Edward  Scissorhands
2013

Coolidge Corner Theatre Brookline, MA

with

Dr. Jeremy DeSilva

Assistant Professor of Biological Anthropology, Boston University

Edward Scissorhands— The Evolution of Hands

A discussion of recent discoveries on the evolution of our hands and other parts that define us as human.

Coolidge Corner Theatre Brookline, MA

Film Synopsis

A gentle man, with scissors for hands, is brought into a new community after living in isolation.

Tim Burton's Academy Award-nominated, bittersweet fantasy tells the story of Edward (Johnny Depp), a young man assembled by an eccentric inventor (Vincent Price), who dies before he can finish his creation, leaving him with scissors in place of hands. When a kindly Avon lady (Dianne Wiest) comes calling and discovers Edward all alone, she brings him home to live with her family in the pastel "paradise" of suburbia, where he falls for Peg's teen daughter (Winona Ryder). Edward's sweet helpfulness and exceptional talents in dog grooming, hair cutting, and topiary sculpture make him popular in the neighborhood—but the mood swiftly turns against him.

About the Speaker

Dr. Jeremy DeSilva, an assistant professor of biological anthropology at Boston University, is working on reconstructing the life of two amazingly complete skeletons of a new species of early ancestor (or hominin) previously unknown to science.