Shrek: Fairy Tale or Fraud?

[frang]

The first two Shrek movies made lots of money. The third one will too.

But I have a hard time seeing it as a fairy tale. Sure, it's dressed up like one. There are princesses and ogres and dragons and magic and stuff. And the movies are crammed full of characters and references to the fairy tales we all know. And there's a happy ending.

But that doesn't make it a fairy tale, any more than John Belushi donning a yellow Starfleet uniform on Saturday Night Live made that sketch science fiction.

Shrek to me seems divorced from real life... that's fine, it's a movie, it's fun, it's entertainment. But it seems to me the power of fairy tales is not in their set dressing (royalty, magic, enchanted creatures) but in their underlying themes, often dark, about human greed, vanity, evil, etc. And the appeal of Shrek is not in that, but in its joking and nodding and winking and sense of fun playing with these old stories. And that's a different animal altogether.

[Slashmire]

Fraud would be going a bit far; it's an entertaining movie, loved it, and that's as far as I go with it. I think this is more of an uneeded debate on semantics.

[harleysneak]

You have some really strong views there on Shrek. I think it is a fairy tale, just a different kind of fairy tale. Who says all fairy tales have to be about the handsome young prince and the fair maiden and I definitely believe that Shrek teaches a lesson.

[Melos]

Wouldn't the message be something like "no matter who you are, you can find love and acceptance?"

Or maybe for Shrek 2 something about just being yourself and not trying to put on airs.

I think they are fairy tales, and they do have messages if you care to look past the joking.

[LyricB]

I didn't even know there was a third one in the works. I liked the first one but didn't see the second. I consider Shrek more of a fairy tale parody than anything else.

[Slashmire]

It may only be me, but the 2nd one is probably the best of the two (albeit the first one is still good.)

And as far as I've heard, a 4th one has also been accepted.

[LyricB]

A fourth? Holey moley. That's some advanced planning. I guess you gotta go with what makes money, right?

[TinyStar]

In a way, Shrek is a spoof or comedic look at the traditional fairytale.
The traditional fairytale would never have an ogre as a main character, let alone one that married a princess and lives happily ever after.
Shrek is thus a reversed fairytale and a spoof of the typical fairytale. That's what gives it it's appeal. Would you remember it quite as well if Shrek turned into a prince at the end and married Fiona?
No. Because there are dozens of fairytales out there like that - we've all read them and heard of them.

[palefrost]

OMg leave shrek alone! I love it!!

[Melos]

That is true that it is a spoof on the classic fairytale. I think they made that clear when Shrek wiped his behind on a page from the fairytale book in the beginning of Shrek One. They are just fun, anyway.