A Moment of Your Time? Let's Discuss This Shrek Meme.
Perhaps this is to rage bait fans of the franchise, and the joke is going right over my head. Nevertheless, this trend of completely missing the point of the movie pops up not only with Shrek but also with other movies such as Titanic. Shrek is not complex: As an ironic twist on fairytale tropes, Fiona chose love, which she found in an ogre, over status. That's as straightforward as it gets. Most of us saw Shrek for the first time as children and understood that.
These days, there is a corner of the internet that is reducing Fiona's decision to reject royalty down to a single characteristic: Farquaad's height. According to these folks, Fiona found Lord Farquaad's size so appalling that she would rather spend an eternity with an ogre than with him. This concept is absurd. It implies two different things that are simply not true. Fiona choosing a "literal ogre" implies that she chose the lesser of the two options. Don't get me wrong: I love Farquaad, but I love him for being the iconic villain that he is, not because he's a good person. Forget comprehending the film: did these people even watch the movie?
Farquaad ships all of the fairytale creatures to Shrek's swamp, and in order for Shrek to win his OWN LAND back, he is sent on a quest to rescue Fiona. Farquad doesn't rescue her himself: heaven forbid he get his royal hands dirty. He sent the ogre to do the work for him banking on the chance that he will be killed in the process. If Farquaad wasn't being such a selfish jerk and rescued Fiona himself, she would have never met Shrek to begin with. Off the bat, the ogre is already the more formidable suitor for the princess. Farquaad doesn't give Shrek a separate prize for this. I remind you: the reward was returning Shrek's swamp that Farquaad took to begin with.
Speaking of ogres, that leads me to the second false implication of that meme. You know who else is "a literal ogre"? That's right: Fiona. To describe Shrek as if he was this complete other from Fiona is laughable. Again. Is anyone paying attention? Fiona is part ogre and part human. Only the kiss of her true love could break the spell. The whole point of Shrek is that Fiona's true love isn't a human. It's why the franchise exists. It's why the movie is named after the main character. It's not called Lord Farquad. And his royal F, being the saint that he is, is so disgusted by half of Fiona's identity that he orders his guards to arrest both Shrek and Fiona at the alter.
Another thing about Lord F: he's insecure. Deluded even. Why else ride a horse with fake armored legs longer than your own? Why position yourself to give an illusion to the people that you are taller than your servants? Why is your figurine on top of your wedding cake taller than the bride's figurine? That is not an accurate representation of his actual proportions. Farquaad has issues accepting the reality of his physique. How could he then expect anyone else to accept him as he is if he can't even do that for himself?
Additionally, Farquaad did not love Fiona for who she was. He saw her as an accessory. She was a means to an end so that he could have the title of King instead of Lord. This man, I remind you, already rules the land as a bachelor. Fiona is simply being used for arm candy. How superficial is that? Besides, even if Fiona did choose Farquaad over Shrek, even if she did kiss him, she would still turn into an orge at night, and Farquaad would have most likely ordered her to be executed. Why? Simple: Fiona didn't love Farquad. He wasn't her true love. Fiona fell in love with the ogre who had an entire movie named after him. She chose Shrek over Farquaad. Over Prince charming. Over HUMAN SHREK.
Let's say that this particular meme I shared is just a troll. He'd still be mocking an actual cohort of the internet that truly believes that Farquaad was the better option. How unfortunate.
