Shrek And Pop Culture

Shrek is an animated fantasy-comedy film. The protagonist, Shrek, is portrayed as an unattractive quick tempered ogre. He prefers to live in isolation within the woods because he is often quickly judged by the citizens in the neighboring kingdom, Duloc. He befriends a talking Donkey and the two set out on a quest to retrieve a princess for the leader of Duloc and the antagonist, Lord Farquaad. He does this in order to clear his property of fairytale creatures that Farquaad exiled there. He and Donkey complete their quest, resulting in Shrek falling in love and the death of Farquaad. Throughout the film, elements of pop-culture are seen. The fairytale creatures are predominantly derived from American pop-culture. Shrek and the fairytale creatures
are the minority being marginalized by Farquaad. Shrek can be seen as an activist for minorities and despite the differences between Donkey and him, the two successfully liberate the fairytale creatures and remove Farquaad from power. The themes of oppressed minorities beating the ruling class, greed in positions of power, and institutionalized oppressiveness can be connected with the pop-culture elements seen, possibly critiquing the dominant ideologies seen in American pop-culture and the companies pushing these ideologies. Near the beginning of the film after first meeting Donkey, Shrek enjoys dinner by himself in his home within the isolated swamp. The dinner begins with Shrek at peace. The soft music and the calm environment allows the viewer to identify with him. He then portrays various cultural taboos, such as drinking eye-ball martinis and using earwax as a candle. He abruptly becomes angry once he realizes that he is not alone. Leading to the discovery of hundreds of fairytale characters camped out onto his property akin to a refugee or migrant camp. An irate Shrek yells for them to leave. He is then explained that Farquaad exiled the creatures to his swamp. This leads to Shrek promising the characters that he will liberate them in order to gain his land back. Shrek’s quick mood swing and portrayal of cultural taboos could cause viewers to be turned off, resulting in his message as an activist possibly being diminished. It is unclear as to whether this is intentional or not, perhaps the reason why he displays these traits is to reinforce his unconventional role as a hero. Gina Marchetti’s “Action and Adventure as Ideology”, examines pop-culture and the ideologies represented in it.
Her text offers insight that can be applied to Shrek for a deeper meaning. Marchetti analyzes characteristics that make up typical heroes and villains in pop-culture. She concludes that villains are often used to explore outside of the social norm and if they hold a position of power they can represent political and or economic commentaries (192). Heroes on the other hand are used to represent the middle class or the minority (194-195). In classic fairytales the prince is often the hero, however, in Shrek the roles are reversed. Although Farquaad is a prince, he is portrayed as the villain by discriminating against Shrek and the fairytale creatures due to their differences and lack of value to his kingdom. Because Farquaad holds a position of power, he represents the ruling class and the dominant ideology often portrayed in pop-culture. Shrek’s role as a hero is unconventional as well. His appearance suggests that he should be the villain in the film, however, he represents hope for the oppressed minority. Marchetti insists that ideology reflects upon the dominant culture depending on societal context. Her claim is backed by describing modern society as a “mass marketed” culture, meaning that ideas that are represented in various forms of media shape the dominant ideology (182). Shrek’s elements of American pop-culture can be seen as satirical. Critiquing the
ideology often represented in Disney films and fairytales from the past. Together these insights can strengthen the idea that Shrek can be seen as a commentary against the dominant ideology due to the unconventional character roles and the satirical elements derived from American pop-culture. Jeffrey Cohen’s “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)”, investigates the framework behind the creation of monsters in works of fiction.
Cohen argues that the composition of a monster depends on the time and location when it is created, and although these may change, the basis of monsters stays the same (4-6). The unconventional character roles in Shrek relate to the society seen in the film and the real world. Shrek and Farquaad both exhibit monster-like traits. However, they express these traits for different reasons. Farquaad’s traits root from his own personal greed, seen through his desire to control more property. Because he is in the ruling class, he represents an authoritarian ruler, critiquing the dominant ideology, which tends to be mostly in favor of the ruling class. Shrek acts the way he does because he is conditioned to do so. He believes that being an angry ogre is his role in society and he must act it out. The traits that Shrek exhibits could vary depending on aspects in the fictional society, suggesting that the traits he expresses result from being institutionalized. When these insights are applied to the film they offer advanced claims against the dominant ideology, such as, that monsters could be hiding in plain sight in positions of power, or that particular societal problems may be the result of institutionalized racism or other forms of
oppression. The underlying themes of the minority toppling the ruler, greed in the position of power, and institutionalized oppressiveness reoccur throughout the film in order to critique the dominant ideology often represented in popular children fantasy films and fairytales. Perhaps the reason for the critique is that the film can serve as a commentary on real world issues, or it is an attempt to critique Disney and the use of dominant ideology in their films. The film presents itself in a way that these ideas must be searched for and interpreted, leaving the viewer to make their own educated analysis.