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Manic Pixie Dream Girl

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The 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 (2005), 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][4] MPDGs are said to help their men without pursuing their own happiness, and such characters never grow up, thus their men never grow up.[2]

Examples

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) male protagonist. A prime example is Natalie Portman's character in the movie Garden State, written and directed by Zach Braff.[4][2][5] Kate Hudson's character, Penny Lane, in Almost Famous has been called a MPDG.[2]

Rabin points to Katharine Hepburn's character in Bringing Up Baby (1938) as one of the earliest examples of the archetype; later examples include Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's,[3] Goldie Hawn's characters in Cactus Flower and Butterflies Are Free,[3] and Barbra Streisand's in What's Up, Doc (1972).[1][2] Zooey Deschanel's roles in (500) Days of Summer, Yes Man, and the TV show New Girl have also typified the MPDG.[6][7][8]

The Filmspotting podcast created a list of "Top Five Manic Pixie Dream Girls";[9] Nathan Rabin appeared as a guest and created his own, separate list of MPDGs. Among those included were Catherine (Jeanne Moreau) in Jules and Jim, Jean (Barbara Stanwyck) in The Lady Eve, Sugar (Marilyn Monroe) in Some Like It Hot, and Gerry Jeffers (Claudette Colbert) in The Palm Beach Story.[10]

The character of Maude in Harold and Maude (1971) by Hal Ashby has been cited as an example of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl.[11]

Criticism and debate

In an interview between writer Brian Zitzelman and (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb, the pair debate the degree to which both Deschanel's characters in other films and her character in (500) Days do or do not conform to the MPDG image:

BZ [Brian Zitzelman]: It’s a type of person that exists.

MW [Marc Webb]: Well, it exists and it's also part of literature that has always existed. What was Beatrice to Dante? You know what I mean? Eve was that to Adam. It’s just part of what she represents and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. We are often beguiled by creatures that we endow with powers that aren’t real. You expect this girl to be the answer to everything and it's not really the case.
BZ: I don’t know if that was intentional or not, but it sort of subverts the notion of her being that.

MW: You’re exactly right. There is a consequence to that. In a lot of movies they use that type but endorse that pair. The reality is that when you get involved in a situation like that you get f*cking [sic] kicked to the curb. It’s a misappropriation. You’re not seeing the reality of that person. That is one of the codes of the movie. He falls in love not with her but the idea of her.[12]

Kate Winslet's character in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) acknowledges and rejects this label, in a remark to Jim Carrey's Joel character: "Too many guys think I'm a concept, or I complete them, or I'm gonna make them alive. But I'm just a f*cked-up girl who's lookin' for my own peace of mind; don't assign me yours."[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Gillette, Amelie. "Wild things: 16 films featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls". AV Club. Retrieved April 16, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e Welker, Holly (Spring 2010), "Forever Your Girl". Bitch Magazine: Feminist Response to Pop Culture (46):26–30.
  3. ^ a b c Ulaby, Neda (October 9, 2008). "Manic Pixie Dream Girls: A Cinematic Scourge?". All Things Considered. NPR. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
  4. ^ 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 January 5, 2010.
  5. ^ Berman, Judy (August 7, 2008). "The Natalie Portman problem". Salon.com. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
  6. ^ Douthat, Ross (August 24, 2009), "True Love". National Review. 61 (15):50.
  7. ^ "Indie Dream Girls", The Daily Beast, July 20, 2009.
  8. ^ Poniewozik, James (October 6, 2011). "Women Watch TV Like This, But Men Watch TV Like This". Time. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Top Five Manic Pixie Dream Girls". Filmspotting. November 19, 2010.
  10. ^ "Top Five Manic Pixie Dream Girls", Filmspotting (Podcast), November 19, 2010.
  11. ^ 1. WELKER, HOLLY (Spring 2010), "FOREVER YOUR GIRL". Bitch Magazine: Feminist Response to Pop Culture. (46):26-30
  12. ^ Brian Zitzelman. "Q&A with (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb," Seattle Examiner, July 13, 2009 (page unspecified).
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