#something that changed with shrek and fiona. they did a lot for moving far far away forward

[dafriend]

actively watching shrek the musical and when the magic mirror asks if he wishes to invite his father (who, by the way, is Grumpy. of snow white fame. you can tell.) to his wedding to fiona, :

F: “My what?” M: “Well your - your father, my liege.” F: “You mean that horrible little man who tried to keep me down my whole life? That mal-tempered monster, that vile grunt who abandoned me in the woods as a child?” M: “Well, he did have his reasons -” F: “Mirror, please. My father simply couldn’t accept that I wanted nothing to do with the family business. That lowly, dirty family business.”

and goes on into a whole song about his daddy issues. full of jokes of course, the farquaad and his father stuff is all largely played for laughs. but you can really tell how much that affected him growing up and how that kind of thing can manifest in negative ways into your adulthood when you can't properly process it or work through it. especially when, like the mirror, people outside of it often want to try and turn the blame on the neglected child and not the neglectful adult. what reason does a father have for abandoning his child? for being distant? especially after the death of his mother? a vulnerable child who needs extra support to work through a difficult time, completely shut out and ignored by someone who is meant to care for them? he's left to fend for himself mostly, he's left to process the loss of a parent alone. he's then left to process the loss of the other as well - a father who barely muttered a single word to him aside from 'heigh ho' before going off to work. of course he has trouble with his emotions and he's got all this rage that boils within him - which is only supported by his father being a constantly angry grump, that only adds fuel to the fire. and while he does feel a grand sense of pride that he's managed to grow up and out of the squalor he was raised in - he's the lord of duloc, his father is still sleeping seven to a bed and working day in and out in the mines - it also still feels like his entire sense of self was built on wanting to prove a point to his father rather than true self fulfillment. does he even really know what he desires? he's just driven by wanting to be bigger than his father and doing whatever is necessary to get there. he's lord of duloc - whats next? being king, i guess. but then what comes after that? whats the end goal? he struggles finding a true identity outside of doing it all for spite. he was still going to marry fiona after the reveal that she's one of those 'horrid fairytale creatures' just to become king and then lock her away! in his ambition to get to the top and send the ultimate 'fuck you' message to his father, he kind of winds up becoming just as bad, if not worse than him. because locking your wife away is just as bad as accidentally being the reason the princess you were married to dies and then internalizing your guilt and shutting your son out. anyways idk where this ramble was going but like farquaad has layers brother, just like ogres and onions do, and maybe things would be different if his mom had lived or even if his father had been anyone but grumpy.

[xwillstudy-blog]

In the movie world, it is common for companies to be present in a movie because they helped sponsor said movie. The placement of these products and company logos can be both important to the plot of the story, or they can be irrelevant, obvious, annoying, and ultimately a mockery of the company and product in itself. Cinemasins has honored this annoying movie and tv trope as a sin called Product Placement, and in this, I will explain why this cliche deserves to be a movie and tv sin.

Let’s begin with the less obvious product placements. In Shrek, there is a scene where Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey arrive in Far Far Away and scattered around the scene, there are little product placements sprinkled here and there. Starting from the left, there is a Starbucks sign, moving toward the center, the Hollywood sign has been morphed to better the movie, and finally, on the far right, as the video proclaims, there is a Burger “Prince” nestled comfortably in the corner of the screen. Each of these little details is supposed to incite a chuckle from the viewer that notices them. The movie itself is about making fun of fairytale cliches by going against them with pop culture. The addition of these product placements helps the movie serve that purpose while also not being too direct and annoying.

Moving forward, another less obvious product placement is seen in Blank Panther in the “parade of black villainous SUVs” pulling up. Unlike later in the movie when there is a rather obvious product placement for a new car - the one that Shuri is driving in her holographic machine, the black vans are not directly trying to catch the audience’s attention about the specific car. It is more to show “the bad guy has arrived.”

An example of an obvious car product placement in a movie is Daddy’s Home the Ford Flex introduction scene. Throughout the movie, the car is used as an important prop, showing how uncool and geeky the main character is as a father. However, this is nowhere more apparent than in the very first introduction of the character’s personality. He goes from talking about how he loves being a stepdad straight into how he “loves his Ford Flex.” It could be seen as humorous to the audience because he is so direct. It could be interpreted like he is actively trying to break the 4th wall with the product placement, but it was ineffective and mostly annoying. A scene where he is simply smiling while driving in said car would have been just as effective.

