If you feel like too much of an outsider, rest assured that most of the world’s great innovators have been non-conformists.

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Half a decade before The Nightmare Before Christmas turned Tim Burton into a Hot Topic hero, he directed a very different kind of gothic film.

It was the story of “an uncommonly gentle man” cast into a world of pastel, suburban sameness.

Because Burton was hot off a huge financial success in Batman, he was allowed to be as weird as he wanted. The result was 1990’s Edward Scissorhands, which featured Johnny Depp as the frightened but freakish humanoid creation of a mad scientist.

The scientist, played by legendary horror actor Vincent Price in his final role, dies before giving Edward human hands, and the appendages he’s left with are scissor-like remnants of his former life as a cookie-making machine.

Which makes Edward, to put it pointedly, a freak … an outcast … a weirdo.

Historical sci-fi fans immediately saw it as a 90s take on the classic Frankenstein. Which, by the way, if you haven’t read the original book by Mary Shelley, is one of the most riveting and fascinating adventure stories you’ll ever encounter.

The film is peak Burton, brimming with the eccentricities that we’ve come to expect from his films.

But at that time, Edward Scissorhands was a fascinating glimpse into the mind of an outcast auteur who saw the world differently—and who had a captivating way of wrapping its ugly and beautiful extremes into a charming story that rivals any classic fairytale.

Burton’s brilliance in this film isn’t just the quirky appearance and mannerisms of Edward Scissorhands himself—it’s how he positioned the creepy but loveable character against a pastel, cookie-cutter world of vicious sameness in the film’s fictional suburb, based on Burton’s own isolation growing up in Burbank, California.

And that’s what’s given the film such enduring appeal. Beyond the quirky, misfit characters and the surreal, haunting visuals and soundtrack, Edward Scissorhands continues to resonate because it’s a love letter to non-conformity.

And that’s an important message in a time when people are feeling divided by their differences.

So to celebrate the wonderful weirdos, let’s look at the benefits of non-conformity through the lens of one of the 1990s’ most unconventional films.

QUOTE: “It is so easy to commit embarrassing blunders, but etiquette tells us just what is expected of us and guards us from all humiliation and discomfort.” — The Inventor

If you feel like too much of an outsider, rest assured that most of the world’s great innovators have been non-conformists.

Psychologist Dr. Jeremy Dean points out that, “in many respects norms have a beneficial effect, bolstering society's foundations and keeping it from falling into chaos. But stability and predictability are enemies of the creative process."

Famous thinkers like Einstein and Mark Twain held an utter disdain for authority. And visionaries like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk have built billion-dollar businesses by directly attacking the status quo of their industries.

Which means landscape-altering ideas tend to come from outsiders.

Even Facebook’s first investor, Peter Thiel, has insisted that many of Silicon Valley’s most successful entrepreneurs have at least mild Aspergers, rendering them immune to social norms and freeing them to think like originals.

In fact, in his book Originals, Adam Grant argues that non-conformity is the engine of innovation. But he cautions that it has to be paired with a high level of competence. In his telling, when an original thinker is good at what they do, they earn “idiosyncrasy credits,” which let them get away with outlandish ideas like, say, a glass phone without any buttons.

On a deeper level, non-conformists tend to have more self-knowledge. And that makes sense. Because to reject the expectations of others and find your own way, you need a strong sense of your own values and direction. Otherwise, there would be no point in resisting the temptation of a well-worn path.

But paradoxically, even though non-conformists tend to flaunt conventions and go against the grain, they experience less anxiety.

Maybe that nonchalance is an innate quality of non-conformists. Or maybe they simply get used to being in the moral minority after years of rebellion. Either way, one thing’s for sure: if you focus on forging your own path, you’ll get comfortable being uncomfortable. Which is a skill that will free you to make more creative and original decisions.

So if you ever feel like an outcast, look on the bright side and embrace your creativity.

Just don’t go creating any sensitive humanoids with cookie cutters for hands.