Individuality Film Analysis

1105 Words3 Pages

The Beauty of Individuality Individuality can be an admired gift, but it is often buried under society’s illogically perfect expectations. The famous film director, Tim Burton, renowned for directing hauntingly innocent movies such as Edward Scissorhands and Alice in Wonderland, affirms this in several thrilling adventures. He shows that uniqueness is not a liability, but an asset, even if it means being an outsider or a misfit. Two of his films, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Edward Scissorhands, showcase the message: identity is preferable to conformity. An outcast is an ideal example of having an identity. Even if they try, they are never truly adapted into society. Sometimes it can be because of an awkward nature or because …show more content…

They often have extraordinary qualities that set them apart, make them better people. For example, in Edward Scissorhands, the protagonist, Edward’s actions and appearances feel offbeat from the neighbors’. He seldom smiles, instead wearing a timid, depressed look on his face. Most of the neighbors always have a phony smile on their faces, but it is a mask, a fake display. The neighborhood women always put on a performance. However, on the occasions that Edward does smile, it is a genuine, pure emotion that kindles on his face even if it is tiny. Edward is innocent and naïve, but more importantly, truthful, loyal, and kind, contradictory to the townspeople’s behavior. This is shown when Edward is deceived into unlocking a door involved in a robbery. The other teenagers in charge of the crime scatter once an alarm sounds, leaving Edward cornered in the room because he cannot unlatch the door with his makeshift hands. Kim, who was also reluctantly involved, asked him later why he did not tell the police about the rest of the teenagers. He tells her that he understood what was happening, but he did it for her anyways. The dialogue proves one example of Edward’s loyalty. He trusted her so much that he was willing to stay simply …show more content…

Typically, in each of Burton’s films, there is a dark, eerie setting, and a bright, vivid setting. The example of vivid versus eerie settings is showcased in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. In Miss Peregrine’s time-loop, everything is bright and full of life. There are vibrant flowers, bushes, trees, and creatures, with brilliant sunlight, giving every detail a special quality. The high-key lighting gives off a warm, nostalgic mood, and it also supports the positive connotation we get with the peculiars. The mansion and the time-loop are both vibrant and so are the individuals living inside. In contrast, the tavern/hotel and the rest of the island in Whales is downcast and gloomy. Ordinarily, it is partly cloudy, and when it is not, the sun hinders the setting just as much as the clouds do. Most of the buildings are built in the same way with the same architecture and the same gloomy overcasting light. Accordingly, this low-key lighting has a negative connotation and so do the characters in the setting. This along with the contrast of the bright setting supports the message of individuality versus conformity. Another one of Tim Burton’s films that uses contrasting settings to prove his message is Edward Scissorhands, only this movie twists it around. What Burton does is he switches the vivid and gloomy settings around, creating

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