MetaChat - I just went to see the new Shrek

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31 May 2007

I just went to see the new Shrek →[More:] Shouldn't primogeniture have dictated that Fiona automatically become queen rather than Shrek, Puss and Donkey sailing off to collect Artie? Yeah, it's made clear that she's happier in the swamp and there's a girl power scene, but I think it would have been better if the movie had been structured around her reluctance to be queen rather than having the plot depicting a male ruler as being the only option.

post by: brujita at: 01:41 | 6 comments

Iraq: Women forced to give up their jobs, marriages

posted by felix betachat 31 May | 01:54

Actually, traditional rules of primogeniture dictate that it can't pass to women. Thus the need for all those Jane Austen characters to find men. Without a male heir the land passed to the nearest male relative.

Of course, there are modern rules that would support what you are saying (i.e., Queen Elizabeth) but then again...I'm not sure how these rules apply to Ogres.

posted by Lola_G 31 May | 09:19

See agnatic primogeniture aka salic.

It totally depends on the country. Generally the laws have become less restrictive. The UK has cognatic, meaning that Elizabeths I and II inherited because there were no brothers, older or younger, available to take the throne.

Oddly, the primogeniture laws of the UK have changed, but not necessarily those of Commonwealth countries like Canada. The possibility, however slight, exists for a divergence in the royal lines if there is a complicated inheritance situation.

Luxembourg and Holland used to have the same line, but differing succession rules meant that they eventually didn't.

But more pertinent for the movie, there were often points in time when there were several reasonable heirs, and the one who ended up with the crown was the one with the biggest army.

posted by stilicho 31 May | 11:39

I was thinking about what happened with Queen Christina of Sweden, who ruled, then abdicated 350 years ago.

posted by brujita 31 May | 13:23

stilicho: But more pertinent for the movie, there were often points in time when there were several reasonable heirs, and the one who ended up with the crown was the one with the biggest army.

Hahaha!

posted by halonine 31 May | 14:07

agnatic

Holy fuck, I hadn't heard that word since undergrad (anthro major).

*has flashbacks*

posted by pieisexactlythree 31 May | 18:25

← A: If the nun ... precedes a ya with a shadda ... then the nun is left silent. || A shouting thread →

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