Edward Scissorhands: A Monster or An Unlikely Angel?

I would hug him
everyday if I could...

When I watch a movie - whether it’s in the theater, in my basement, or on my laptop -  I desire to feel as though an impact was made on my life’s perspective after the picture’s conclusion. I want to learn an idea, an argument, a paradigm, or a philosophy that I never knew before - I want my mind, not only to be blown, but to have more neuro-pathways than it did about two hours before - (that’s the average movie time, right..?) Regardless, in my way of looking at the wonderful world of motion pictures, decent entertainment always offers something new. That’s why, and this may sound a little random, pornography is not art - sure, we’ve all seen it, and we know what it is - but it’s not entertainment because it is the same image over and over again - and that’s also the reason why I don’t believe that Andy Warhol is a credible artist. Just because someone creates a visual, that may capture our interest for a moment, it is not worthy of respect if it doesn’t truly effect or promote our intellectual growth.

I’m straying from my purpose for this post, which is to discuss a piece of entertainment that embodies every aspect of my definition of true artwork: Edward Scissorhands. 

Admit it, we all know someone who is a little different or helplessly weird. (For example, if you know me, then you can plead guilty to the latter statement...) Anyway, I remember when I first viewed Edward Scissorhands. I can’t recall my specific age, but I was incredibly young. You see, I’ve always known I that I’m different. Boys would tease me in pre-school because I was always in the advanced spelling classes (hard to believe, I know..) and, especially, for my big poofy hair. (Seriously, my hair was awful. My mother would make me cut it right below my ears. With hair as thick as mine, you can imagine how disastrous that looked...) And don’t worry, I wasn’t traumatized by those who would attempt to bully me, because I would always swing it back at them- I wasn’t afraid to defend myself. In regard to the character of Edward Scissorhands, however, I saw a person who was just as weird as me, but did not know how to stick up for himself the way I did. 

Edward soon cemented a permanent place in my heart. Not only for his heart wrenching vulnerability, but for all of the weird kids, underdogs, and outcasts that he represents. The movie really helped me cultivate a better idea of people - and I wanted to be Kim Boggs just so I could give Edward a big hug and tell him everything will be okay. 

Edward Scissorhands is a classic work, promoting the notion that we shouldn’t care what anybody thinks when we befriend people, weird or normal, that we may have spiritual connections with. The film really helped me see that we are all spirits living on this earth together, not solely for ourselves, but for one another, and it’s such a pity that some refuse to embrace such an awareness. Bullies, tormentors, or prejudicial spirits sadden me terribly, because they will never know true beauty if it hit them in the face. Now that is a true tragedy.