MORE TIM BURTON TALK, AS I WAIT FOR “BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE”
Back in 1989, the hype for Batman was unprecedented. If you were not there, you cannot fully understand. As the release date neared, the marketing people went crazy, putting bat symbols on everything from shampoo to shoelaces.
I kept my nose in my film magazines. I imagined that I was exploring Pinewood Studios, across the ocean. My dream-self wandered through Batman locations I only knew from photographs: the Axis Chemical Factory, the Fluggenheim Museum.
In my imagination, Tim Burton steered an impossible ship, while everyone obeyed and respected him. In the real world my schoolwork suffered, and also my pride, but I believed in Tim Burton’s Batman. Thank God it lived up to the hype.
Batman is dark, violent, and artistic, and those were once groundbreaking (and desirable) qualities for a movie based on a comic book. Thirty-five years later, Batman remains one of the coolest movies to ever put style over substance.
It’s fun to watch the two lead actors commit to their crazy characters. It’s fun to stare at the wacky, gothic sets.
The vague, disjointed plot can be forgiven.
No movie has everything.
After Batman’s insane success, Burton was free to make any movie he wanted, and the result was Edward Scissorhands.
It’s about a man whose razor-sharp fingers separate him from the world. He’s cursed: unable to touch things, hold things, or interact with his surroundings in a natural way.
Yet his scissors are his source of artistic talent, and after arriving in suburbia, he lines the streets with topiaries while giving the housewives weird, whimsical hairstyles.
Tragically, his neighbors are building him up just to tear him down. In other words, he’s a genuine celebrity.
His inspiration comes from the beautiful Kim, who will never share his life. It doesn’t matter how he feels about her. It doesn’t even matter how she feels about him.
Edward is every outsider who has ever tried to coexist with insiders. He’s a person with a disability, struggling to assimilate. He’s an artist who lives in his head to avoid living in the world. He’s a nerd in love with a cheerleader.
Back when I was thirteen, I considered this movie sacred. It’s melodramatic and angsty, yet somehow a masterpiece.
Burton never topped it.
(More to come on Mr. Burton. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” still six days away.)
Excellent!