 Okers don't live happily ever after. So who does? Well, as the fairy godmother decides it, only those who are beautiful. Shrek 2 is an amazing movie that builds on all of the successes of its first film. To me, the musical numbers are stronger, the pace of the film moves quicker, and they add in new characters and revisit old ones that really enhance the movie, looking at you, Puss in Boots, and the Gingerbread Man. But the strongest new addition, the fairy godmother, plays a critical role in the film and quickly becomes one of Shrek and Fiona's great antagonists in the pursuit of her rather simple goal, which is to get her son, Prince Charming, to marry Fiona. I want to look at how she does this and how the film approaches the idea of attractiveness, beauty and happiness, and how this is all tied to Shrek and Fiona's story. First of course with the fairy godmother, I have to mention her I Need a Hero song which is just an amazing sequence as a whole, probably the most iconic of this series. With that out of the way, let's look at fairy godmothers. Fairy godmothers in fairy tales such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and others are usually magic wielding beings that exist to guide and support the heroine on their journey. Essentially they ensure that happily ever after comes true for the main character. In fairy godmother's introduction in Shrek 2 is the very same way. She finds Princess Fiona crying, our heroine, and immediately breaks into song with the intent to help her, as happiness is only a tear drop away. Shrek and Fiona's story up until this point has been about identity, self-acceptance, and love. Shrek, the hideous creature who has been turned into a recluse because of society's rejection of him, who rescues the princess, and Fiona who is ultimately the one person who doesn't judge Shrek based on what he looks like. And on the other hand, Fiona who is terrified of her ogre form, Shrek is the one who finds her beautiful regardless of her form. The two fall in love with the person rather than their appearances. Mary Ryan's chapter on Shrek and the female body image writes that Fiona finally learns that there is no one standard or ideal of what is considered beautiful, despite what society had led her to believe. This confidence they've created through each other and for themselves carries over into this sequel, but its fairy godmother's manipulation of these ideas, and of their profound love, is what makes her the perfect antagonist, as she represents everything that is against confidence in what is not the beauty standard. Already from the film's opening act, Shrek shows some anxiety when it comes to his appearance. As Fiona's parents ask to see them and to give their royal blessing to the couple, but they don't know that they are an ogre couple, and this is magnified when Fiona's father passively attacks Shrek for the way he looks, creating issues not only for Shrek, but for Fiona, who only wants their family to be happy, thus introducing fairy godmother. And the very first musical number performed by the fairy states her intention and her contrast to the ogre's rather clearly. Looking at some of these lyrics, there are a few lines that stand out. Cellulite thighs that will fade away, a nip and tuck here and there, and your prince will have rock hard abs. This is about body image and the modification of it, just as it is in real life, fairy godmother acts like a plastic surgeon, as movie editor Josh Larson writes. She continuously instructs the masses that in order for you to be happy, you need to look a certain way. And if you don't, you will not live happily ever after. If Fiona doesn't get that nip and tuck, have her cellulite fade away and become skinny, white, and perfect again, she won't ever be happy. She won't ever marry that perfect prince. Now of course she says this not knowing who Shrek is, but this shows us that fairy godmother is the arbiter of what is beautiful, as her potions and her words demonstrate. But this beauty standard doesn't only affect Fiona. In this film we see how it affects Shrek psychologically, pertaining to his apprehension at the beginning of the film. Again fairy godmother goes against everything that Shrek as a movie and as a character represents. When Shrek finds Fiona's diary, and it's filled with her prince charming having a very particular look about him, it again grows Shrek's insecurity, which brings him to fairy godmother's doorstep. Fairy godmother saw that Fiona had confidence in who she was, but the fact that Shrek approached her showed a great amount of doubt present in the ogre. And so fairy godmother simply implants this idea into Shrek that ogres don't get happy endings. Not only to discourage Shrek, but also understanding how much he cares about Fiona and how far he is willing to go for her happiness. And here fairy godmother's plan was to use this idea of a perfect prince, a beautiful one, to discourage Shrek so much that he would believe that he couldn't ever make Fiona truly happy. And so he'd be replaced by nobody other than the perfect prince, charming. Going back to this scene, all of these fairy tales that fairy godmother mentions, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, etc. They are all tangible proofs that ogres don't have a place in stories about princesses and about