When I first saw Shrek I was probably four or five years old. My mom swears she checked it out from the library to watch right before a big snow storm was going to hit. I don’t really remember what I was thinking then, but when I was a little older-- maybe six or seven-- I watched it again. That time was definitely more memorable. It immediately became my favorite movie and ever since then I’ve been becoming an increasingly intense die-hard Shrek fan-- my friends can attest to that. Eventually my favorite Shrek movie became the second but looking back, the entire series shaped how I thought about the world, heros, and life a lot more than I initially realized.
Shrek One turned around the way I thought about heros. Before I saw that movie, I’d mostly encountered heros where the characters around them thought they were somewhat attractive people, they looked like regular people, and they were accepted by most of society. Shrek, however, was an ogre who was an outcast and continued to be an outcast of society throughout most of the movie. When we first see Shrek encounter Lord Farquaad’s soldiers, he bares his teeth at them and yells, which makes Shrek look like a scary character. At that point in the beginning of the movie it’s harder to align with Shrek, but by the end we see that we all are a little bit like Shrek. That was the first movie that taught me that you don’t necessarily have to live by society’s norms to be a hero. But, it also taught me that there is more to a person than what’s on the surface-- there are many layers.
When Shrek and Donkey rescue Princess Fiona from the castle, Shrek doesn’t perceive it as having the stereotypical hero role that most other saviors have in fairytales. At that point he’s mostly in it for himself so that he can get his swamp back. His final plan of delivering Princess Fiona to Lord Farquaad (who we found out is a villain when he interrogates Gingy-- a gingerbread man-- and breaks off his legs when he doesn’t get the answer he wants) isn’t really that heroic. But, as the movie goes on and we begin to know Shrek for who he is instead of just being and ogre, he steps more into the shoes of a hero and ultimately saves Princess Fiona from marrying Lord Farquaad. Because Lord Farquaad is a villain, but also a person a big person in charge, this movie put the thought into my mind that sometimes people in charge don’t always do the right thing.
In a way, the Shrek Series taught me that princes aren’t always heros. Prince Charming (a villain who wants the crown of Far Far Away and tries to use magic to make it happen) is everything we’d expect a heroic disney prince to be-- charming, nice looking, and loved by everyone. But yet, he causes more problems than he solves. In the second movie Shrek is more of a traditional hero-- becoming a human and having the main goal to find and rescue Fiona from Prince Charming.
I am also a fan of Shrek, so I thought this post was great! One of my favorite things about Shrek, like you mentioned, was that it looks past the more superficial things we associate with heroism. Like you said, the "handsome prince" is actually the bad guy in the later movies. I also thought it was really significant in the second movie (I think it was the second) when Shrek and Fiona stay ogres to live happily ever after rather than trying to stay in their human forms. In addition, Shrek doesn't really have anything special about him, destining him to be a hero (he's not royalty, "the Chosen One" like Harry Potter, the son of Darth Vader, etc.) -- basically, he's just an ogre who gets disturbed in his swamp but turns out to be a hero.
ReplyDeleteNice post. Its intriguing that the charming prince, who we would normally take for the good guy, is the villain, and the scary swamp monster is not the bad guy, but the hero.
ReplyDeleteI also like Shrek. I think that the reason why I like him so much, other than the humor, is the fact that he isn't a traditional hero. I like that he has a good personality. He's sarcastic and he doesn't really like people. I kind of like that sort of character. I think that the fact that he's sort of a normal guy who does all of this and wins agains people who hate him for his looks is also a good character trait
ReplyDeleteShrek is a really good hero. He's such an amusing character, and the satirical journey he goes on is fun to watch. Also, as you said, we all are a little bit like Shrek. I think that a hero like Shrek is more compelling than a more generic hero because we can relate to his cynicism and self centered motivations much more than some generic, perfect hero out to save the world with the pure goodness of their heart. Shrek is almost more human than some of the heroes that are actually human.
ReplyDeleteLOL THE LAYERS THING. I really like the reflection in this post. I didn't realize those things about Shrek before, like how you don't have to live by the norms to be heroic. I also appreciate how you mention that the princes are evil, because that's not something you see in most stories. I like that you chose Shrek, because he's different than the everyday mainstream hero, like you said in the post, but if you look a little closer he is very much a hero. He even has Donkey as a sidekick :)
ReplyDeleteOMG, Lizzy. Shrek!!! I love this post because I know how much you love Shrek (lol every time I think of Shrek, I think of you). I never really thought too much about Shrek's almost anti-heroism. He's not morally corrupt but he definitely doesn't look like the stereotypical hero. I think the abuse he receives because he is an ogre causes him to not want to help others in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteHowever, he definitely changes throughout the movie and like other people said, is more human than the humans in the movie. I guess that just teaches us that appearance isn't everything :)
Intriguing post Lizzy. Something that definitely stood out to me from Shrek 2 was the "Holding Out for a Hero" action montage, where Shrek rides into the castle on the giant gingerbread man Mongo, which definitely holds Shrek as the hero. Something else that stood out to me was how the king tried to get rid of Shrek multiple times, but eventually realized that Shrek was the hero.
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