Today, I finally fulfilled one of my wishes ; to dress up as one of my heroes, Edward Scissorhands.

I think many of you DV users are familiar with Tim Burton's work, so you understand his dark fantasy and imagination. The first Burton film I saw was BeetleJuice, then Batman, but it wasEdward Scissorhands ,in 1991, which really lighted the fires of my imagination. 

From the begining of the film, when we meet Edward, he looks completely different to everyone else in the familiar American suburb, with its neatly trimmed lawns, white picket fences and everyone wearing the same middle-class clothes. On the other hand, Edward lives in his majestic gothic castle, alone and on the surface he seems emotionless. Clothed in black, with wild black hair, he seems frightened when he leaves the safety of his castle. Everyone in the neighbourhood is curious to know more about their new visitor, but he speaks very little and when he does, always in a very soft gentle tone of voice. He is the outsider, and he realises it.  Some people say Tim Burton created the character of Edward Scissorhands because he, too, felt so different from everyone when he was growing up ; a misunderstood person, whom everyone ignored. How many people on DV feel they are different to their classmates, or colleagues at work, or friends and family? I think, from reading DV articles, many people do feel this loneliness, but DV unites those people, which is beautiful  =]

Continuing with Edward, I really felt sorry that he was not able to be accepted by people in his community. His magic was in the way he used his hands ; styling bushes, hedges, dog hair and human hair. He is the perfect hairdresser in my opinion. Why? Well, don't think about the crazy haircuts he gave the women in the film. They asked for something different, so he gave them what they wanted. He listened. He was very careful. He only wanted to make people happy. This is what a perfect hairdresser must do, and I believe if Edward Scissorhands was a real man, and had his own salon, he would not destroy long hair. He is still my inspiration in my own work as an amateur hairdresser. 

As well as being a story about a person who was different, Edward's story has some old-fashioned ingredients found in classic Hollywood romance films from the 1930s-1960s.  He loved a girl, but he could not have her. The best lines in the film are :

"Kim :Hold me ............Edward: I can't"

"Edward: Goodbye.....Kim: I love you"

There was no happy-ever-after ending, typical of most popular films. It was a bittersweet love, but very powerful and something most people in the world can relate to.  I watched Edward Scissorhands when I was 13, and almost 20 yrs later, I still remember it so well.  The lesson in this dark fairytale is do not judge a book by its cover, i.e. if you see someone walking on the street who looks different, for example in gothic clothes, or metal fashion, it does not mean that person is worse, or better than "normal" people [whatever that stupid word means] It takes courage to be different. All of you who have a different style, I salute you! 

Let me leave you with my favourite Halloween song, taken from another Burton classic:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOtEdhKOMgQ

This is Halloween! Everyone scream! :-))