Explore the ways Shrek and the Practical Princess subvert Stereotypes!

by cloexx (student)

Zohal JALALY

Subvert means to go against something but conform means that it will fit in stereotypes. Stereotypes are things what other people expect to see for example, a stereotypical princess is pretty, has manners and waits for a handsome prince to come rescue her while modern woman have a job, they can look after themselves and are clever. Shrek and the practical princess subvert because they are both against stereotypes. The writer subverts the stereotypes because they wanted to show that modern people don’t have to wait for a handsome prince to come rescue them when they can stand up for yourself.

Cinderella conforms original fairy tales, because it has the main features of a stereotypical princess and prince. This is because brave prince rescues the hopeless and beautiful Cinderella from her evil stepmother. The writer has done this to show that good people are always rescued at the end. In fairy tales such as Snow white, the handsome, riding prince comes saves the beautiful princess from dying. This reveals to the audience that, sometimes stereotypes can be right and it can help make the understanding of the movie more clearly.

The movie ‘Shrek’ conforms stereotypes as well as subverting them because there is a fire breathing dragon in the story. This is because when Shrek the ogre was saving Princess Fiona, the dragon appeared and started breathing fire on them to stop them getting away. The writer had done this to show that dragons are a type of characters that is used for a dilemma when the prince is saving the princess. In fairy tales such as Rapunzel, there is a fire breathing dragon sitting beside the huge tower to prevent the prince from climbing up the princess’s hair and ...

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The story ‘Practical Princess’ conforms stereotypes as well as subverting them because the characters that are evil are ugly and the characters that are good are pretty. This is because Bedelia is really pretty and is good however Lord Quarp is a really fat and ugly which means he is evil. The writer has done this to show that ugly people means they are mean and evil and pretty people mean they are good. But the writer has also done this to make the audience sure of what type of characters they are and what side are they on. In fairy tales such as Cinderella, the princess is always the pretty and good one therefore her stepmother is the evil one and bosses the princess around. This reveals to the audience that sometimes stereotypes can be right about how you look will effect on people’s opinions.

The movie ‘Shrek’ subverts stereotypes because Princess Fiona knows karate and also knows how to defeat someone. This is because Fiona was going to be taken away from Shrek by Lord Farquhar’s soldiers but Fiona didn’t want to be taken away so she used her karate to defeat all the soldiers. The writer had done this to show that you don’t have to wait for a prince to defeat them for you when you can stand up for yourself and use karate. In addition, the writer has done this to show some surprise and tense to the audience because it is not a stereotypical movie which people have already seen lots of times. In fairy tales, stereotypical princesses were to wait for a handsome prince to come rescue her. This reveals to the audience that you don’t have to wait for a prince to come rescue you because a modern woman can look after herself with karate.

The story ‘Practical Princess’ subverts stereotypes because Prince Persian has a very long beard instead of Bedelia having long hair. When Bedelia got locked up in a tower by Lord Quarp because she refused to marry him, she found a prince fast asleep in the corner called Prince Persian. So, Prince Persian helped Bedelia get down the castle by climbing down his long beard. The writer had done this to show that boys can have long beards as well as girls having long hair. The writer has also done this to show some humour that boys can have really long beards that are the size of a castle. In fairy tales, such as Rapunzel princesses had really long hair for their brave prince to climb up the castle with. This reveals to the audience that, not only girls have long hair but boys can have long beards too. It also reveals, how long the princess or prince is been locked up in the castle by looking at how long their hair is.

The movie ‘Shrek’ links with the ‘Practical Princess’ because Fiona and Bedelia were going to be taken away from greedy lords. Bedelia was going to be taken away from an evil lord called Lord Quarp so he could marry the princess and be the next King to take place on the throne. He could only do this when he marries a princess. However, Princess Fiona was going to be taken away by another evil, rich lord called Lord Farquhar and get married to her for the same purpose as Lord Quarp, to be king. The writer has done this to show that this world is home to many greedy and selfish people but also to show some tense to the audience that the princess is not going to marry a charming prince. In fairy tales such as Cinderella, there were no greedy lords, only wicked stepmothers. This reveals to the audience that, sometimes things might not go as planned and the princess might not marry the charming prince after all. It also reveals that sometimes stereotypes can be wrong.

Altogether, I think Shrek and the practical princess subverts stereotypes of fairy tales such as Cinderella. This is because in the movie ‘Shrek’ Princess Fiona knows karate and how to look after herself. However in the story ‘Practical Princess’ Prince Persian had a long beard instead of Bedelia having long hair. The writers of these stories made it so successful that the viewer cannot help but to watch on. Also, the writer has made the story very clear but not that clear so that the viewer will know what happens next. They can just keep guessing ON!