His best friend is making waffles, and he lives in a swamp. He has a slight Scottish accent and he's mean and green. That's right, I'm talking about Shrek, the ogre who never thought anyone would ever love him. Alas, Shrek gets his own happy ending, and I love these movies of the same name for more reasons than one.

Fairy tales always follow the same pattern. A beautiful princess (sometimes needing rescuing) and a handsome prince live happily ever after in a kingdom that's like, more than a day's drive away. Really far, far away is our usual time estimate.

Shrek was a different fairy tale, and that's what I loved about it. Shrek wasn't a prince. And he was the one who had to rescue Princess Fiona from the highest room in the tallest tower (which was a little unnecessary, couldn't she sleep on a lower level? Think of those stairs he would've had to climb if Dragon hadn't thrown him up there).

Then, he and Donkey had to battle a fire-breathing dragon, and once all was said and done, Fiona was surprised when it was revealed that her rescuer wasn't the man she had heard about for years. Fiona commented, "this is all wrong." And didn't we all feel the same at first? Where was Dreamworks Studios going with this?

Later on, it is quite obviously shown that Fiona and Shrek were falling in love, even before it was revealed that Fiona herself turns into an ogre at night because of a spell placed on her as a little girl. Once Fiona kissed her human true love, the spell would be broken and she would be human forever. But remember, this is not your typical fairy tale.

Shrek fell for Fiona because she was not the usual princess. She could kick ass, bring home the bacon, and burped like a trucker. He didn't expect to feel this way for her, because he judged her beforehand. Just as Fiona judged him.

But despite Shrek not being a typical handsome white prince, Fiona fell for him too. Now, if Fiona had truly been in love with Lord Farquaad, whom she was set to marry, once they had kissed, she would have been changed into a human permanently. However, since she truly fell in love with Shrek, once they kissed she became an ogre forever. That was "love's true form."

Once she changed, Fiona said, "I thought I was supposed to be beautiful." And Shrek shook his head and said: "but you are beautiful." To him, she was still the beautiful princess that he fell in love with. And despite everyone else being afraid of Shrek, and thinking he was ugly, a princess fell in love with him as well. They get married and ride off into the sunset, two green ogres and a donkey. Seeing it makes you feel happy and like everything turned out the way it was supposed to, even though it wasn't the ending that was written.

Don't judge me, but I always cry watching Shrek. This movie taught me from an early age that love has no mirror, love is love no matter what. You don't have to have a certain skin color, or be a certain weight, or be society's version of "perfect."

I also feel emotional watching because, for most of my life, I felt I was Shrek. Because I'm not "aesthetically beautiful" and I never seemed to find love as easy as everyone else. I'm not thin, I don't have a naturally pretty face, and I don't have long flowing hair. And for this, I was judged without anyone trying to get to know me.

But I found my prince too. I got my happy ending, and I never saw it coming. I believe love can find anyone now, especially if it happened for me.

I hope anyone that watches Shrek understands that beneath the jokes and the funny one-liners, it teaches two deep lessons.

Everyone is beautiful and worthy of love, and to never judge a book by its cover. Life will not go the way you expect it too, so open your mind and your heart. You may be missing your own fairy tale.

And if all else fails, listen to All Star by Smash Mouth. You'll feel better.