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Adam Stinnett

Harris

AP Lang and Comp Pd. 2

04 February 2021

Rejecting what is Different

Edward Scissorhands, a film directed by Tim Burton, uses lighting strategies in order to

show that society rejects what is different in order to feel safe. This behavior hinders any positive

change from happening, thus humanity must be more accepting than simply turning away

anything which is different without reason.

Tim Burton creates the message he wants to share through his deliberate use of lighting

strategies to characterize people and set the tone. The characterization of Peg in particular is

important to consider, as she is the first person to see this “creature” who is so different from the

norm. As Peg enters the castle on the hill she goes upstairs in search of customers for her skin

and beauty products. She reaches the top of the staircase and enters the top floor. After hearing a

slight snipping noise, Peg looks over into a corner and sees a metal object glint in the light, but

she struggles to see anything else in that direction. The next shot shows Peg looking behind her

shoulder where she saw the glinting object and she is almost completely lit up, since her side of

the roof is broken, letting in a lot of sun. Once again, it shows the corner, which Edward now

stands up from and sort of shuffles to the side, looking like a complete silhouette of his figure

due to lack of lighting where he stands. As he walks closer towards Peg, slight facial features

begin to become recognizable and he finally emerges into direct sunlight, revealing his

appearance, which is quite different from that of the people in Peg’s neighborhood. All of the

metal on Edward’s clothing shines and then Edward reaches out his hands towards Peg, giving a
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close up shot of the scissors, which have light shining all over them, just like the clothes.

(Burton 00:13:30-00:14:30). This scene introduces the viewer to Edward, but more importantly

shows how people react to him, and the lighting used emphasizes that. Peg is in a completely

new environment which looks quite scary and the darkness adds to the mysterious tone

surrounding it. She was scared of the noise at first since the lighting did not show what made the

sound, so Peg was afraid of the unknown. Since light is generally considered good in comparison

to darkness, when Edward is in the light he is now perceived as less scary. The unnatural part of

Edward is his hands, and that difference in features between Edward and Peg is amplified by the

sunlight continually shining on the blades, thus making them seem more threatening. This

lighting contributes to the theme directly as it shows how Peg immediately noticed the

differences between herself and Edward, just as people do in the real world. However, Peg

quickly grew out of her fear and comforted Edward, showing how she values relations and does

not let differences get in the way of her and others as much as it does with most people.

Although Peg quickly became understanding of Edward and acted kindly towards him, that was

not the case for the majority of the neighborhood when Edward was tricked into entering Jim’s

house and accidentally sets off the alarm. The police arrive and Edward is told to exit the

building, which he does so by walking out very cautiously. As he walks out, the bright light of

the police car’s headlights flash the camera and obstructs part of the view. It also shows a scene

where the cops are illuminated completely in the red light of their sirens (1:04:50-1:06:20). The

fact that part of the viewer’s view is obstructed gives a perspective of Edward where it is very

scary and confusing, since everything seems to be happening all at once. The lighting helps to

make the tone feel very chaotic Since the viewer cannot fully see what is happening, we feel

scared for Edward and what the police officers may do to him. This helps to contribute to the
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theme since the police officers were scared of what they could not see. All they saw was that his

hands glimmered in the light, which made them assume he had knives. They were so scared of

him that they threatened to shoot him. People are very quick to judge without knowing the full

situation, as we can see after Edward saves Kevin, Peg’s son, from the speeding car. As Kevin

walks back from a friend’s house, he sees the destruction Edward has caused in his fit of rage,

such as the broken bushes. Jim’s van is moving around the neighborhood in a chaotic manner

since the driver is intoxicated. As Kevin begins crossing the street, Edward sees the van just

about to hit him. Edward jumps to save Kevin and ends up scratching him multiple times in an

attempt to calm Kevin down. Virtually the whole neighborhood comes to watch and Edward

looks up in disbelief at everyone with only half of his face illuminated (1:28:37-1:29:30). This

scene takes place at night but well placed streetlights help to highlight Edward’s inner conflict.

This contributes to the theme because it shows how other people’s views can affect how one

views themself. For example, Edward knows he was helping but the negative ideas of others

towards him affect his own self-image. In conclusion, the way that Tim Burton uses lighting is

used purposefully to help characterize people in the film and generate a tone which helps reveal

the theme of how people’s perception of others different than them is often times solely based

upon their differences.

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Work Cited

Edward Scissorhands. Directed by Tim Burton, Twentieth Century Fox, 1990.