This blog post examines “Edward Scissorhands,” which opens with a conversation between grandmother and granddaughter, from the perspective of origin myths. It analyzes how the natural phenomenon of snow is imbued with meanings of love and memory.
Introduction
“Edward Scissorhands” is a truly rich film. It contains so many layers. Contrary to the impression we often recall, “Edward Scissorhands” is by no means a work that can be reduced to ‘just’ a fairy-tale-like love story. Even if we consider it solely by genre, at least three distinct elements are complexly intertwined within this film. Furthermore, if we examine its thematic consciousness as well, we discover far more layers than that. Yet, despite this, the film is not at all scattered or fragmented. “Edward Scissorhands” fully embraces multiple genres and numerous thematic concerns as a single, complete work.
In analyzing this film, I do not wish to disrupt the harmony inherent in “Edward Scissorhands.” It may seem like an excessive ambition, but I want to uncover as much as possible from “Edward Scissorhands” while simultaneously striving to maintain the balance and harmony formed between these elements to the very end.
To achieve this, I first aim to situate the film “Edward Scissorhands” within the context of the ‘origin myth’—a narrative type that has persisted since the dawn of human history. Through this approach, we can more clearly discern the film’s overarching narrative framework and structural meaning, elements that are all too easily overlooked.
Next, I will reexamine the character of Edward Scissorhands as a transformed form of ‘hero’. Scrutinizing this character—more peculiar and alien than any other film protagonist—is inevitably a pivotal point in analyzing Edward Scissorhands. In this process, I borrow the structure of the ‘hero’s journey’ as insightfully outlined by Joseph Campbell to more clearly reveal Edward’s character and position.
Finally, I will examine the film’s overarching genre as a fantasy melodrama. We clearly remember this film as a love story—a sad and beautiful one at that. This memory actually corresponds to a very accurate genre understanding of “Edward Scissorhands.” Nevertheless, this analysis is placed last because the film’s identity as a fantasy melodrama only becomes truly clear once the two preceding analyses have been conducted.
Throughout these three analytical processes, we will also uncover and weave together the intricate details scattered throughout the film. Perhaps these very details are what most effectively reveal the true essence of “Edward Scissorhands.”
“Edward Scissorhands” as an Origin Myth
Origin myths are never difficult or unfamiliar. In households with young children, countless origin myths are still naturally created today. Of course, this phenomenon becomes more frequent the further back in time we go, or the more we venture into primitive communities often labeled ‘uncivilized’. However, given the specific condition—namely, the presence of a young child—origin stories can be easily found even in modern urban spaces.
The typical situation in which an origin story arises is generally this: A child asks their father a question. “Why do frogs croak when it rains?” At this point, the father does not offer a scientific explanation about humidity or atmospheric pressure. Instead, he tells a story. He might begin, “Once upon a time, there was a green frog who lived with his widowed mother.” The story thus begun is passed from mouth to mouth, becoming the ‘Green Frog Story’ we know today.
Thus, origin myths are a way of answering questions about the origins of things through stories. The questions posed here don’t seek scientific causality but rather inquire into the ‘meaning’ inherent in the thing itself. And as a response, origin myths also produce not objective knowledge but the ‘meaning’ of the thing.
Now, recall how the film “Edward Scissorhands” begins and how it ends. An extremely frail grandmother sits beside her granddaughter’s bed, trying to put her to sleep. Snow falls outside the window. Reluctant to go to bed, the granddaughter keeps talking to her grandmother, asking questions. Then, suddenly, she asks: “Grandma, why is it snowing?” And to answer that question, the grandmother begins a story. That story is the tale of Edward Scissorhands.
We often dismiss such setups as mere devices for introducing a story. It’s easy to dismiss it as just a frame structure to bring out the story of Edward Scissorhands. But in truth, it’s no exaggeration to say the core of the film “Edward Scissorhands” lies precisely in this dialogue between the grandmother and granddaughter. Had this conversation not existed, “Edward Scissorhands” would never have attained its present beauty. If you doubt this, imagine for a moment: what kind of film would it be if the grandmother’s story were removed, leaving only a chronicle of Edward Scissorhands’ life? It would likely have remained a truly insignificant story.
