So I want to welcome you to the Symbolic World podcast.

This podcast is taken from videos that I've been making for about a year.

And so this recording of my discussion on Shrek was actually done last year in June 2017.

And so I want to really apologize for the quality of the audio.

But you'll see as the podcast

moves along, the audio will be getting

better and better as my own technical

skills have improved and are still

improving hopefully.

Music This is Jonathan Peugeot. Welcome to the symbolic world. In my last video, I discussed the pathology of the center, the pathology of identity,

by using Guardians of the Galaxy as an example.

And I want to move towards explaining the pathology of the margin as well, the chaos

of the margin. But before we get there, we need to discuss the transition of one pathology to the

other. And to do that, what better way is there than comparing the movie Shrek to the Greek drama Baki by Euripides.

It just seemed like the obvious comparison to make.

So the movie Shrek is an upside-down fairy tale.

And because it is upside down, it is one of the most illuminating movies ever made for someone who wants

to understand the periphery, because the peripheral elements are put in the spotlight.

So now a trick for those who want to interpret symbolism. If you want to understand a movie,

it's best to pay attention to the beginning, for in the catalyst of a story, the

movie usually announces itself, reveals its symbolic structure, and this is the case here.

The movie starts with Shrek, reading the basic fairy tale motif of the princess held

...