Analysis of Gender Representations in the Movie Shrek
Analysis of Gender Representations in the Movie Shrek Shrek is a movie that is very different from any movies that one could see so far. It is a computer-animated American comedy film, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and starring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. It was based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!, and was produced by DreamWorks Animation. Clearly displaying its difference, Shrek was the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2001. Looking at all the three movies that have been produced so far, on can see that the characters of Shrek, who is an ogre and his love Fiona, who is originally a beautiful princess but then becomes an ogre herself, as well as other characters of the movie, go against the expectations of society regarding gender and its representation on screen. In this essay, I would like to discuss some aspects of this alienation in describing gender dimensions, and by showing that this alienation is not necessarily negative, I also would like to display how I believe Shrek really had a deep impact on society, as well as it encouraged reflection on what it really means to be a certain gender in today’s world.
Shrek is a movie about this ogre called Shrek who lives by himself in a swamp and does everything that is basically not considered decent by society when it comes to proper behavior, including being dirty and picking his earwax to use it as a candle for the dinner table. One day, his swamp becomes invaded by fairly tale characters that have nowhere to go, so Shrek decides to look for Lord Farquaad who can nullify his choice to exile the characters of Shrek finds Fiona, the beautiful princess and rescues her and brings her back to Lord Farquaad. Of course, as fairytales go, Shrek rescues Fiona and falls in love with her but this love seems to be impossible until we find out that Fiona herself is an ogre who changes her appearance every
Shrek is a movie about this ogre called Shrek who lives by himself in a swamp and does everything that is basically not considered decent by society when it comes to proper behavior, including being dirty and picking his earwax to use it as a candle for the dinner table. One day, his swamp becomes invaded by fairly tale characters that have nowhere to go, so Shrek decides to look for Lord Farquaad who can nullify his choice to exile the characters of Shrek finds Fiona, the beautiful princess and rescues her and brings her back to Lord Farquaad. Of course, as fairytales go, Shrek rescues Fiona and falls in love with her but this love seems to be impossible until we find out that Fiona herself is an ogre who changes her appearance every
Bibliography: Julia T. Wood, Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender and Culture, 8th Edition, Wadsworth, 2008