Malay Big Fish Blog

Specter, Alabama

Discuss how Tim Burton merges the sunny character of Edward Bloom with the darker grotesque characters who people the film. Why do those people like Edward, and why does Edward like them? Discuss at least two scenes in your blog. Burton said of his own father that he had forgotten how much larger than life he was than his neighbors' parents.  He had only his canine teeth left, so he wore dentures that he would take out; then he would howl at the moon and scare the neighbors' children into thinking him a werewolf.  He was, said Burton, "a real fairy-tale character."

  Edward likes the darker characters because he does not see them for their darkness and strangeness; he only seems them as people. Others have rejected the darker characters because they are considered freaks, like the circus people, or odd like the people of Specter, but Edward likes these people because he’s such an open, non-judgmental person.  The scene when Edward goes to the circus and meets the Ring Master and the performers show how truly non-judgmental he is. Instead of rejecting these people, he actually ends up working for them doing various odd jobs and such in order to find out more about his eventual wife Sandra.

            The darker characters like Edward because he gives them a sense of belonging and they feel wanted by him. He has such a shining personality that they feel they do not have to worry about being judged or rejected. They also like how optimistic Edward is and his optimism gives them hope that they never really had before. Being shunned by society and then being accepted by someone from the outside, for them, is a really good feeling and it makes those people realize that, yes they are different in society’s eyes, but that being different is okay. A scene that shows this is when Edward meets Karl. Karl is trying to be driven out of the town, but after realizing that he’s just a misunderstood person, Edward takes the time to get to know him and realizes that Karl isn’t such a bad guy after all. Eventually they become good friends and Karl realizes that he doesn’t have to be alone because as long as he has Edward, everything is going to be okay.

            Tim Burton had a similar relationship with his father as Will does to his father. They are just trying to figure out whom the other person is and this misunderstanding drives them apart, but eventually they both learn what their father’s have to offer and that they are not such distant people after all and there are things they can learn and pass on to their own children.