Fairy tales typically conclude with heroes living happily ever after, a neat and tidy ending that rarely reflects the complexities of life beyond the final page. While many stories have attempted to explore what happens next, the tale of a certain green ogre took a different path entirely. Instead of continuing a fairy tale, it shattered the genre, viewing its timeless tropes as utter nonsense. In this world, we encounter our favorite characters from a new perspective, living not in a fairy tale, but in a brilliant parody of one. The valiant steed is a chatterbox donkey, Rapunzel’s long hair is a wig, and the Fairy Godmother schemes to place her own son on the throne.

The creators of this world seem to dismantle the castles in the air that storytellers like Charles Perrault spent centuries building. They show us a world as it often is: a place where surviving and finding a happy ending is no simple task. Let's explore how a little philosophy can help us understand its deeper lessons.

A Parody with a Purpose

To get rid of the stereotypes ingrained in us since childhood is far harder than accepting that dragons don’t exist. It is these very stereotypes that Shrek confronts. The film doesn't just challenge popular taste; it rebels against the established order. Much like how fear can be fought with laughter, the film mocks the idols of the past to dismantle their power.

The main plot of the first film is a direct parody of the classic "rescue the princess from the dragon" narrative. Of course, here, nothing is quite so romantic. The diminutive Lord Farquaad, seeking a bride, chooses Fiona from a lineup presented by a Magic Mirror. Naturally, Farquaad has no intention of facing a dragon himself and hires an ogre for the job. And in this age of parody, Princess Fiona is more than capable of standing up for herself.

The film is peppered with references to other well-known tales. We meet a Big Bad Wolf who is friends with the Three Little Pigs and wears a grandmother's dress simply because he likes it, not as a ploy to deceive anyone. Yet, the film often seems to parody Disney’s sanitized versions of these stories more than the classic fairy tales themselves. The perfectly manicured kingdom of Duloc is a clear nod to a certain corporate-owned fantasy land, presented as a factory of ephemeral and unrealistic dreams. This biting irony is an integral part of postmodernism. The philosopher Jean-François Lyotard argued that the era of modernity, which promised humanity freedom through reason, ultimately led to great conflict and a decline in humanism. Postmodernism arose from this crisis, using satire to expose outdated ideals that had failed to deliver on their promise.

But the charm of the story is that its parody is merely a vehicle for discussing far more important issues. The ogre, as Donkey wisely notes, has layers. Let’s peel some of them back.

The Ugliness of Being Judged

In fairy tales, good princes and princesses are beautiful, while wicked witches and sorcerers are ugly. External ugliness is treated as a manifestation of one's inner character or as a punishment, as seen in tales like Beauty and the Beast.

Shrek is not handsome. He is an ogre. He knows his reputation and leans into it, maintaining it with his behavior. His disgusting habits and formidable appearance are automatically perceived by others as "bad." Consider the centipede. For many, it inspires fear and disgust, but is it truly dangerous? If left alone, it is harmless. Yet, this knowledge does little to change our visceral reaction to it. Similarly, we often assume that people with a pleasant appearance are good in other respects, simply because our brains are too lazy to analyze each case individually. This cognitive shortcut is known as the halo effect.

In the world Shrek inhabits, ogres are considered ugly monsters. However, it’s not aggression that makes him a monster, but the other way around. Because of his appearance, people expect nothing good from him, so he strives to meet those expectations. As he tells Donkey, the problem isn’t with him, but with the world. "They judge me before they even know me. That's why I'm better off alone."

Why are ogres considered ugly? The philosopher and semiotician Umberto Eco, in his work on the history of beauty and ugliness, provides some insight. In the classical world, a monster was not just a strange creature but an omen, a harbinger of disaster. The world of Shrek mirrors a medieval mindset, where fairy-tale creatures represent the unseen and the abnormal, and are therefore considered ugly. They are even ostracized and rounded up in the first film.

Ugliness can also be understood as a deviation from the human form. Eco uses the historical example of diseases that would dramatically alter a person's appearance, making them seem less human. This loss of a familiar face often leads to fear and hatred from others. We see this dynamic play out perfectly in the story. When Shrek drinks a potion and becomes a handsome man, people’s attitudes toward him instantly change, though he remains the same person inside. His appearance now conforms to an accepted standard of beauty. The same thing happens to Donkey, who transforms into a magnificent white steed—the standard, fairy-tale approved mode of transport for rescuing a princess. The story shows, time and again, that we shouldn't judge an ogre, or anyone, by their cover.

Finding Who You Truly Are

Behind Shrek’s frightening exterior lies a conscious being capable of compassion and admitting his mistakes. But what of Fiona? Her curse dictates her reality: “beautiful by day, ugly by night.” This cycle is to be broken by true love’s kiss, which will give her “true love’s form.” But what is her true form?

Initially, Fiona sees herself as the archetypal princess awaiting rescue. She identifies with a group that includes Cinderella, Snow White, and others, adopting the characteristics she associates with them—waiting for a prince, singing to birds, and so on. To belong to a group is to find an identity. The philosopher David Hume proposed that our identity is largely a "bundle of perceptions"—a collection of traits shaped by how others perceive us, supported by our name, reputation, and appearance.

Shrek, for instance, accepts his identity as an ogre and concludes it’s easier to live alone in a swamp because that’s where society says he belongs. Donkey, on the other hand, seems to reject his identity, dreaming of being a stallion, yet he is simply called "Donkey," emphasizing that he is just one of many, without a unique name like Shrek or Fiona.

Over time, however, you learn to pay no mind to the labels and start trusting yourself. This is the wisdom the main characters ultimately embrace. They stop living by the book that tells them who they are supposed to be. Fiona could have remained human forever, living with the handsome human version of Shrek who rode in on a white horse. But she realizes her true form, the one revealed by true love, is not that of a helpless princess.

Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey remain themselves, and in doing so, they find their own, authentic happy ending. They teach us that we are all multi-layered, like an onion, and that beneath the outer shell that the world judges, there is so much more.

References

• Eco, Umberto, ed. On Ugliness. Translated by Alastair McEwen, MacLehose Press, 2007.

  This book provides a historical and philosophical exploration of what societies have considered "ugly." The chapters "The Ugly, the Comic, and the Obscene" and "Witches, Satan, and Sadism" are particularly relevant to the film's depiction of monstrous figures and its use of grotesque humor to challenge conventional standards of beauty (pp. 147-195).

• Hume, David. A Treatise of Human Nature. 1739. Book I, Part IV, Section 6, "Of Personal Identity."

  In this foundational text of empiricism, Hume argues against the idea of a permanent, unchanging self. He famously describes the self as "nothing but a bundle or collection of different perceptions." This concept directly relates to how the characters in Shrek grapple with identities imposed upon them by others' perceptions versus discovering a more authentic sense of self.

• Zipes, Jack. Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion: The Classical Genre for Children and the Process of Civilization. Routledge, 2nd ed., 2006.

  While not about Shrek specifically, this work examines how classic fairy tales have been used to socialize children into conforming to specific societal norms and values. It provides the critical context for understanding what Shrek is parodying, highlighting how the film subverts the traditional fairy tale's ideological function to promote a message of individuality and resistance to conformity.