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Manic Pixie Dream Girl

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Manic pixie dream girl (MPDG) is a stock character in films. Film critic Nathan Rabin, who coined the term after seeing Kirsten Dunst in Elizabethtown, describes the MPDG as "that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures."[1][2][3]

MPDGs are usually static characters who have eccentric personality quirks and are unabashedly girlish. They invariably serve as the romantic interest for a (often brooding or depressed) leading male protagonist. A prime example is Natalie Portman's character in the movie Garden State, written and directed by Zach Braff.[3][4] MPDGs are also called "Amazing Girls" by Sady of Jezebel.com, describing the type as "ideal muses whose beauty, sweetness and gentle, studied eccentricity renders them entirely docile." [5]

It has been suggested[who?] that the MPDG is, as defined so far, a distinctly American film character type; Rabin and others do not offer any European or Asian cinematic equivalent.

Rabin points to Katharine Hepburn's character in Bringing Up Baby as one of the earliest examples of the archetype.[1] Zooey Deschanel's characters have also been typified MPDG.[6] A British equivalent is Cassie Ainsworth in the E4 teen drama Skins. [7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Gillette, Amelie. "Wild things: 16 films featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls | Film". A.V. Club. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  2. ^ Ulaby, Neda (October 9, 2008). "Manic Pixie Dream Girls: A Cinematic Scourge?". All Things Considered. NPR. Retrieved 5 January 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  3. ^ a b Rabin, Nathan (January 25, 2007). "My Year Of Flops, Case File 1: Elizabethtown: The Bataan Death March of Whimsy". A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  4. ^ Berman, Judy (August 7, 2008). "The Natalie Portman problem". Salon.com. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  5. ^ "Manic Pixie Dream Girls Are The Scourge Of Modern Cinema - garden state". Jezebel. 2008-08-06. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  6. ^ Indie Dream Girls The Daily Beast.
  7. ^ August 7, 2008 by Camilla. Not another token character type...
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