Fig 1, movie poster (1990)

This review will be focusing on the American dream in Tim burton’s: Edward Scissorhands (1990). It
will focus on the what the American dream was and how it is portrayed throughout the film; the role
of the wife and husband, and the overall conclusion of the film.
 Fig2, Edward at the BBQ

Edward Scissorhands is a gothic film about an elderly inventor (Vincent price) who creates Edward
(Johnny Depp), an animated human being, and gives him Scissor hands. Before Edward’s completion,
his creator passes away. Edward is left isolated for many years in the mansion until Peg Boggs (Diane
Wiest) decides to go to the mansion to sell her makeup. When she discovers Edward and his
solitude, she invites him to leave the mansion and to stay with her, which he accepts. Soon, he
becomes talk of the town. Once the initial excitement of his appearance dies out, he is accepted into
the community and helps out by gardening and giving haircuts, using his sharp scissors to his
advantage. Eventually, after peacefully aiding the town, he is tricked into ‘stealing’ from Jim’s
(Anthony Michael Hall) house, where he is blamed and outcasted. He is chased back to the mansion
where Peg’s daughter, Kim, (Winona Ryder) convinces the town that Edward is dead, leaving him in
peace.

Fig 4, old 50’s advert showing the women’s role in the house
The American Dream is the popular ideal that each American citizen has the rights to pursue
happiness, success, wellbeing in their own individual life while simultaneously contributing positively
to society. The American Dream initially began after the civil war when the American established
their own government and created a constitution. At first, the rights were only reserved for white
men, but was later given to women, slaves and non-property owners.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.” (Amadeo, k.2018)

The modern-day American dream we know today started in 1920. The Dream shifted to being more
focused on materialistic things like cars and wealth, rather than the rights of the individual, this is
evident with the increase of the desire for a, ‘White Picket Fence,’ life after World War Two.
Manuals were also released to show what a perfect, American Dream style house should look to
know you’ve succeeded. Many of these were, ‘The good wife’s guide,’ which had information on
what a housewife’s job was for the day.

Fig4, adverts from 1950 for garage doors

The American dream in Edward Scissorhands is symbolised in many ways throughout the film, such
as the set, the characters, and their attitudes. The design of the set focuses on the American Dream
manuals and the portrayal of the ‘perfect’ home. This is shown by every garage door having a
pattern on it and the houses having a pastel theme which gives a positive and uniformed feel to the
street. This gives an, “sunny, idealized representation of suburbia.” (Chernov, 2015) which was a
main focus in post-war America.

The set was designed by Bo Welch, who said the design team wanted a, “kind of generic, plain-wrap
suburb, which they then made even more characterless by painting all the houses in faded pastels
and reducing the window sizes to make it look a little more paranoid.” (Smith and Matthews). They
wanted to achieve a uniformed suburbia where everyone wanted the same American dream, while
trying to keep the 60’s aesthetic. Overall, this is Edward’s downfall in the film as he is the outcast
and does not fit in with the conforming society which inevitably led him to being driven out.

In conclusion, the American dream has a big role to play in the film with the overall story and the
outcome as the ideals of the time period stopped Edward from achieving his American dream.
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https://www.google.co.uk/search?safe=active&biw=805&bih=924&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=KoL
gW7urK4WYgAbom5eQDg&q=1950s+house+garage&oq=1950s+house+garage&gs_l=img.3..
.12878.18897.0.19762.22.17.5.0.0.0.72.865.17.17.0....0...1c.1.64.img..0.8.354...0j35i39k1j0i
67k1j0i10k1.0.h9AOzAe_Rws#imgrc=RWDy_tSCUR0zAM: (fig5)