Sorry Halloween, but Christmas has dibs on “Edward Scissorhands.” The debate for what constitutes a Christmas movie has been going on for years with movies like “Die Hard” and “Iron Man 3,” but there’s one film that usually gets left out of the conversation: “Edward Scissorhands.”
As far as festivity goes, the Tim Burton movie isn’t exactly subtle. So, why don’t people hold it to the esteem of other dark holiday movies like “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and even “Gremlins”?
The Tim Burton movie stars Johnny Depp as Edward, who, as you might surmise, has scissors for hands. When he gets thrown into the straight-laced suburbs, things don’t exactly go well for the awkward outcast.
There’s an endless supply of Christmas movies on Disney Plus, including but not limited to the aforementioned “Die Hard” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Joining their ranks are “A Christmas Carol,” “Home Alone,” “Miracle on 34th Street” and a myriad of other fan-favorites. So, why “Edward Scissorhands”? Well, I’m a bit of a masochist, what can I say?
'Edward Scissorhands' subverts cheery expectations
I have this odd habit of kicking off holidays with a good cry sesh. I watch the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” episode “Surprise” at midnight on my birthday every year and immediately deck the halls with “Edward Scissorhands” on Christmas. You’d need a therapist’s couch and a whole lot of eggnog to unpack that particular trend, but there’s a certain beauty and even odd comfort in sadness. Star-crossed love stories like “Romeo and Juliet” wouldn’t have stood the test of time for hundreds of years if people didn’t love a good tragedy.
We’re inundated with cheery movies — Hallmark and otherwise — throughout the festive season, but the holidays are a pretty tough time for a good chunk of people. And while many people find comfort in the uplifting genre staples that follow the exact same formula, misery loves company. That’s where unexpected holiday movies like “Edward Scissorhands” come into play.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love a good Hallmark Christmas movie, and even find myself binging them on the off-season. But nothing can hold a candle to whimsy and haunting motifs in “Edward Scissorhands.”
It’s a cookie-cutter world and Edward is just living in it
The majority of Christmas movies tend to be surface-level, but “Edward Scissorhands” is a brilliant satire from start to finish. In fact, it critiques the very foundation that most Christmas movies are built on. The Hallmark staple is small-town charm, while the seemingly pastel paradise (read: suburban nightmare) in “Edward Scissorhands” challenges the alleged wholesomeness of everyone knowing everyone’s business.
As someone who went to a high school and college with a few hundred students apiece, I can attest that the negatives of small-town life usually outweigh the positive. “Edward Scissorhands” gets that. Hypocrisy is the name of the game. Between neighbors fascinated with the shiny new thing until they brutally turn on him and the vulture-like gossip in the cookie-cutter town, an antisocial guy with scissors for hands is bound to never fit in. It’s not all flannel, hot chocolate cafes, and saving the local ice skating rink in Edward’s world.
The movie even criticizes religious hypocrisy as the characters warp ideology to further their agenda of ostracizing anyone who didn’t get baked in the town’s bland mold. Hell, Kim’s high school is quite literally called Bland High.
The cast iconically brings the bland town to life
It takes an impressive amount of skill to make a satire like “Edward Scissorhands” work. Despite being one of Johnny Depp’s earliest roles, his performance of such a layered character is captivating. Part of what makes the move work is Edward’s combination of childlike innocence, soft empathy, occasional rage, and his “otherness.” Without Depp, it wouldn’t work — especially given that A-list stars like Tom Cruise were frontrunners. It’s highly unlikely that the movie would have the same feel had more commercialized actors led the film.
Meanwhile, Winona Ryder came fresh off the heels of “Beetlejuice” and “Heathers.” She was still relatively new to the Hollywood scene, but “Edward Scissorhands” marked a different kind of role for the budding actress: the girl next door. Up to this point, her roles tended to be of the outcast variety like Edward. But Kim is a mildly demure run-of-the-mill teen who breaks free from the toxicity of her stifling town to fall for the misunderstood mystery guy. Ryder added a level of soft wistfulness to the character, and without that component, the love story wouldn’t be nearly as tragic or compelling.
Of course, Dianne Wiest is phenomenal in her role as the Stepford-like mom that we all wished we could have. Like Ryder, there’s a soft comapssion to her performance as Peg Boggs stands out against her toxic neighbors. We can’t forget Anthony Michael Hall’s stint as Mr. Boggs, either.
A haunting holiday-ready melody
Danny Elfman has helmed some of Hollywood’s greatest scores. Between horror staples like “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Beetlejuice,” and “Corpse Bride” to film classics like “Good Will Hunting,” “Men in Black,” and even “Wednesday.” Call me biased, but out of the composer’s nearly 150 scores, “Edward Scissorhands” hits the hardest.
I have a pavlovian-like crying response to “Ice Dance.” The soft, haunting tone of the song still manages to emanate wonder and joy, which isn’t an easy feat to pull off. It’s impossible to hear the ballad and not see a young Ryder dancing under Edward’s man-made snow. We don’t actually get a whole lot of romantic scenes between the starcrossed lovers, but this one moment is enough for them to clinch a “most likely to make you cry” superlative from Bland High.
There are three movie compositions that will have me in full-blown tears within 15 seconds: “Leia’s Theme” from “Star Wars,” “A Window to the Past” from the third “Harry Potter” film, and, of course, “Ice Dance” from “Edward Scissorhands.” Even as a kid, I would collect movie soundtracks (I’m pretty sure my first-ever CD was the “Titanic” soundtrack, don’t judge me). Yet the "immediately reduces me to a puddle of tears" status is a very exclusive club, and “Edward Scissorhands” is a top-three pick — and the only non-John Williams score of the bunch.
Santa’s twisted workshop
“Edward Scissorhands” kicks off with an elderly Kim explaining the origin of snow to her granddaughter. And though the bulk of the movie exists in pastel paradise (i.e. pastel hell), the overarching Christmas theme is palpable.
There’s certainly an argument that Edward’s pseudo father “The Inventor” is basically the Santa Claus of the fictional universe. Not only does he have an assembly line for cookies, but Edwards heart is literally a heart-shaped sugar cookie. Really, there’s something to be said about the cookie cutter analogy there.
With 30 minutes left in the movie, Christmas kicks off in the town despite still looking like a pastel Southern spring. Though the film’s biggest events take place around Christmas, “Edward Scissorhands” never seems to get its holiday movie dues within the genre. Between ice dances and that one townswoman’s Lady Gaga-like present hair, justice for “Edward Scissorhands” and all of its holiday glory.
