Shrek is my hero. I really mean it. Shrek's heart is where it should be... focusing on what is inside, and not what the exterior looks like.
He falls in love with a beautiful princess, believes he has a chance with her, has his hopes dashed, and then when the truth comes out, he loves her even more.
Okay, so maybe that’s a little simplistic, but he does fall in love with a beautiful princess, and his hopes do get dashed. The neat thing is that even after he discovers her ogreness, he loves her even more. He loves her despite the fact that she is green, plump, and has pointed ears. Shrek holds out for true love.
I want a man like that. One who will see the princess inside of me and love me despite the fact that I look less like the former and more like the latter. My ears may not be pointed, and my skin doesn’t quite have a green cast to it, but I still have more in common with the princess turned ogre than the princess.
How refreshing it was to sit in the theater watching a movie that allowed the less than thin female find love. Hah! Not only was she less than thin, but she was green, too. It astounds me that this movie came from Hollywood, cartoon or not.
The leading lady transforms from a princess into an ogre, and still manages to find true love. As an ogre, she even has a few bumps, otherwise known as warts. But none of that matters, because the fella who loves her sees her through the eyes of love. Ah, to be loved like that.
It reminds me of an old wives tale I heard a long time ago. There was a woman who was less than pretty, and had reached an age so that her culture called her a spinster. A man traveling through her village came upon her and saw something special in her. He offered her father five cows as a dowry for her. Her father argued with him that his daughter wasn’t worth the five cows. The man insisted, married her, and took her to his home.
At some time in the future, the husband and wife returned to her village to visit family members left behind, and though she recognized them, they did not recognize her. When she saw herself through her husband’s eyes, she bloomed. He didn’t stop with her outward appearance, but placed a value on her for the qualities he saw in her. Covered in his love, she had the freedom to become the beautiful woman, the wife, that she had the capacity to be.
I may be a little older than the woman in this anecdote, but I do have qualities that make me special. Somewhere out there is a man who is willing to give five cows for me. Do you reckon he’ll mind that I look more like the ogre than the princess?
I wonder how many of you have similar love stories. If you care to share them, I’ll compile them and put them into a column for all of us to enjoy. In the meantime, I’m going to polish my silver and put a candle in the window for my Shrek.