Since the modern era, humans have been obsessed with eliminating all the mysteries that once surrounded them. As a result, modern society finds itself in a state where ‘belief has been thoroughly cleaned out’. Whether it’s the emotion of love or tangible substances like rocks or rain, modern people perceive everything as something to be analyzed and understood. They understand the world as a collection of objective entities existing independently of us. Perhaps this is precisely one root cause of the fundamental loneliness felt by modern people. And it is at this very point that origin myths play a crucial role.
In response to her granddaughter’s question about the origin of snow, the grandmother connects the snow falling from the sky with the lives of humans living on the earth by telling a sad love story. Through this act of meaning-making, she teaches that objects and humans never exist in isolation from one another. She opens a layer of emotion for her granddaughter that could never be reached by strict rational inquiry into facts. In other words, she gifts her a richer world. Ultimately, the film Edward Scissorhands culminates as a work that tells us snow falling from the sky is not merely ice crystals.
The Transformed ‘Hero’, Edward Scissorhands
Joseph Campbell devoted his life to exploring the common structures of myths scattered across the world, based on his deep interest in and extensive reading of mythology. One of the crystallizations of this research is The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In this book, he meticulously reveals the universal structure of the hero’s journey, a theme repeatedly addressed in myths.
According to Campbell, the hero myth generally follows a three-stage cyclical structure: Departure, Initiation, and Return. Departure is the stage where the protagonist, possessing some deficiency, leaves their existing world through a chance yet inevitable trigger. Initiation is the stage where, during the ensuing adventure, they undergo numerous trials and acquire vital values and wisdom for life. Finally, the return is the stage where the protagonist, armed with all these experiences, returns to the world they left behind.
I sought to view Edward Scissorhands within this lineage of heroic narratives, and as a result, I confirmed that its structure takes on a significantly transformed form. Viewed broadly, Edward Scissorhands also sequentially follows the procedures of separation, initiation, and return. In this respect, he shares clear commonalities with traditional heroes. However, while the form of his adventure may be similar, its content is markedly different from other heroes.
Typical heroes already live among people in their everyday lives before the adventure. When the time for the adventure arrives, they leave that familiar community. Of course, they meet various characters during the adventure, but these are merely passing figures; fundamentally, the hero endures trials in solitude. After the adventure ends, the hero returns to the people, but crucially, he returns as a completely different being. He re-establishes his relationship with the world as this changed self.
However, Edward Scissorhands stands at the exact opposite starting point. He has lived alone, separated from people, from the very beginning. Without even the chance to meet others, he spent his days in the castle, unaware even of his own loneliness. And the world he encounters, separated from the existing one, is none other than a village teeming with people. Edward Scissorhands begins his adventure amidst the crowd. And though he eventually ‘returns’ to his former castle, his solitary life now possesses a character entirely different from before.
This structure of the Edward Scissorhands-style hero’s journey is a highly exceptional case within the framework of traditional hero myths. Yet, simultaneously, it precisely captures one facet of our own lives. Personal memories like this are a perfect example: as a child, one wasn’t lonely even when alone, but only after experiencing first love did one truly know loneliness.
Now, let’s step away from the structure of the hero myth for a moment and examine the character of Edward Scissorhands himself. His hands are scissors. This setting carries far more significance than simply implying he excels at gardening or hairdressing. First, his scissor hands symbolize incompleteness and deficiency, as they were left unfinished. Simultaneously, they are a clear curse, as they prevent him from directly touching himself or the one he loves. Yet, as revealed in the film, the scissors also symbolize his innate talent.
Throughout the movie, villagers constantly offer to introduce him to doctors who can fix his hands. Edward Scissorhands responds to these offers with hope and joy. His scissor hands—both his deficiency and curse, yet simultaneously his talent and blessing—may have been the core question running through his entire adventure. The question is how he will accept and resolve this problem he has carried since birth. This film does not choose a road movie-style ending where the destination is reached. Instead, it presents an entirely different kind of conclusion. That is the act of creating eyes through scissors, and communicating with the person he loves, and ultimately with the world, through scissors.
Fantasy Melodrama, 「Edward Scissorhands」
The most crucial characteristic of the melodrama genre is its ability to transform social issues into the most personal dimension—that is, the form of a love story—and convey them. Melodrama is often defined as “a film that evokes pathos for a protagonist surrounded by forces far more powerful than themselves.” This means it elicits a strong emotional response from the audience by presenting situations where structural forces—such as society, institutions, and tradition—overwhelm the individual’s deeply personal emotions and life.
