Traditions With Scissors

As the year comes to a close (thank Cthulhu!) I look forward to an annual tradition. No, I am not referring to Christmas, not directly anyway. Not being Christian and not having money means that I usually don't worry about buying gifts for people. In turn, I don't receive much. I would if I could but I haven't the foresight for planning of that magnitude. The one gift I give is to myself in the form of Edward Scissorhands. While everyone else is neck high in yule and the veneration of their Lord, I on the other hand indulge in my favorite movie of all time.

Frankenstein in the suburbs.

Facts
1. Edward Scissorhands is the greatest movie of all time.
2. It has the best soundtrack ever, composed by none other than the genius Danny Elfman.
3. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp benefitted greatly from it. This was the start of their many great, and not so great, collaborations.

I can still recall seeing this movie at the theater in December of 1990. Even though I was too young to fully understand it, I was able to sense the emotions and the major themes of the movie, that of isolation and self-discovery. As my family left the theater, I was full of questions. Thankfully they were patient with me as I tried to understand what I had seen and answered my questions as well as they could. The movie impacted me so greatly that is has stayed with me after nineteen years.

"I've been watched more than this many!"

Before I owned a copy of the film I had to resort to waiting for it to be shown on television. For many years it was shown during the holiday season on various movie channels. Sadly, this is not so these days. I had to suffer a few years without it until I finally purchased it on VHS, and later on DVD. In fact, after finding out when it would be released on DVD, I bought it the day it hit stores. Ever since then I have watched it during the month of December.

Many are the times that I watched with eyes full of wonder as the beautiful gothic imagery unfurled on screen. No matter who I am with or where I am, I always laugh at the funny parts, sit on edge during the intense scenes, and somehow manage to get something in my eye during the sad moments. I've watched Edward Scissorhands in bed, on a couch, at a desk, and even in my truck on a portable DVD player. I will continue this habit for as long as I draw breath.

Snow I would actually like.

It is kind of strange now that I am older than the main characters in the story. When I was younger, their story was a fairy tale that I may someday be fortunate enough to fall into, one of true love and happiness. Now older, I see it as a bittersweet tale of an ideal that I never found, and never will. Where before I could identify with and look up to the main teenage characters, now I view them in the same way that the adult characters do. Like them, I see Edward and Kim as pure innocence personified; unfettered by the darkness of our cruel world their love should bloom eternal, but nothing so wholesome can be sustained here. Like the adults in the story, I have to live through the youth vicariously, until their souls are crushed by the harsh realities of a planet that can't rotate without conformity and submission. This is a testament to the greatness of the movie. It is an ageless classic, spanning time and point of reference, and touches the hearts of fans of great cinema.

There are only so many Decembers, and after I have lived my final one I still wouldn't have seen the film enough times. You can be sure that I will tumble into the world of Edward Scissorhands before this December is done.

Love,
Smiley Grimm