My plate - or lack thereof

1. In the film, Burton satirizes modern day suburbia with exaggerated characterizations of families in a seemingly pristine society. He uses various film techniques to accentuate the stark contrast between the suburbanites’ uniform nature and Edward’s extraordinary qualities, suggesting that an artificial man is more human than the humans themselves.
2. A. Women are portrayed as superficial characters that rely on neighborhood gossip to stimulate their otherwise lackluster lives. Burton portrays them as being unable to engage in meaningful activities to suggest their socially and economically inconsequential role in society.
B. Construction of neighborhood is overly symmetric and uniform. The identical houses suggest that suburbanites are merely entities in a unified body, unable to express individuality without becoming a distraction to the established equilibrium.
C. Edward’s eccentric appearance and ability to create sculptures allude to his nonconformance. His imagination and reluctance to conform also show that he is more of a unique, humanized individual than the uninspired humans.
3. My secondary source has made me view suburbanites in a different light. It seems that suburbanites are the way they are, mechanical and uncreative, because of the communal desire to promote national prosperity after postwar establishment of American capitalism. Suburbanization became equated with a movement towards achieving the American dream; thus, people felt the obligation to maintain the same values that became associated with reviving the American image. While what the author claims seems valid, the fact that she does not directly refer to the film requires me to use other sources to determine the exact message Burton wanted to convey in terms of how he feels about those living in suburbia.

*My working thesis is still in progress. Right now, it's actually exactly the same as my argument in my part II. The things on my to do list are definitely needing to be done. As I finish reading more secondary sources, I will make sure that my thesis becomes much more thoughtful.