Another key characteristic is that melodrama is described as a genre driven by the ‘desire to express everything’. This refers to the inevitable excess that occurs during the process of displacement, where emotions and conflicts suppressed beneath reality surface.
Furthermore, the use of music is a core element within the melodrama genre. In conveying emotion, music plays a more decisive role than any other tool.
Viewed through this lens, the film “Edward Scissorhands” can be considered a work that fully embodies all the characteristics of traditional melodrama. First, a specific form of social oppression and coercion is clearly present in this film. Consider the town where the people live. Painted in Technicolor, this town resembles a model house, a miniature replica of actual human society. Houses of similar size, each with a small lawn, line the streets. There are ‘desperate housewives’ who spend their days on beauty treatments and socializing. Simultaneously, there are men who are astute about economic matters and commute to and from work at similar times.
This village landscape, seemingly symbolic of the American middle class, never loses its sense of reality even when combined with the fantasy genre. The life they represent is an everyday existence that gets by without any special passion or love. They spend time getting their nails done, chatting on the phone with neighbors, or gathering to gossip away the day. When the men come home, they eat or watch television. Occasionally, they host a barbecue party.
Within this village, Edward Scissorhands is merely consumed as simple gossip; genuine communication is largely blocked. The ‘pure’ affection he harbors for Kim is also inevitably crushed within this middle-class, small-town existence. The closer Edward and Kim’s love comes to purity, the more easily it fails, and the more dramatically the typicality of the villagers is critically exposed.
Another characteristic of melodrama, ‘excess,’ is also prominently displayed in Edward Scissorhands. To transform social contradictions into personal problems, the film places numerous symbols throughout its scenes. Not only the aforementioned lifestyle of the villagers, but also the clothes they wear, the furniture they use, their speech patterns, and even the conversations at their dinner tables overflow with such symbolism. Melodrama seeks to convey as much as possible through these symbols, resulting in the form of ‘excess’.
Focusing on the use of music, 「Edward Scissorhands」 demonstrates such outstanding completeness that it could easily be called a textbook example of melodrama. The film maintains a mysterious atmosphere from start to finish, actively utilizing music that delicately and effectively reveals the characters’ emotions in accordance with the sentiment of each scene.
A Parody of Fantasy Horror
While not a core element of the film, the director appears to have intended to convey another message through a parody of the fantasy horror genre. The film opens with a screen blending dark gray and blue hues, reminiscent of a typical horror movie introduction. The frantically spinning mechanical devices and grotesque forms naturally evoke “Frankenstein” for audiences familiar with the genre.
The premise of an artificial being as the protagonist further clarifies this parodic nature. Whereas “Frankenstein” explores humanity’s fear of technological advancement, “Edward Scissorhands” does not cast the artificial being as the object of terror under the same premise. Instead, the film assigns the role of antagonist to utterly ordinary people. The mechanical Edward Scissorhands is portrayed as a being possessing warm body temperature, revealing distinctly human qualities.
This film does not merely reveal social contradictions through the grammar of melodrama; it utilizes fantasy to transform the emotion of fear into disgust for everyday life. The solid structure of middle-class, petty bourgeois existence is so rigid it can even neutralize the fear of machines, and it is precisely this that makes it an even more terrifying entity.
Concluding Remarks
Thus far, we have examined “Edward Scissorhands” from four distinct perspectives. First, we confirmed the overarching meaning of the entire film as an origin myth. Next, we identified Edward’s character as a transformed hero. Subsequently, by comparing the film to the rules of the melodrama genre, we defined “Edward Scissorhands” as a fantasy melodrama. Finally, we also found within this film a parody of fantasy horror as an endearing element. This film shows how meaning and memories are created around objects, while simultaneously criticizing the petty bourgeois life of modern society that obstructs such meaning-making.
Ultimately, the story the girl heard on that winter night about the origin of snow was an intensely sad love story. It was the love story of a mechanical being, thwarted by middle-class, petty-minded people and ultimately unattainable. Yet, through his cursed hand—the scissors—he bestowed beauty upon the world. Now, one wonders how the girl, having heard this story, will view the world from here on out.
Why does it snow? For you, why does it snow?
