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Shrek |
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At home in his swamp, a flatulent
ogre named Shrek defends his life of
solitude—though deep down it’s probably not
his first choice. "People judge me before
they know me. That’s why I’m better off
alone," he says. Indeed, he’s an
intimidating presence with a chip on his
shoulder, automatically assumed to be evil
and cruel. Not that he doesn’t play it to the hilt
at times. Shrek exploits that misconception to
protect his privacy (when confronted by
torch-bearing, pitchfork wielding villagers, he
describes the gruesome fates awaiting those
who disturb him). When the evil Lord
Farquaad banishes hundreds of fairy tale
characters (Pinocchio, the three little pigs,
Snow White, the three blind mice, etc.) to his
swamp, Shrek will do anything to restore
peace and quiet. So he cuts a deal. In
exchange for solitude. Shrek promises to
rescue the beautiful Princess Fiona from a
castle tower guarded by a fire-breathing
dragon (Farquaad selfishly wants to marry
Fiona solely for her royal standing so that he
can become king). Accompanying Shrek on
this adventure is a wise-cracking, jive-talking
Donkey, an annoyingly loyal beast of burden
who keeps the ogre on his toes ... and keeps
the audience laughing.
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positive elements: Themes of inner
beauty, forgiveness, loyalty, friendship and
romantic love are central to this comic
adventure. We also learn that words can cut
deeply. By film’s end, in an unusual plot twist,
viewers appreciate the concept that genuine
beauty runs deeper than outward appearance.
A discussion about not holding grudges
concludes with an excellent motto:
"That’s what friends do, they forgive each
other."
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spiritual content: The magic spells of
fairy tale land pop onto the screen from time to
time, as do witches. Pivotal to the story is a
witch’s curse that must be reversed.
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sexual content: Adults and teens will
pick up several subtle lines about physical
relationships and penis size. There’s a
comment that Snow White wasn’t
"easy" even though she lived with
seven little men.
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violent content: Most of the violence is
slapstick and cartoonish. Shrek and Donkey
take on Lord Farquaad’s henchmen with
cleverly choreographed action parodying WWF
wrestling moves. Younger viewers may be
frightened by the fire-breathing dragon’s
attempts at toasting Shrek and company. A
talking gingerbread man has his legs
removed and is cast in the garbage by evil
Farquaad (at the end, he reappears alive and
on crutches). While singing to a bluebird,
Fiona massacres a high note causing her
little winged friend to explode (she then fries
the bird’s eggs for breakfast). Fiona’s feisty
martial arts moves (with a mid-air freeze
straight from The Matrix) take out Robin
Hood’s merry men. Fiona must remove a stray
arrow from Shrek’s backside. A sword is put to
Fiona neck. At a wedding, soldiers attack
Shrek, Lord Farquaad is devoured by a
dragon, and Snow White and Cinderella
violently compete for the bride’s bouquet.
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crude or profane language: For some
families this will be the troll lurking
underneath the bridge. There are about 10
instances of crude slang or mild profanity.
With a striking resemblance to Disneyland’s
It’s a Small World exhibit, a cast of toys
performs a song that leads up to the phrase,
"wipe your [pause]" (though the
toys actually break the rhyme structure by
singing "face," the real rhyme is
assumed to be "a--,"
demonstrated by the toys bending over and
turning their posteriors toward the
audience).
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drug and alcohol content: In separate
scenes, both Shrek and Farquaad drink what
appear to be martinis. The princess is said to
like Pina Coladas.
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other negative elements: The film’s
strong message that inner beauty really
counts gets undermined a bit when Farquaad
is unfairly maligned for being short. He’s got a
lot of faults, but his modest stature isn’t one of
them. Scatological humor abounds with a
special emphasis on flatulence (which
folklore actually does connect with ogres).
Fiona matches Shrek belch for belch. Donkey
urinates on a campfire. Shrek removes a long
hunk of wax from his ear and uses it as a
candle. It’s obvious that Fiona has bought into
the conventions of fairy tale romanticism hook,
line and sinker. Her skewed perspective on
love and marriage undermines agape love
and spiritual discernment in
relationships.
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conclusion: Former Disney animation
guru Jeffrey Katzenberg denies that he’s
taking potshots at the characters and theme
park once responsible for his paycheck. Yeah.
Right. The result is occasionally hilarious. But
at other times, mature viewers may feel a bit
guilty chuckling at the expense of symbols of
childhood innocence. For example, is it funny
or pathetic to see Geppetto voluntarily handing
Pinocchio over to authorities for a handful of
coins? Okay, a little bit of both, but
there’s definitely a cynical edge. The injection
of pop/rock tunes (The Monkees’ "I’m a
Believer," Smash Mouth’s "All
Star," Rupert Holmes’
"Escape," etc.) adds to the film’s
fun-loving irreverence. The technical wizardry
of this 90-minute computer-animated comedy
invites comparison to the quality and realism
of Toy Story or A Bug’s Life. It’s
impressive to look at, from the textures of
clothing to the way computer-generated
characters trample computer-generated grass
as they walk through it. Unfortunately,
Shrek takes a very un-Pixar approach to
family entertainment by resorting to crudities,
bathroom humor and profanity that will give
pause to families, particularly those with
younger children. Still, the film does a lot to
redeem itself in the final minutes with a terrific
message about inner beauty.
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