Why is Shrek 2 such a trans movie?
In the first edition of her new column SUBTEXTY, Rose Dommu unpacks the canonical sequel for its 20th anniversary. words by ROSE DOMMU image by AJ Pics / Alamy Stock Photo Every night at bedtime, I get down on my knees (Woah, chill out, pervs!), next to my CB2 bed frame (It’s sturdy, I recommend!), and bring my hands up in prayer. “Dear God,” I say, “or the Devil.
Whoever, I’m not picky. Please put Jennifer Saunders’ cover of ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ from Shrek 2 on Spotify.” Then I tuck myself in, watch a YouTube video essay about a Disney ride that closed in the mid-90s, and fall asleep.
In the 20 years since Shrek 2 was released, the eponymous ogre still looms large in our cultural consciousness. There are the memes, Instagram filters, crocs, tattoos, and plenty of Shrek erotica I shan’t link here because I’m a gatekeeper.
I’ve participated in the nostalgia for these movies from an admiring distance. I liked them when they came out, but they weren’t foundational for me in the way some other pieces of media were — I was a little too old to imprint.
