Edward Scissorhands

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I watched most of Edward Scissorhands yesterday, and finished the rest this morning. I have to tell you, it absolutely blew my mind. It's about a humanoid creature created by a mad scientist, who literally has scissors for hands (the titular Edward), is "adopted" by a suburban family, and manages to turn everyone's lives around for better and (unintentionally) for worse. The film is directed by Tim Burton and many consider it to be his most personal work. Johnny Depp plays Edward, and does a spectacular job of bringing the character to life.

On the entry for Edward Scissorhands at Tv Tropes, next to the trope "Epileptic Trees" (in other words, a crazy theory) there is a suggestion that the movie may be a metaphor for mental disorders. I can totally, totally see that. In fact, I plan on making a Youtube video drawing comparisons between the film and autism.

I really, really adore Edward. A large part of it is that I see so much of myself in him and his struggles. I felt more empathy for Edward than I think I've ever felt for anyone before. I also love his personality - despite his appearance, he is one of the sweetest, gentlest movie characters I have ever seen.

What are your thoughts?

I'd be very interested in watching your Youtube video when it is up!

I watched the movie a few years back and I liked it too. Watch him shred those shrubs! That's about how I work when I get past initial clumsiness for a given task. He doesn't age, mirroring a difference in sense of time. He stays where he is and everyone else gets old.

An excellent movie; one of my top 3 favorites. I watch it any time I get a chance.

Who I really loved in the movie was the mom. She may have come off to some as kind of sappy, but I think she showed a genuine warmth and acceptance of Edward and saw his differences as possibilities.

I've always loved that movie

I LOVE that movie. I'm such a Tim Burton fan.

It's a favorite of mine. I have the anniversary edition DVD and watched it this past Christmas. Probably not the best idea, since holidays tend to bring me down and this movie can be somewhat depressing for me. I think I identify too much with the character sometimes. There've been times when people seemed to accept me because of what I could do, only to drop me because I was too "different" for them.

I'm happy to see that there are quite a few other aspies who love Edward Scissorhands.

I will be sure to let all of you know when I make that Youtube video.

I'm not a fan of the film. It was a bit dull for me.

I saw bits of it a long time ago, and I hated it. Winona Ryder was great in some of the films I saw her in, and Johnny Depp did some good acting in the "Pirates Of The Carribean" movies as well as "Benny And Joon", but both of them were terrible in "Edward Scissorhands".

Hmmm... Well, I guess everyone has their own opinions. Edward Scissorhands isn't for everyone. Take my brother, for instance... He won't even give the movie a chance because he doesn't think it's possible for a man with scissor hands to be a likeable character. And yet he thinks the aliens from District 9 are really cute...

I saw it a little while before I'd heard of AS, and even then, I found myself feeling for the character like no other movie character I'd seen before. Some time after I found our about AS and learned a little about it, I saw the movie again and thought it HAD to be a metaphor for it! The taking things literally, physical contact issues, intense interests (sculpting, in this case)... So I traipsed around on the Internet a bit and found the "Tim is Edward" discussion from people who know Tim Burton, along with more than a few people who reckon Tim Burton has AS.

I now interpret the movie as an unintentional metaphor - don't forget it was made before AS was an official diagnosis, and I assume Tim Burton is undiagnosed, if he has it.