Levi Strauss Theory

Edward Scissorhands

Levi-Strauss Theory states that "To understand the good, the audience has to understand the evil - to understand black we have to understand white." In doing this we achieve a deeper understanding of the film and its characters connotations. The film Edward Scissorhands contains lots of binary opposites. The main binary opposite is between Edward and the rest of the village. He lives alone and is not part of the village community. His appearance is completely different to that of the villagers and his overall behaviour is different - he is very introverted and stays at home whereas the rest of the village are outgoing and extroverted.

There is a huge binary opposite present between two main characters: Edward and Jim. Edward has long, dark hair, scratches all over his face, dark, leather clothes and of course scissors for hands. Whereas, Jim has short, fair hair, casual clothes and overall looks like an average human being. However, one thing they have in common is that they are both in love with Kim. This consequently causes conflict between the two characters and separates them apart even more.
Because Edward is dressed in black and has an overall scary and different appearance, he is stereotypically assumed to be the antagonist from the start. However, as the film progresses the audience align themselves with Edward and realise that he is not evil after all. His quiet and shy attitude connotes to the audience that he is not there to harm anyone.
The same theory can be applied to Jim. From the start we assume he is a good guy. He is liked by the village and he is Kim's boyfriend. Because we know Kim as a protagonist we therefore assume Jim is as well. However, we find out as the film goes on that Jim is not such a good guy after all. The contrast between the two characters is shown in binary oppositions more so than the connotations of their appearances.

There are also binary opposites between Esmeralda and the rest of the village. Esmeralda, like Edward, isolates herself away from the village community. She too also wears dark colours and has an overall different appearance to the rest of the village- who are dressed in brightly coloured clothing. The Avon lady, Pam, even walks passed Esmeralda's house so as not to talk to her.

There are further binary opposites between the location of Edwards house and the rest of the village. Edwards house is dark, eery, isolated and full of highly decorated shrubbery. Compared to the rest of the village who have brightly coloured house that look almost identical with clean cut gardens and matching cars. The warm, bright colours of this community differ so much to those of Edwards home. However, at the end of the film it is the dark, abandoned house that comforts Edward the most, and those who live in the brightly coloured houses to pose a threat to him. The contrast between these two setting aid to the audiences understanding of how what appear to be good and evil at first glance, is not always the case.