The poem “Voodoo Girl” is obviously relatable to Tim Burton’s life. The
title of this poem already implies that this is a dark, gloomy, and harmful
poem. Voodoo is never used for good. It is only used to get revenge on people
for various reasons. In this case Burton could be suggesting something bad or
even evil about girls in general. In many of Burton’s poems/stories, he seems
to talk down upon girls, but we do not really know the reason why. We just know
that it is safe to assume that he has something negative to say about girls
when they come up in his literary works. The first stanza of this poem states, “Her
skin is white cloth, and she's all sewn apart
and she has many colored pins sticking out of her heart.” At the beginning readers start to see how Burton might relate to the girl in this poem. He gives her white skin instead of a healthy, live skin color and he says that she is sewn apart. Naturally when things are sewn, they are sewn together, so since Burton says apart we know that he feels some kind of incompletion and isolation. This directly coincides with Burton’s neuroses of loss and outsiderness. Another clue that says how Burton feels is that there are colored pins sticking out of her heart. He could have used white or even black pins to stick out of her heart. Readers can infer that Burton could be trying to say that the pins are symbolizing people who have hurt him. The different colors could very well symbolize all of the different people who seem like happy, suburbia, people who could have helped him but hurt his heart instead. These pins could symbolize his parents as well because one would think that all parents go above and beyond to help their children, but that is not the case all times. At some point Burton decides that he cannot win, that he does not deserve happiness or even friendships. Readers know this from the five last lines of the poem. Since Burton had no friends or no one to talk to, he had to rely on his imagination to relieve his pain.
and she has many colored pins sticking out of her heart.” At the beginning readers start to see how Burton might relate to the girl in this poem. He gives her white skin instead of a healthy, live skin color and he says that she is sewn apart. Naturally when things are sewn, they are sewn together, so since Burton says apart we know that he feels some kind of incompletion and isolation. This directly coincides with Burton’s neuroses of loss and outsiderness. Another clue that says how Burton feels is that there are colored pins sticking out of her heart. He could have used white or even black pins to stick out of her heart. Readers can infer that Burton could be trying to say that the pins are symbolizing people who have hurt him. The different colors could very well symbolize all of the different people who seem like happy, suburbia, people who could have helped him but hurt his heart instead. These pins could symbolize his parents as well because one would think that all parents go above and beyond to help their children, but that is not the case all times. At some point Burton decides that he cannot win, that he does not deserve happiness or even friendships. Readers know this from the five last lines of the poem. Since Burton had no friends or no one to talk to, he had to rely on his imagination to relieve his pain.
This poem, “Voodoo Girl” is the poem I actually had to do in class. The first stanza analysis you did was really interesting. I also compared her to Burton, in the case that she’s pale and gloomy and “different,” but I didn’t quite understand the sewn apart section. The way you described it makes so much sense. The fact that she is sewn apart instead of together definitely gives the image that she is separated, whether by her curse or her looks, from the rest of the world around her. Your interpretation of the pins was interesting too. I agree that you can read it as different people who have hurt his heart, but I also read it as the parts of him that make him “stick out.” These aspects of him, and likewise Voodoo Girl, are colorful due to their uniqueness that they are actually special and people should notice. I think that when it says that people cannot get too close because the pins will stick in it’s showing us that when people have tried to get close to Burton or Voodoo Girl, they notice these unique characteristics and notice them as flaws, breaking their hearts a little more.
ReplyDelete-Allison Davis
I agree with parts of your post but not completely. It is interesting when you mention the misogynistic undertones of some of Burton’s poems. A few of the poems seem to imply this, including: The Girl Who Turned Into a Bed, Junk girl, and Anchor Baby. However, to me, the second part of your blog contradicts this, as you say how Burton relates to Voodoo girl. If Burton has something bad to say about woman but also relates to them then he must be a very perplexing person. If I look at your second paragraph as a blog post on its own then I agree with a lot of your points. Your point about all the needles in the heart representing people and different colors symbolizing different people is interesting. In a way it represents all the people who broke Tim Burton’s heart, starting with his parents. Voodoo girl could easily be a representation of his alienation.
ReplyDelete-Yamato O’Connell