A monster is described as, “A cruel, wicked, and inhumane person”. In all actuality the creatures that are considered monsters are not seen as people to begin with. Monsters are something that are created through emotional distress and not necessarily through their appearance. All creatures are initially seen as pure and innocent until someone gives them a reason to be otherwise. In the film Edward Scissorhands the plot focuses on the same material as in Frankenstein with a slight twist. Edward Scissorhands shows through outside stimuli how a creature can easily become a good entity or an evil one depending on the treatment they receive and their response towards it.
The scene that is the most prominent in the film is the creation of Edward in the laboratory. The inventor creates Edward with noble intentions in order to have a companion, and therefore he treated his creation as something to be treasured. The key idea behind the scene is that if you love and nurture someone they will learn that behavior and exhibit that towards others. By creating the initial sense of acceptance, the “creature” in Edward Scissorhands he was able to mesh and function within society. Edward felt love and therefore he differed from the creature in his emotional stability.
The scenery and how the environment is introduced in the film provide an insight to how humans want to be perceived. The houses are practically identical, it is always bright and sunny, and the men are always on the same schedule for work. This cookie cutter atmosphere allows a viewer too see that people want to be perfect and by looking a certain way, they believe they must be. Edward is wearing a complete black outfit which contrasts the pastel pallet of the town and everyone in it. By making him look so different from everyone it allows for the lesser characters in the film to always have a slight fear of him, and this allows them to turn on him at the blink of an eye. Through imagery, a perfect town is presented only to be shown as flawed once Edward had arrived and the film comes to an end.
People and creatures alike are in no way perfect, and thus it seems as though all should be equal and no one better than another. In fact, this is not the case and some tend to think of themselves more highly than someone who looks different from them. In Frankenstein it was an immediate negative reaction towards the creature, but in Edward Scissorhands he was not immediately judged. The demeanors of the creature were both initially innocent, but only Edward maintained his innocence throughout the entirety of the film. This shows how the creatures are treated differently depending on the society, but in the end people always jump to judging and blaming. In the end of the film, Edward is blamed for violence when he was in fact the one being harassed and used. The people immediately turn on him even though he has been nothing but innocent the entire time. They form a mob that goes up to the castle to either arrest him or ensure his death. In Frankenstein Victor hunts the creature down in order to kill him and relieve society from the creature. The fact that society comes together to wipe out all of those who are different and appear to be a threat at the slightest mishap shows the turmoil and mistreatment the creatures must endure. People are the ones that are actually the monsters due to their quickness to judge and place blame on those who are different from themselves.
The film shows many different influences from Frankenstein, but the one thing that remains the same in both movies is the message that people are in fact the true monster. The scenery and actions of the people are tools that helped create the same sense of the creature being out of place in the world. Edward Scissorhands is a prime example of how the message of Frankenstein is used to show how creatures that look different than us will ultimately be criticized based on their appearance.Humans are imperfect just as creatures are, and this film shows the direct correlation to Frankenstein due to the way the film was presented to show the downfall of an innocent creature.
