I Know It's Today

I'm not a huge fan of Shrek: the Musical...personally I take issue with random movies that become musicals just to further the franchise...but that is an entirely different topic for another day.  Anyways, a friend of mine gave me the soundtrack a while back, and this song came up on my iPhone the other day in the car:

(if you want to read the lyrics go here:
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/shrekthemusical/iknowitstoday.htm)

It struck me just how culturally relevant this song actually is.  How many girls of my generation are waiting and waiting and waiting for their knight in shining armor or Prince Charming to appear?  For those of you that know the story of Shrek, Fiona's rescuer is not anything like what she imagined - not even close to the stereotypical Prince Charming.  But that doesn't mean he isn't her perfect match.  I think there is a lesson to be learned here.

I find these lines to be particularly insightful:  "There's a princess / Any princess / Take your pick, they're all like me / Not exactly, I'm still waiting / They're all living happily / Ever after better get here / I want love in seconds flat..."

To me, this says so much about our culture.  1) We hate waiting.  2) We think that our lives don't start until we hit a certain mile-marker.  Maybe it's falling in love.  Or getting married.  Or having children.  Or obtaining a higher educational degree.  Or getting the perfect job.  But we think that we can't really live, or live happily for that matter, without first achieving that one thing.  For Fiona, and many women/girls of my generation, it's finding her Prince Charming/Knight in Shining Armor.  But our lives are happening right now.  We can't keep waiting for life to "start" otherwise we'll miss out on the life that we currently have!

I love when the Arts speak out about culture in insightful and relevant ways.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this - what you notice in this song, and any response you have to my brief and very disjointed thoughts!  Please comment! :)