Horror movies are also subject to the Product Placement sin as seen by the ever loved “Paranormal Activity.” In Paranormal Activity, there is a scene where Micah stand directly in front of the camera to adjust the lighting and such, and he does so for a pretty drawn out time. It is understandable that this is apart of a movie because the movie is shot like a home video, and it is meant to be him relaxing in regular clothes, but why choose CoinNet as the random shirt he was wearing. Movie directors are intentional in their every shot, so this use of product placement was ineffective. As Cinemasins said, “It lasts entirely too long, and is also entirely ineffective since I don’t know what they do, nor do I care.” In a car sponsorship, it is obvious that the movie is trying to sell the car as either fast, comfortable, or sexy; the purpose of the specific car is clear. The CoinNet did not provide a purpose and therefore, it was mostly just annoying filler.

Action movies are known for including products in their movies. Most times the products used actually serve a purpose, introducing something or someone, creating tension, being comedic relief, or aiding the protagonist in his or her fight against the main bad guy or girl. Three examples of direct and plot related product placement are Ready Player One’s Pizza Hut and Drone scene, The Losers’ Dunkin Donuts Copter crash, and the Emoji Movie’s everything.  

In Ready Player One, as the main character is explaining this world he now lives in, filled with high-tech devices and lazy people who wish not to face reality, there is a scene where a Pizza Hut box is being delivered to a person by a drone. It is ironic because it parallels to our world now. It is also not subtle in the slightest. Unlike other aforementioned placements, this one is not overly exerted and it does relate to what the story is talking about - a future where technology makes life better. The Dunkin Donuts Copter scene in The Losers, in contrast, does not use the product placement to further the plot. Pooch and Aisha are arguing about Pooch’s skills and in the middle of the verbal disagreement, a huge Dunkin Donuts billboard comes out of nowhere and they nearly crash. Of course, the billboard scene is supposed to be irony because it almost proves that Pooch can’t drive anything, but the humor of Aisha calling out “Donut. Donut. Donut!” is funny. The billboard could have been anything else - a phone, a baby, a whale, and it would have had the same effect.

Pointless isn’t the word I would use to describe most product placements. They are usually funny, if nothing else. Sometimes they serve to offer assistance to the plot of the story. Most times, they are there because the movie had to give credit to companies that helped sponsor the movie. One movie, though, takes away all my hope for product placement. This movie is The Emoji Movie. Off the back, one has to realize there will be pointless attempts at humor in the movie because the characters are emojis. But the blatant product placement in the movie is so glaringly obvious that it is almost impossible to highlight specific scene. You could talk about the Candy Crush scene where the main characters actually have to explain the rule of the game and then play it to move on with the movie. One could mention the scene where Alex is going through his home screen and the audience gets to see all the apps he has stored on his phone - subtle but not really. The worst, though, has to be Just Dance scene where Christina Aguilera welcomes the main characters, explains the rule of the game in an overly hyper voice, and then the character precedes to dance around, smiling widely as if the game is just that exciting and fun. With as many of the apps that were mentioned, it is almost impossible for the audience to ignore the reason for the movie. The Product Placement scene is supposed to be for fun, to highlight in a humorful way the audience caught the wink from the movie about a certain company or product. The Emoji Movie didn’t do that. It is a beautiful example of how movies overuse, violate, and destroy the purity of a simple nod towards a product. Usually, if a movie were to replace the used product with something different, the content would still be the same, maybe with a little bit of the meaning changing. The movie would still be the movie with the small revision. The Emoji Movie is unable to do this. When the majority of one’s plot focuses on the product placement, where is the enjoyment for the story.  

Overall, Product Placement or Direct Sponsorship are can shape a movie for the better. Most car product placement do this because they add to the illusion of whatever the movie is trying to sell about the character owning the car. Specific clothing brands do the same, but these are usually a lot more subtle. Food and drinks brands are the most common in movies because they can go unnoticed or they can add to the plot, depending on the way the movie’s director decides to include them. Popular electronics like Beats and iPhones are the norm in movies today, but they can be overused and sell this idea that all Americans have the privilege and the movie to buy and maintain these sorts of luxury items. In the end, there is absolutely nothing wrong with product placement...when used correctly. A product, company, or brand should be seen or mentioned slightly to allow the audience to know what it does and why it is important to the plot. The item’s use in the movie should be hint enough to the audience without the movie trying to directly sell it. All movies should keep in mind one thing when deciding on sponsorship deals; Never be another The Emoji Movie.

Viewer Discretion is Advised For Each of the following videos if you decide to watch the Cinemasins on them:

Friends - Pottery Barn

Shrek - Starbucks, Hollywood, Burger Prince

Black Panther - “Villainous Black SUV”

Daddy’s Home - Ford Flex

Ready Player One - Pizza Hut

The Losers - Dunkin Donuts

Paranormal Activity - CoinNet T-Shirt

The Emoji Movie - EVERYTHING