Manic Pixie Dream Girl

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl Complex and What It Means For Modern Women

In the film industry there are various timeless stock characters. We are exposed to the cinematic archetypes of the tragic hero to the village idiot at the first trip to the box office. However in the recent years we have heard about a new character which has been brought to the light, that is the manic pixie dream girl. The character of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl was defined by the film critic Nathan Rabin that this character solely exists in the fevered imaginations of the writer-directors who are sensitive just to teach a soulful broodingly young men to embrace his life through infinite adventures and mysteries. But Kirsten Dunst did not like the term at all.

The concept of Manic Pixie Dream Girl

With the concept of the MPDG there is another drastic flaw that is the character is often created from a male perspective and for a male perspective. In a aesthetic or shallow based manner the archetype is written commonly. Feminine imagery is used traditionally created an aura of romanticism just to develop a character which truly conflicts internally that never sees the light of the day. In fact we are often never given a single chance to view the true perspective and internal monologue of the MPDG. To this character we are introduced only through the point of view of the male protagonist. Instead of an individual the woman is simply a concept.

The type of character in films

In films theManic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) is nothing but a stock character type. Nathan Rabin the film critic defines this term just after observing the character of Kirsten Dunst in Elizabethtown. In the character of MPDG they help their men but without pursuing any happiness for themselves. Such type of character never ever grows up so their men also never grow up.

There is a comparison between The Manic Pixie Dream Girl and another stock character such the Magical Negro, who is a black character and only seems to exist to provide mystical and spiritual help to the protagonist of white savior. But in both cases there is no discernible inner life of the stock character. The protagonist usually exists to provide some important lessons of life.

Examples of MPDG

Usually MPDGs are static characters who are unabashedly girlish and have eccentric personality quirks. For a male protagonist as the romantic interest they invariably serve. Some examples of MPDG are described here.

In the movie of Garden State in the year of 2004 there is an example of Natalie Portman's character, which is directed and written by Zach Braff. This kind of unbelievable movie creature is described in the review of Garden State, Roger Ebert as an absolutely desirable and completely available.

In the year of 1938 one of the earliest examples was the character of Katharine Hepburn’s in Bringing Up Baby.

A list of top five ManicPixie Dream Girls was created by the films spotting podcast. As a guest Nathan Rabin appeared and created own separate list of MPDGs. It feels really good to be around the manic pixie dream girl and it was really exciting always.