By Fran Eaton, Illinois Review
At the risk of sounding like a real ogre and with all pause, I’m going to have to give a thumbs down to this weekend’s box office hit, “Shrek the Third.”
The lovable Shrek debuted the third in a series this weekend, and while the big guy is taking unfair hits for American children’s skyrocketing obesity problem, there was another issue raised in the movie that I’ve seen no one yet address.
For me, it wasn’t the monstrous size of the lead character Shrek that was the problem with this newest release. Shrek and his sweet wife Fiona are what’s right with the story. They are large positive role models of common sense, compassion and honesty in a bizarre world of revengeful, evil fairy tale characters.
Shrek’s personal dilemma of overcoming the fears of becoming a father for the first time endears us all the more to the big guy. The ending is happy and prolife, which is great for kids and their fathers to see.
Shrek’s not the problem. It’s the awkward inclusion of a travestite and the uselessness of the character himself (herself?) in the story that is troubling.
Right in the midst of a warm “traditional family” setting, the film writers place a man dressed as a woman in with Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White (the good gals). The crossdressing character simply doesn’t make sense, except as a ploy to desensitize children and parents to transgenders.
Homosexual activists now are careful to not only use the term “LGBTs” as a unit, they are more boldly now declaring lesbians-gays-bisexuals-transgenders as a unit pushing together as one for civil rights. Those confused about their sexual roles are pushing for equal rights to be free to publicly demonstrate their odd sexual behavior. For transgenders, appearing to be a different sex in public is their particular turn on. We need to understand that acceptance of this sexual behavior is just another step moving our world toward sexual chaos.
It’s disturbing there’s not more outcry about this sly tactic being used in a movie made for children. But I suppose after being reminded recently of Jerry Falwell’s concern about the Teletubbies characters’ sexual orientations and the post-heaven going ridicule and hatred those who dare to question LGBTs tactics are likely to endure in the mainstream media after their passing, some have shyed away from publicly tackling the topic. That’s understandable.
But well-meaning parents who plan to take their kids to see a movie that grossed $122 million in the opening weekend should be aware . . . it’s the subtlety of the movie makers’ agenda to desensitize that could be more harmful to your children than encouraging them to eat sugary cereals in the morning.
Fran Eaton is editor of Illinois Review, a conservative blog.
