Function of Fairy Tales

           One of the most loved fairy tales Shrek has been a worldwide box office hit. The movie series is considered one of the best fairy tales made into a movie series because of its funny characters and great animation. The first movie was such a success that now the series has finished with a total of four movies. Just like other fairy tale movies, Shrek has the usual characteristics of a fairy tale; magic, villains, and even talking animals.  The stories main function is to solve problems, and in this case something that relates to its audience of teenagers; that love is not just about looks but about whom someone really is inside, and that friends are hard to come by when you are mean. By portraying a possible relationship between Shrek, a big mean ogre, and Princess Fiona the story is able to work towards its goal of solving such problem between the two.

            For those yet to see Shrek, which I highly recommend, it is based off the fairy tale Shrek! by William Steig about an ogre named Shrek who finds his land being occupied by other magical creatures (Steig). Shrek goes to the King and finds himself sent to fetch Princess Fiona from her castle. After rescuing the princess with his noble steed Donkey, Princess Fiona reveals her secret to the audience as she transforms at night to an ogre, without Shrek knowing. Shrek overhears this as he was about to confess his feelings which sets him back his mean ogre self. After returning the Princess back to the King he realizes that he made a mistake and goes back to win Fiona over (Adamson). The problem of the story has been stated and now the film will continue to try and solve the problem in a funny, animated way.         

From the plot of the story we can see many problems arise. There is definitely something between Shrek and Fiona, but neither knows how to tell the other how they really feel because one is an ogre that everyone fears will eat them and the other is a princess that no man would resist. Something like this can easily be compared to what a teenager is going through. A great connection to make here would be a quite nerdy boy and the head cheerleader romance, no one would expect this and it would be a very unlikely high school romance. Teens are pressured by those around them and it is hard for them to show how they feel towards another individual because they do not know otherwise, just like how no one would think that an ogre and a princess would be a good match (Waldrop). Shrek is not at all concerned about what other people think of him, he goes about his business the way he wants to and doesn’t get embarrassed of who he is. The story does a good job showing how the progression of Shrek and Fiona’s relationship develops.

            There are other problems that arise during the story. With every teenager, making friends is a lot more complicated than people think. The relationship between Shrek and Donkey is a perfect example of such an unlikely friendship that happened. Shrek is a big mean scary ogre who enjoys living peacefully in his hut while donkey is a loud and sometimes annoying Donkey who is completely opposite from Shrek. Right at the beginning we see Donkey try and talk his way out of leaving Shrek’s swamp saying that they are going to stay up late and play games and make waffles in the morning. Almost instantly we see Shrek shake his head and wonder what he has gotten himself into. It teaches us that sometimes we make friends with people who really we don’t expect to and by judging someone before you get to know them is a bad habit. Shrek clearly judges Donkey towards the beginning of the story, but as the story continues he starts to understand how nice it is to have someone to talk to instead of living his boring life in his swamp. Teens are faced with choices that really can make life a living hell because everything they do is judged by everyone else.  Friends are hard to come by and Shrek shows how getting to know someone is worth it even if it does not work out.

            The reason in which Shrek is able to connect to teenagers is because it evolves to what they want to see in a movie. As James Poniewozik said, “This is the new world of fairy tales: parodied, ironized, meta fictionalized, politically adjusted and pop culturally saturated” (Hallett Karasek 394). I think what he is saying is that the world has evolved and our understanding of these fairy tales including Shrek has allowed us to adjust them to our way of life today (Weitner 2). Technology in the time of the original Shrek was a little different in 1990 than it was in 2001 when Shrek came out (LA Times). The movie was able to transform simple ideas in Shrek! into masterpieces that made Shrek the beginning of a great series. Not only is Shrek a movie but it is now being made into a play, which only successful movies do (Jones).  By evolving to the modern day Shrek has connected with teenagers and their everyday decisions.

            Something that also can help the movie triumph over the book are the voices of the main characters. What I mean by this is how celebrities can very much make or break a movie. Mike Myers, better known as Austin Powers is able to use his past films to help capture his fan base and lure them to Shrek. There are other notable actors playing key parts in the movie including Eddy Murphy as Donkey and Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona. Donkey is a fan favorite and kids love him because he makes everyone laugh and some of that credit is due to Eddy Murphy who is also well known for his past films. Teenagers want to go see movies that have actors they know in them and that are funny. Clearly Shrek has done its job to get teens to watch it and learn from its messages throughout the film.

            A movie like Shrek does more than what it is asked. It helps teenagers by providing them with scenarios of things that will most likely happen to them and shows how to go about the situation. It is a movie that every child should watch because of its lessons and the fact that it is an awesome movie. With celebrities as the voices of the main characters the audience is able to relate more too each character and is drawn in more to the movie. As one review wrote “"Shrek is jolly and wicked, filled with sly in-jokes and yet somehow possessing a heart” (IMDB).