Film Ideology: Julie Angelicola

Shrek (2001)

Directors: Andrew Adamson & Vicky Jenson

I chose to write about the film Shreck because it operates with a very specific ideology. Lord Farquaad is the leader of Duloc. He is a complete and utter tyrant and rules his kingdom in an unfair and unjust manner. He places his own interests or the interests of a small oligarchy over the best interests of the general population which he governs and controls. There is a specifically set up class system in the film and you can see throughout the movie that there are those that are seen as outcasts, specifically Shreck the Ogre, as well as other lower class citizens such as the people lined up at the beginning of the film trying to make some money off of their unique belongings. These people present themselves and their findings to the royal court in the middle of the forest and either receive a few shillings or nothing at all, and are banned from then on. In this kingdom also exists magical creatures, fairytale creatures to be exact, that co-exist with the humans in the society. These characters are all looked at as being different.

Duloc is the prestigious city surrounded by the forest and swamp and now inhabited by the fairytale creatures much to Shrek’s dislik, because of Farquaad’s orders. You can see the division of labor in the film because we see most of the characters at work, whether they work for Lord Farquaad or have some kind of job around the city to keep the society running. Some of the men from the lower class are sent to rescue Princess Fiona so that Lord Farquaad doesn’t have to do the dirty work, and instead gets all the reward, a new bride all for himself and the new title of King of Duloc. Shrek is ultimately hired by Farquaad to rescue Fiona and in return he will get his beloved swamp back. Farquaad is also an opportunist because he sees that he no longer needs to bother using men, who can easily die, to carry out his tasks when Shrek can clearly beat them all out and survive things such as dragons. Shreck deals a lot with majority vs. minority. Shreck is the minority because he is the incredibly feared Ogre, but everything he thinks is true is shattered at the end when he finds out Princess Fiona is also an Ogre. His story and scenerio sets up the idea of alienation in the film. He lives by himself is feared by all, has no friends or family, and is completely cut off physically and emotionally from the people and world around him.

Other ideologies presented throughout the film are things such as valuing the rich over the poor. Men are killed one by one without the blink of an eye when men fight for the right to rescue Fiona. Toward the end of the film the things we are presented with initially that seem alien and scary, such as the dragon, become a soul part of why our protagonist wins and we end up rooting for her to win. The Dragon has formed an unlikely relationship with Donkey and ends up eating Lord Farquaad before he can marry Princess Fiona, just in time for her to transform from her curse and for Shrek and her to profess their love for one another. The film observes a tyrannical society by presenting the viewer with a story of love, loyalty, and the bravery to be yourself, as well as doing the right thing no matter what is accepted by the majority.