happiness. Because these stories all exist, and it's true princesses don't marry ogres. This is the very same Shrek who sure was hurt because he was cast aside by society, but he managed to build a barrier for himself that defended himself against the world. But it was also the very same barrier that Fiona broke down. So when fairy godmother attacks the one thing Shrek cares about, more than anything, the one person who changed him, she succeeds. When Shrek talks to fairy godmother, his error was in mentioning that Fiona wasn't exactly happy. We know that happiness is the key word for fairy godmother and in this case, this was the thread she needed to get right into Shrek's mind and to manipulate it. It's evil and cruel, but it's brilliant at the same time, and again lends itself to the bigger theme of Shrek and Fiona's story, beauty and happiness. Fairy godmother as a business and as a person in this film, succeeds through manipulation and the maintenance of the status quo. Fairy godmother takes advantage of individuals who are unhappy, leads them into believing that their appearance is what's wrong, changes their appearance and gains leverage over them. Just as she did to Fiona's father, the frog turned human and in exchange for that, his royal daughter would marry fairy godmother's son, just like the fairy tale. But it's not only that she takes advantage of these people, rather it's the way in which it happens. In the Shrek world, much like our own, what is considered normal, the standard is what is okay and acceptable, it's what is beautiful. If fairy godmother's business is to help people look beautiful, she needs what is considered beautiful to never change. She profits off beauty and actively maintains it. Much like ours, the standard for what is considered beautiful in the Shrek world runs through size and color, whiteness and thinness. When donkey and Shrek drink the happily ever after potion, which is marketed as happiness, comfort and beauty divine, donkey turns into a white stallion, considered now beautiful and attractive. Shrek turns into a bulky white man and before we are even shown what he looks like, three women are immediately drawn to him. When he and donkey parade the streets of far far away, they are now considered beautiful and attractive. Fiona's beauty divine is going back to what she looked like previously, and considering the first Shrek film and the reactions she had when she was turned into an ogre, when she's green and bigger, she's seen as this grotesque beast. Beauty divine isn't decided by the character, it's decided by fairy godmother, because if it was decided by the individual, Fiona wouldn't have changed. At this point she had already considered herself beautiful. This manipulation of so many people profiting off the beauty standard and people's insecurities and gaining celebrity status, along with her ability to adapt to each new obstacle that was presented to her, really shows off how innovative and twisted fairy godmother was. Her workers don't even have dental. Further, her plan to make charming fall in love with Fiona using the love potion through the manipulation of Fiona, King Harold and Shrek nearly succeeded. Considering all of these things, fairy godmother's adaptability and her intelligence makes her a truly great villain, but the way she diametrically opposes Shrek, Fiona and their ideals makes her the perfect antagonist. To close on a final note on the idea of beauty attractiveness and happiness in Shrek, in this film we see through Shrek's lens that fairy tales aren't for ugly people. They are for those who fit the beauty standards. They are for beautiful attractive people, the people who apparently deserve it. When Shrek comes along, fairy godmother says the exact same thing to him. Ogres don't get happy endings and they don't get to live happily ever after. This notion that ugly people don't get to have nice things, they don't get to be treated kindly, or are they even deserving of love? Because in that world, only the beautiful deserve happiness. But with Shrek's story, it's evident that all that matters is how kind your heart is. Even Shrek who was cast aside by society, had every reason to and did hate everyone, had it in his heart to do good things when the time came to do them. He and Fiona were there to love each other and to find beauty in each other. I think Mary Ryan wrote it best when she said that when portraying a heroine and a hero I might add in Shrek and Fiona, that quote, is far from society's expected standards of what is considered beautiful and yet who was still shown as happy, healthy and loved, Shrek is sending a positive message to viewers that beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, and that confidence and personality are what will ultimately shine through and make someone attractive. The most beautiful, attractive thing online is security, and it'll make you really happy too. One might think that being online under a fake username and photo is enough for anonymity, but it really isn't. As your IP address, the one thing that can't be hidden, can shred that anonymity in an instant. Atlas VPN is a tool that encrypts your data and hides your virtual location, giving you complete privacy and security from any possible cyber attack. 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