What the Shrek Happened to the Fairy Tale?

Shrek was created for a person like me.  I’m a mother of two who’s certain princesses do not always need rescuing by the perfectly coiffed prince, and I don’t even drive a minivan.

So, in 2001, I lugged my kids to see this strange looking movie about a green ogre, settled into the velour theater seat with dozens of other parents expecting another “believe in yourself” movie, and hoped at least to catch a few zzzs.  What we got, however, were hilarious-but-edgy lines about physical relationships, the size of certain body parts, and the comment that Snow White wasn’t "easy" though she lived with seven men.  Plus, Fiona paid homage to The Matrix with a mid-air freeze in the middle of a martial arts demonstration and Shrek and Donkey had WWF wrestling moves Hulk Hogan would envy.  Throughout the film, the producers embedded inside joke for the parents, and Shrek went on to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Additionally, the film’s catchy soundtrack -- the Monkees’ "I’m a Believer," Jason Wade’s “You Belong to Me,” and John Cale’s “Hallelujah” -- had the audience singing all the way home.

That’s how Shrek became a Rorschach test for parental coolness.  Entertainment Weekly declared, "Prince Charming? So last millennium. This decade, fairy-tale fans--and Princess Fiona--fell for a fat and flatulent ogre. Now, that's progress."

There’s been a lot of “progress.” The clever “Hoodwinked” spoofed Little Red Riding Hood. Broadway showcased “Wicked,” who’s main character is the misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West. Even Enchanted – made by Disney – poked fun at the princesses-of-the-past with a modern gal trapped in New York, who sang Whistle While You Work while roaches scurried around instead of furry woodland creatures.

In fact, the spoof has become so prevalent that these parodies no longer have a strong fairy-tale tradition to rebel against. Time Magazine wrote of this trend:

“The strange side effect of today's meta-stories is that kids get exposed to the parodies before, or instead of, the originals… This is the new world of fairy tales: parodied, ironized, meta-fictionalized, politically adjusted and pop-culture saturated. (Yes, the original stories are still out there, but they don't have the same marketing force behind them: the Happy Meals, action figures, books, games and other ancillary-revenue projects.) All of which appeals to the grownups who chaperone the movie trips and endure the repeated DVD viewings. Old-school fairy tales, after all, are boring to us, not the kids.”

Interestingly, parents aren’t rejecting fairytales per se, but rather the “Disneyfied,” sanitized, “all-wrapped-into-a-horse-drawn carriage” versions.  Recently, I sat down with the kids and a National Geographic feature of the actual, old Grimm’s stories.  We quickly realized the 1914 versions of these stories are a lot more… disgusting than the versions with which we’re mostly familiar. Cinderella’s step-sisters, for example, cut off pieces of their feet with carving knives to fit into the left-behind slipper only to have their oozing blood give them away.  Later, they had their eyes pecked out by pigeons.  In the original "Snow White" the evil stepmother is forced to dance in red-hot iron shoes until she falls down dead. In "The Goose Maid" a treacherous servant is stripped, thrown into a barrel studded with sharp nails, and dragged through the streets.

The finger-wagging lessons are the points of the stories -- keep your promises, don't talk to strangers, work hard, obey your parents. In fact, the Brothers Grimm called the collection "a manual of manners."

And so the pendulum has swung.  Today’s tales – frequently told by belching heroines – are a celebration of the mildly profane.  While singing to a bluebird in Shrek, Fiona makes it explode into a burst of feathers by hitting an ill-advised high note and is later seen cooking the eggs for breakfast. Time Magazine described persistent destruction of the fairytale strongholds this way:

The pattern--set up, then puncture, set up, then puncture--is so relentless that it inoculates the audience against being spellbound, training them to wait for the other shoe to drop whenever they see a moment of sentiment or magic. Every detail argues against seeing fairyland as something special, like the constant disposable-culture gags in Shrek, in which characters shop in chain stores like Versarchery and Ye Olde Foot Locker.

Which is better, the moralizing, bloody, tales of old or the boundary-pushing, “ask your momma” gags of today?  Who knows. But, as a non-mini-van driving mom, I’m skipping Shrek: the Final Chapter this weekend.  When my young son – a huge fan of wildlife, especially birds – saw Fiona’s bird explode, he gasped…  then he laughed.  And that nervous laughter is what helped me decide to give up on the Shrek franchise, which specialize in slowly letting the air out of the tires of the fun innocence of childhood.

After all, my kids have the rest of their lives to hone their sense of irony.