Edward Scissorhands

Beneath the poetic tale and the homage to fantasy cinema lies a modern legend satirising American conformism. The film’s welcoming little town contains all the ills of a society rooted in its traditions and stuck in its prejudices. Tim Burton describes a world he knows well, that of the Los Angeles suburb he grew up in. By lifting the veil on the true face of deepest America, he builds a parable on the precarious condition of the artist trapped by the rules of Hollywood. (...) This lucid look at the film industry is clearly evident in Edward Scissorhands. Its hero symbolises an artist who, after being adulated for his originality, suddenly finds himself despised because he is deemed uncontrollable. The film can be interpreted as a poignant fable about the solitude and heartbreak of the creator. Through this uncompromising portrait of the United States, the film also offers a reflection on incommunicability and intolerance. Faced with the unknown, in this case a strange, eccentric person, society reacts violently. (...) In an ironic and searing way, Tim Burton shows the other side of an apparently hospitable world that in fact conceals the worst of its failings. His approach is all the more relevant in that it reverses the situation: the monstrosity is not where we expect it to be. The disturbing Edward turns out to be a charming, totally harmless being, while the affable housewives are transformed into fearsome witches. When the film was released some people saw it as a parable about Aids, recognising in these forms of exclusion the humiliations suffered daily by the victims of the disease. Tim Burton does not reject this interpretation but prefers to leave it up to the viewer to find any metaphor they wish. He does, however, acknowledge that many patients were shown the film in American hospitals. In truth, any minority, any outsider, even anyone slightly out of step with social norms, can identify with the character of Edward. Tim Burton also admits that he feels a little like Edward himself: ‘I’m very introverted, a bit like Edward. I can't fit in either. At parties, I feel uncomfortable, like a stranger. Edward is also a bit like each and every one of us’. (Danièle Parra)