Mobility In Shrek

The movie I chose to watch was Shrek. Shrek was released in 2001 by Dream Works production and is an Animated filmed, spanning 120 minutes. The main characters are: Shrek, Donkey, Princess Fiona, Lord Farquaad, Dragon, Snow White , Cinderella, Captain of the Guard. The main events are mentioned in this summary where in a far away swamp, lived an ogre named Shrek whose precious solitude is suddenly shattered by an invasion of annoying fairy tale characters. They were all banished from their kingdom by the evil Lord Farquaad. Determined to save their home, not to mention his own, Shrek cuts a deal withLord Farquaad and sets out to rescue Princess Fiona to be Farquaad's bride. Rescuing the Princess may be small compared to her deep, dark secret. Her secret is that is bares a curse, that turns her into an ogre after dark. To cure this curse, she must be kissed by her Prince Charming. Shrek went to rescue her and did so successfully, eventually they got married and lived happily ever after.

Movies are agents of socialization and Shrek is no different. Shrek promotes social mobility which may be defined as the movement from one social class to another. This movie exemplifies social mobility as Shrek rises to eventually become part of the royal family, of the Land of Far Far Away, even though he was just a swamp ogre. It also promotes social

stratification which refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. In the Land of Far Far Away, the capital city of the empire in Shrek, it is perfectly clear that some groups have greater status, power, and wealth than other groups. Shrek lived in a swamp and lived by eating bugs and squeamish things. He knew nothing about trade and wealth creation, yet, he was listed among the lowest of the society. The hierarchy is: The King and the Royal Family ( upper class ), Lord Farquaad, the Captain of the Guard and the army ( middle class ), Workers and other residents of Far Far Away (working lower class ), Shrek and Donkey ( lower class ).
One positive aspect of culture is that even though there were clear lines of social stratification, the lines were crossed from the very bottom to the very top. Shrek moved from being the least of the societal strata, as an ogre, and married the princess, becoming a “Prince Charming” in his own right. Also, he did all of these things, without any ulterior motive, as a matter of fact, he didn't want to be elevated to his seeming fate. Positively, the Land of Far Far Away had a culture that made it possible for persons to be elevated to lofty positions, regardless of one’s origin or family background or even financial status.
One negative aspect of culture to be found in Shrek is that, as said before, the lines of social stratification were too well defined in Shrek.

Persons were so rich that they didn't know what to do with their wealth; however, they did everything except share it with the less fortunate and that seemed to be a strong message being transmitted via this movie. Shrek was shun because of how he looked and who he was. He wasn't known for his wealth and prowess and thus was shunned to live in the swamps. When he fell in love with the princess, even some of the members of the middle class did not approve of his relationship with the

princess.
Other sociological findings based on the movie Shrek is that we notice People behave differently in groups than they do as individuals. In the movie, Shrek, Lord Farquaard behaved differently while he was socializing with others than when he was by himself. When he was with others, he put forward a very hard exterior and personality that cause persons to be afraid of him and seemingly tried to compensate for his height. At the same time, while he was by himself, he was seemingly a coward and his self esteems was very vulnerable. Another finding is that some people have more say-so than others in making the rules. In Shrek, the king and the lord had all the say as to the laws that were made, sometimes on the spot, for example, Lord Farquaard decided to make a law saying that, there will some games and whoever wins will have the opportunity of going to rescue the Princess. That law and decree was made on the spot, literally “off the top of his head”
Based on my findings, this a movie I would want my child to internalize. The movie has negatives and positives, however, it speaks social stratification, culture bias, social Mobility, wealth and prowess. Though many of the lessons are seemingly subliminal, they are quite vivid. Children, will learn, from and early age, that society will want to determine your place in life and what you can and cannot accomplish and do. However, Just like Shrek, if you are honest, smart, and stay true to yourself, you can accomplish great things.you do not have to stay in the swamp of life and you consider everyone your equal. Shrek decided to change his circumstance for himself and persons like him and was not afraid to tactically approach “the powers that be” to get things sorted out for himself and his friends.