A deconstruction of the movie 'Edward Sissorhands' showing the devices used to construct the discourse of being different.

Essay by JonnomasonHigh School, 11th grade November 2006

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Everything changed the day the Avon Lady came calling

Edward lived alone where he could hurt no one, and no one could hurt him. Until the day, the Avon lady came calling. Jonathon Mason takes another look at Tim Burton's masterpiece Edward Scissorhands.

Released in 1990, "Edward Scissorhands" is a gothic fairy tale set in modern suburbia that tells the story of a mysterious invention, Edward. Before Edward was completed, his inventor died before finishing him, leaving him with scissors where he should have hands. Brought down from his mansion by Pegg Boggs, the local Avon lady, Edward struggles to adjust and be like everyone else. Suburbia turns against him, seeing him as different and eccentric, with the only person understanding him being Peg's high school daughter, Kim. A younger Johnny Depp plays Edward marvellously, using less that 100 lines of dialogue, constructing Edward through facial features alone.

Edwards differences to the other in the community are blatantly noticeable when he tries to adapt to a life in suburbia. The theme of social conformity is a theme that occurs regularly throughout film and ligature. The values and beliefs portrayed in Edward Scissorhands are very similar to that of the book, " The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night time", by Mark Haddon. This book is a poignant anecdote of Christopher, a young autistic boy struggling with his perception of the world. Autism is a growing problem throughout the population with 7 out of 10 autistic children being male.

A variety of discourses have been represented in "Edward Scissorhands". The dominant discourses include social conformity, mob psychology, disability and family. Tim Burton focus's the viewers on one of most important discourses, social conformity. Edwards struggle after being taken into the harsh realities of the...