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Nah

 

Nou

 

Exactly

 

I feel like Shrek is a metaphor for racism in America.

The entire premise of the movie is about a bunch of "strange" creatures who are evicted from their homes by no less a white man, Lord Farquaad. They are forced to go back to the swamp, which would be a metaphor for refugees being deported to Middle Eastern or African countries. Farquaad discriminates against them massively, to the point where they are sold as pets, obviously symbolic of the slave trade in the 1700s-1800s.

Now, Shrek is a great protagonist because he symbolizes diversity, seeing as he is not European, East Asian, South Asian, African or Middle Eastern, he is green. This shows how not one race is superior to the other, and how together each race must overcome trials and tribulations together.

Now, take Shrek's good friend Donkey. Considering Donkey's background, he is obviously a slave, and Shrek, while first being quite against him, eventually accepts him as a great friend and ally. This is a good example of the "Good Samaritan" nature that many people began adopting in the past few decades after realizing that African Americans were no different to them.

Once Shrek reaches Farquaad's castle (symbolic of the empire that white colonialists built up over the years), he can easily take down Farquaad's knights. This shows us that even if certain races are discriminated against and treated like garbage, they are not bound to chains, and can rise up against hatred if they have the right motivation.

Now, one of the greatest moments in the entire movie, perhaps one of the most touching and beautiful moments in the history of cinema in its entirety, is Shrek's monologue to Donkey. After a long conversation about life and society, Shrek explains to Donkey how he wishes people could understand that everyone has layers. Donkey takes a while to understand, but he soon understands. Each and every person on earth has layers, and these layers go extremely deep. You can never understand how someone truly feels because they have so many layers, and no matter the color of our skin or how we look, we all have layers, just like an onion.

Next comes Fiona. Fiona is a very interesting character, because she turns from human to ogre at night. This symbolizes how she doesn't think she can be her true self, and needs to present herself as "white" in order to be respected and taken seriously, and she can only be herself when no one else is around. Now, when Shrek meets Fiona, it's a symbol of when slavery was finally abolished, as they can finally find hope, just like Shrek found hope in Fiona, yet the dragon represents Jim Crow and segregation laws that would soon follow. However, soon enough, the dragon is tamed by Donkey, which represents when these laws began to ease and eventually end, the beast is nearly tamed but still lingers, referencing how there is still a great deal of racial tension to this day.

Now, the final part of the movie which I think shows this theme greatly is the very end when we see Farquaad about to marry Fiona, a symbol of how colonists nearly took away all rights of other races, but in the very end, the dragon eats him, signifying the colonies being liberated and the start of a new era, and when Fiona turns completely ogre, it shows how she stops putting on a facade and accepts herself for who she really is.

 

Is it bad that I took the time to read it?

 

Oh :-:

 

Um okay

 

Hello.

Anyone else like dairy milk chocolate?

 

That sounds pretty good about now, been like 3 or 4 months since I have had it x3

 

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