This past week, I viewed Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands. Besides the fact that the main character possessed scissors for hands, the film also had many strange aspects. The many bright colors, which would not normally be bright, made the town seem even stranger than it was. The town was so stereotypical, that all the men even left for work at the same time, while the women remained as a housewife. One of the main characters, Peg, actually goes out and has a job. Although she simply makes house calls for Avon, she still is outside the norm because she has a job.
In addition to having a job, Peg also dares to remove herself from the gossiping, and also goes outside her limits to visit the mansion on the hill. The other housewives work around the house, make food, gossip, and plan parties. Peg seems to be the only bright spot in the wolf pack (housewife group) as many of the others display an opinionated, and two-faced personality.
This may be the old way of American suburban life, but i do not think that this was the way when this film was made. The housewife life existed primarily in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, with many women becoming progressive around the time of this movie. Why would Burton make the town act like this? In my opinion, introducing an awkward character like Edward to a normal society would be less entertaining. Without wives home to see the activities of Edward, many scenes, including the barber shop scene, could not happen. Tim Burton intentionally made the neighborhood stereotypical to make the story better for the audience.
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