EDITORS' CORNER
OPINION: Yet, somehow Shrek’s weight gain, wrinkles are a sign of male ‘privilege’
Two professors joined a throng of internet commenters in criticizing the supposed thinning down and beautifying of the ogre Fiona in the newest “Shrek” film.
Ogres aren’t supposed to be pretty, and Fiona is still green and hefty. But some viewers detected subtle beautification efforts on the part of the DreamWorks animators, and that’s apparently a problem.
Mind you, this is all based on a few short glimpses of her character in the “Shrek 5” trailer. The film doesn’t come out until next year.
Hunter College Dean Erica Chito Childs speculated about the image changes in a recent interview with USA TODAY.
She believes the choice to beautify Fiona is part of a larger, “narrowing” view of “what women’s bodies are allowed to look like and an erasure of the diversity that once made a character powerful.”
“We have watched this happen in real life too, with women celebrities completely transforming their bodies and faces, and body positivity around larger bodies quietly disappearing from mainstream culture,” Childs told the news outlet:
“The ‘Shrek’ franchise built its entire heart around poking fun at film tropes, fairy tale conventions and the societal norms and expectations we have all absorbed, giving us characters who felt more like the rest of us rather than the fairy tale ideal,” Chito Childs explained. …
Now, the trailer threatens to undo all of that.
“We can only hope this is actually a critique, that showing Fiona transformed while Shrek ages is meant to highlight just how absurd and unequal those standards really are,” she added.
Others complained about Fiona’s “new look” by contrasting it with Shrek’s, her husband and fellow ogre. Some say he appears fatter and more wrinkled, so his wife should, too.
Melvin Williams, a media studies professor at Pace University, commented to USA TODAY, “…it should come as no surprise that Fiona is presented in ‘Shrek 5’ as visibly slimmer and youthful, while Shrek, as a fat man, is afforded the gendered privilege of aging and gaining weight.”
No matter that, in real life (and this is a fairy tale), most people’s weight does fluctuate over the years. No matter that this is entertainment, meant to entice viewers. No matter that we don’t know the plot line yet.
And I’d wager a guess that “privilege” isn’t how most middle-aged men think about hair loss, weight gain, and wrinkles.
But Williams and Childs are right about one thing: there is an underlying problem. It’s just not the one they claimed it was.
The problem is that in an effort to be more accepting and less judgmental, to make people feel good about themselves, we’ve turned health and beauty into problems.
Underneath the concepts of acceptance and self-worth are a fundamental truth: Human life is valuable. But Williams and Childs are misguided in their ideas about how society should embrace that. Being fat does not change someone’s worth. But losing weight often helps with their health and overall sense of well-being; it can lengthen and bring more enjoyment and value to life.
It’s time to stop twisting good things into bad ones, and instead start finding ways to notice and celebrate what’s beautiful.
MORE: Oregon State U. students to explore gender, race, sexuality in animated Disney films
