Savage Princesses

by Barros Paola & Gulin Rocío

Have you ever thought about being a member of the royalty who doesn’t behave as an expected one? Surely, most of the people have once dreamt of being a damsel, a prince, a King or a Queen. But they probably wanted to be like the stereotyped members of the royalty. That is to say that they pictured themselves looking extremely beautiful; behaving like a lady or a gentleman; marrying to a handsome prince or a gorgeous princess, who would have taken care of them unconditionally; and living happily ever after in a  luxurious castle.

Instead of being faithful to themselves, blue blood people behave and act the way society expects. Therefore, they try to please everyone. This is not the case of the “Shrek” saga films, in which princesses are shown in a different and modern way. Thus, they do not follow the traditional stereotype.

These lovely and epic films intend to break the traditional expectations on women. In other films about crown princesses, they are portrayed as weak and dependent ladies who are rescued by a wonderful prince. But the opposite occurs in the “Shrek” saga films, in which princesses are shown as strong women. Eventually, Fiona, who is the main female character, is the main exponent of the outbreak of a new kind of princess. She is a strong independent woman owning a lot of talents and distinctive features: one of them is the ability of fighting. She can be seen combating in many scenes. In the first film, called “Shrek” she fights against the Merry men; in the second one, she knocks prince Charming; and in “Shrek the third”, she saves Shrek, her husband, from death. Also, Fiona and the rest of the blue blood girls give battle together to save the kingdom while men are kept in prison; lastly, in the forth film, she saves herself from the tower when reality had been changed by Shrek. Moreover, in the last film, she is the leader of all the ogres when trying to initiate a war against Rumpelstilskin since she became a warrior.

A remarkable Fiona’s feature is her behavior. Her manners are far from femininity for she acts naturally without giving importance to people’s opinion. Examples of her manners are presented in all the saga when she burps and farts. A funny and illustrative scene can be seen in the first film when Shrek, Donkey and Fiona are walking after having breakfast, and Shrek burps in front of them. He immediately apologizes; however, Fiona belches even louder, surprising both Shrek and Donkey.

The standards of beauty are the central part of the plot. In the first film, Fiona wishes to be rescued and kissed by a prince to break the spell on her, which makes her look like an ogre at nights. The surprise comes at the end of the film when she falls in love with Shrek and they kiss. So, she adopts the shape of her true love, an ogre. In addition, in the second film Fiona has the possibility to change her appearance through a potion, but she decides to remain the same, giving the message that love celebrates a victory over beauty. What’s more, not only does she resign her beauty but also her royal life. So that she embraces a simple life in a humble house in the forest.

“Shrek” films show a new transcendental version of princesses. They are valiant strong independent women who fight for their desires. Their behavior is not conventional, which makes them definitely a fresh present day referent of the new outbreaking kind of princesses in the 21st century.