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Shrek Is Not For Ladies
But then, I was no lady, now was I…?
I was nine years old when Shrek came out. Yes, I’m old — so old, I remember a time before Shrek existed. So old, if you wanted to watch Shrek in your own home, you had to rent the VHS from Blockbuster. Sugared times, indeed.
What makes Shrek such a perennial favorite is that it is appropriate and funny no matter how old you are. You can relate with all the main characters in some way, or at least learn something from them, at any point in your life. That’s why Shrek isn’t just a fondly remembered movie for many people — its almost a state of mind.
There was a thing going around in the early ’00s, where it seemed like everyone was trying to tell new fairy tales, with all the same story, setting, players, and conflict, but all the roles had been swapped. The white knight turned out to be a complete tool. The villain was the main comic relief and sometimes even redeemable by the end. The dragon was less a generic boss fight, more of a plucky side-kick. And the princess was, suddenly, always the hero of her own story. It was a bold new trend in popular storytelling, and a blunt acknowledgement to the reality we live in. It was a new millennium, for…
