wants to live a normal cookie-cutter life

like everyone else in the neighborhood, he realizes that will never happen when he says that he

can’t hold Kim because of his hands.

5. Give three reasons why Peg differs from the rest of the housewives in the community.

Peg differs from the rest of the housewives in the neighborhood, because most of the

housewives wouldn’t have taken Edward home in the first place, due to how much they care

about their own reputation. Peg also is the only one who doesn’t want/ask for anything from

Edward, and genuinely wants to help him. Finally, Peg is a door-to-door salesman, and none of

the other housewives like, and gossip about when she comes over to try and sell her products.

6. What does Jim represent/symbolize?

Jim represents all the reasons why Edward will never be normal and live in a society.

Besides the bullying and constant reminders from Jim about the fact, he is also the biggest

barrier between him being with Kim. Furthermore, Jim represents the evil that Esmeralda warns
everyone about from the beginning. Jim is the reason behind why every bad thing happens to

Edward.

7. Why does the film take place during the Christmas season?

The film takes place in the winter to add to the legend of Edward Scissorhands. Most

legends have a reason to them, and the legend of Edward Scissorhands could also be the story of

how that neighborhood got it’s first snowfall.

8. Who is the elderly woman telling the story?

The elderly woman telling the story is Kim. This is revealed at the end when she says that

she wants Edward to remember her as a young girl.

9. What do the newspaper clippings in the fireplace grate have in common? Why does Edward

have them?

The newspaper clippings are mostly about people overcoming obstacles, like “boy born

without eyes reads with his hands,” along with other divine miracles things that happened to

people. Edward has these clippings to remind him that he is not alone and there are other people

out in the world who aren’t “normal,” and good things still happened to them. He also has a

picture of the Virgin Mary to further solidify the fact that he isn’t a monster, and that he believes

that if anyone can perform a similar miracle on him, it would be a religious figure.

10. Explain the irony of the closing scene. [Think in relation to the theme(s) of the film; think

context/construction].

The irony of the closing scene is that nothing was accomplished physically at the end of

the movie. No lesson was learned, and nothing changed. Once Edward was proclaimed “dead,”

all the housewives left and went back to their normal lives, and Edward continued to live alone

in his castle, trimming his topiaries.