Big Fish - A Case Study of Edward Bloom
by the fabulous Mélanie, sp/so 297
Doodle Art: The mask, the fish and the fisherman, hunting for her own heart
Case Study: Edward Bloom, "Big Fish”
Big Fish appears as an anomaly in Tim Burton's filmography. Here, there are no monsters, no corpses and skeletons, almost no cobwebs, no emo kid, no red roses painted with tears of blood, but rather a sunny and enterprising boy who sets out to conquer the world. Yet, in my opinion, this is his most powerful and authentic film. Could he be speaking here with sincerity about his own type? Edward Bloom was born under extraordinary circumstances, expelled like a cannonball to the end of the hospital corridor, which convinces him that he is destined for a life out of the ordinary: "Not longer, but bigger." He is "a big fish in a small pond" who quickly feels confined in the narrow world of his hometown.
This film is a biography, yet it never gives us access to Edward Bloom's life. We only see him through the eyes of others, especially his son, William. Edward tells stories of flattery and fantasy that are hardly believable. When Edward is on his deathbed, William, a type 6, wants to know the truth in order to trust his father and confronts more violently than ever the wall of lies that Edward has built as his identity.Throughout the film, the image of the big fish is used as a metaphor for the type 3 dilemma.
As a child, confined to bed due to a growth spurt, he learns that goldfish grow proportionally to the size of their environment. Fascinated, he realizes he wants to grow until he takes up all the space in the world, launching the infatuation process. When Edward leaves town, the village witch gives him, in her own words, the most useful advice of his life: "A fish becomes the biggest by never getting caught." She adds the idea of competition to infatuation in Edward's mind. Vanity and competition combine to create the dynamic of type 3, competence serving image. Sure of being protected from any form of failure, Ed sets off more confident than ever out of town.
On his deathbed, he stops eating and spends his time drinking water. He confesses, "I don't know why, I've been thirsty all my life." Of course, Edward can drink all the water in the rivers, immerse himself in the largest of oceans, but he will never quench his thirst. This is the paradox of type 3, seeking love where it cannot be found. They erect between themselves and others a statue of gold and ivory and try to convince the public that this statue is the most perfect and authentic form of themselves. And when this statue receives the immense love they desire, they realize it does not quench their thirst for being loved. Yet, it is impossible for them to risk destroying the statue and showing themselves as they truly are, in the harsh and unflattering light of the spotlight.
That is the whole problematic of a separated heart-center for an image type. Type 3 scrambles head and gut centers which is resulting in mind-fuelled actions seeking nurturing. Yet, the real heart stays empty and not seen for its rawness. (Sofie)
However, in reality, Edward is not only the fish, that is, the image, the trophy, the totem; he is also the fisherman. Ultimately, his identity is defined by pursuit, waiting, watching, conquest. Type 3 is assertive. They won’t let the other ones define them, they will craft the best version of themselves before anyone get the time to blink. Edward brandishes this fish as an image of himself because he identifies totally with his successes and lies, it is the trance of type 3. But sometimes, he is capable of understanding that he is not the fish. This saving dissociation happens at two moments. When he sees a young woman-fish naked in the river, symbol of the love he covets and finally, much more powerfully, on the day of the birth of his son William.
This is actually the opening scene of the film. On William's wedding day, Edward tells how he finally caught the biggest fish, the one that no one had ever caught before. He offered it gold, the one he had on him, his wedding ring. And the fish took the bait! But it immediately swallowed the ring. Desperate, he then engaged in a frantic chase and managed to make the fish regurgitate the ring, in exchange for its freedom.I find that the choice to show Edward as a fisherman and not a fish on the day he emotionally welcomes his child is an image of phenomenal power. It is the moment of authenticity in Edward's life. This image is the key to interpreting everything else.This is the reason for the rift between William and his father, frustrated to see him stealing the spotlight at such an important moment for him. Yet, it is the only moment of emotional authenticity that Edward shares, the only moment of acceptance of failure, as he lets go of his false image to retrieve his wedding ring, the symbol of his connection to his family. Edward literally tells his son that he is more important to him than all his golden lies and all the vain glory he can derive from them. But he says it with another invented story because he has never learned to do otherwise. Unfortunately, William does not hear him, and therein lies the whole drama of their relationship.
Later, William asks his father to tell him the truth about the day of his birth, and Edward rightly protests, "But that's the truth!" It is the only truth he can offer.On Edward's deathbed, in the hospital, the family doctor reveals to William the true story. Edward was simply away on business in another town when his mother gave birth, a story so banal it's laughable. He then suggests to William that his father's version probably has more value and that he would have preferred to choose it.
As his father dies, William decides to take over, his father's true legacy, and tells him a story, the story of his death. There is a subtle elegance in the choice to show in parallel that William understands the story of his birth in his father's eyes by offering him the story of his death through his own eyes. He shapes a narrative worthy of his life, allowing him to escape one last time, to defy death itself. In their imagination, they escape from the hospital in a rush to allow Edward to join the river, where he finally becomes the big fish he has always dreamed of being.
Ultimately, on the day of his father's funeral, William meets the characters who populated his father's stories and whom he thought were all fictional. Reality is slightly less dazzling than the narrative: the Siamese twins turn out to be regular twins, the giant is not five meters tall but only two. Yet, all the relationships depicted by Edward were real. Each of the people he met forged an unbreakable bond with him, hooked by this irresistible golden thread. They all navigate in murky waters, between lies and truths, but they all also understand that Edward is inseparable from these stories, he’s made of them, a glittering collection of golden scales sewed directly on his skin.
They finally see him both as the fisherman and the fish, a complete artist.
