Many of director Tim Burton’s films are true gothic masterpieces for me. Just think of The Mystery of Sleepy Hollow (1999), The Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd (2007), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Dark Shadows (2012) or Frankeweenie (2012). Whether it’s an animated film or a feature film with real actors, there are many characters he has managed to give life to and who have entered the history of cinema.
The extravagant – and somewhat disturbing – Edward, star of “ Edward Scissorhands“(1990), is certainly one of the most famous. I believe that anyone, even if they have not seen the film, can easily recognize its icon. Yes, because some of the creatures sprung from Tim Burton’s imagination have become true symbols of cinema, just like Edward, a “special” being as he is equipped with scissors instead of hands.
Edward (played by Johnny Depp) was created by a scientist who, like a modern-day Doctor Frankenstein, gave birth to the young boy, but did not complete him as he died prematurely.
Edward has always lived alone and isolated in the hilltop castle of an anonymous American town, until he is found by Peggy Boogs (Dianne Wiest in the film), who decides to take him to her house and educate him in social conventions.
For Edward, life in the community is initially very difficult: he has to get used to wearing clothes, he has to learn to behave correctly at the table or when there are guests, he has to be careful not to hurt anyone with his sharp blades and, above all, he has to juggle among the multitude of petulant and curious ladies who alternate around him, attracted by his physical peculiarity.
Thanks to the loving care of Peggy and her family, Edward seems to finally find his own way to personal fulfillment, becoming first a plant pruner and then a hairdresser.
It seems that the boy has finally found a certain balance and is now completely accepted by the inhabitants of the community, but a series of events will reverse the situation, revealing the feelings full of prejudice that animate people.
At first Edward is accused by a woman of having been raped, despite the fact that she was the one who tried to seduce him; then he is accused of theft, but in reality he has been deceived by the boyfriend of Kim (Winona Ryder), daughter of Peggy and of whom Edward is secretly in love; Finally, he is accused of injuring Kevin, Peggy’s youngest son, when in reality he was preventing a car from hitting him.
The admiration and fascination nurtured for Edward soon turns into fear and the people, who are now distorting his every action, fear him. Thus begins a “manhunt” to capture Edward, who in the meantime manages to escape, thanks to the help of Kim, and take refuge in his castle. Believing him dead, people return to the city to return to life as usual.
The only one to know that Edward is still alive and well will only be Kim, well aware of the fact that when in winter the town is covered with snowflakes, and thanks to the work of the boy who makes ice sculptures from the top of the his castle.
The whole story is told by Kim herself who, now elderly, tells her granddaughter about Edward, as if it were a fairy tale.
Kim’s niece will later become the protagonist, together with Edward, of the comic series entitled Edward Scissorhands (2014) published in America, written by Kate Leth and drawn by Drew Rausch.
The boy with the scissorhands returns in the form of a comic to give life to a new story: many years have passed and Edward discovers that in the castle there is another being similar to him, also incomplete. It is a child without eyes, with claws for hands.
Edward decides to awaken him, unaware that he is an evil creature. This being will flee from the castle, in the direction of the town, with clear murderous intentions. Thus began for Edward the hunt for the child and this will lead him to return to the community that once had hosted him and to meet Kim’s niece.
Whether it’s the film or the comic, now Edward Scissorhands has undoubtedly become a symbol of “diversity” misunderstood and feared by foolish people, who are simply afraid of what he does not know. This is a theme that is more current than ever.
