Why does the movie Shrek begin with the exposition, rejection, and defacement of a fairy tale? Why is its hero an ogre, the traditional enemy of the fairies (elves)? Why does this “rescuer” not only fail to kill the dragon that imprisons the princess, but in the end allies himself with the dragon to kill her husband and win her for himself? Why does the heroine settle for this “unorthodox” champion when she had always hoped for a noble knight, strong enough to kill the dragon?
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Why are the scenes that depict the emerging “love interest” between hero and heroine fraught with violence, especially the disfigurement of living creatures? Why does the music at the heart of the film declare love to be a “cold and broken hallelujah?” Why is it that “true love’s first kiss” fails to transform the beloved into a beauty, but instead turns her into a full-time ogress? Why is love’s true form seen by the film to be that of a swamp orc?
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Why does the true home of hero and heroine in Shrek turn out to be, in the end, not a castle far, far away, but instead a muddy bog? Why does the subtitle of the third Shrek, “happily ever laughter,” turn the traditional fairy tale’s consolation into a terrible joke? What sadness, madness, lies at the broken heart of a fairy tale’s mutilation?
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