By Olivia Petter

Copyright independent

In the 2001 animated classic Shrek, a princess falls in love with an ogre. It’s a simple, straightforward plot predicated on the idea that looks don’t matter, because true love always prevails. Except, that’s not really the premise at all. Spoiler alert: the princess is secretly an ogre herself.

Despite being one of the most well-known and revered pieces of pop culture (for good reason: The muffin man! Puss in Boots! The dragon who falls in love with a donkey!), Shrek evidently remains woefully misunderstood. At least, that’s the takeaway from the latest viral dating trend currently dominating digital discourse, which has been somewhat heinously named “Shrekking”.