Symbolism In Burton's Sleepy Hollow

Burton’s most common film Sleepy Hollow is generally recognized for the way Burton displays the male and female characters. Burton displays that female and male characters have the same similarities. Traditionally, male characters may be recognized as having to be the strong hero, and females are supposed to be weak and the damsel in distress. However, in Sleepy Hollow, the main character Ichabod Crane is described as a masculine man that also has a feminine side to him. For example, Ichabod is seen swinging an ax at a tree to mimic the headless horseman’s distraught murders, which shows his masculine side, and shows how men are envisioned to be strong, heroic, and courageous (Bernardo). However, Ichabod’s feminine side comes out when he is brought face to face with the headless horseman and he faints, as most women are stereotyped as being weak, scared, and hopeless (Bernardo). Burton displays that female and male characters are essentially the same in the way that they act. However, when it comes to the female characters in Burton’s books, they are feminine, but also masculine, and the male characters …show more content…
Symbolism is when something concrete stands for a larger and more abstract idea. A dead flower in a movie might symbolize mortality (Stranier). In contrast a big, yellow sunflower could resemble life and being happy. For example, Burton’s movie the Corpse Bride has a ton of symbolism displayed throughout (Stranier). The land of the living has vibrant happy colors, whereas the land of the dead has dull, unattractive colors, which states that living is obviously better than being dead. Film is a medium, which Burton and his team greatly utilizes the broad spectrum of the medium to progress the movie to which gives us the film (Stranier). Burton tends to work organically, which means that his ideas are released through sketches rather than in extensive storyboarding like most writers