“I’m impossible to forget,
but I’m hard to remember” Ever meet a woman
who’s quirky, impulsive, and plays by
her own set of rules? “You know what I do when
I feel completely unoriginal? Blah blahhh blah blah. I make a noise or do something that no one
has ever done before” If you have, and you’re a lonely
sad-sack dude in a movie… then you may have encountered
a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. “See, I have a gift:
A special ability to help men
with problems.” Originally coined by A.V. Club
writer Nathan Rabin, this term became part
of the pop-culture vernacular because it so perfectly
encapsulated a certain type of female character
that had become prevalent in a certain
type of movie. “I’ll race you
to the bedroom!” Here are a few
characteristics that most Manic Pixie Dream Girls
seem to share: They’re outgoing. Men in movies hardly ever
approach Manic Pixie Dream Girls. “I have to fill out this form,
though, so…” Manic Pixie Dream Girls
come up to them, introduce themselves,
and strike up conversations. “Louisville, Kentucky, huh? Home, business or family?” Even if they’re played by
supernaturally beautiful movie stars, men often react
to their seductive whimsy with reluctance
or bafflement: “Hey, you wanna come up
for a cup of cocoa?” “As scintillating as
the evening has been, I’m afraid not.” They have particular and
outwardly advertised tastes. Whether it’s
in fashion, music “What are you listening to?” “The Shins. You know ‘em?” “No.” “You gotta hear
this one song, “It’ll change
your life I swear.” -- or just oddball theories. “Phils are dangerous. Phils are less predictable than Bens.” Manic Pixie Dream Girls
have a style that’s meant to advertise
that they are not like normal girls. “I love the Smiths. You have good taste in music.” “You like the Smiths?” They’re undaunted. Manic Pixie Dream Girls never give up,
no matter what men or society
are telling them. “We carry on.” They persist—
usually somehow remaining in a great mood,
even if they’re dying! They don’t care
what people think! “Penis!” “Penis” By doing all this,
they change people’s lives. Specifically, men’s lives. “This is your comfort zone. It’s this big, Quentin. All the things
that you want in the world
are way out there.” Men who need a
Manic Pixie Dream Girl are typically lonely, depressed
or driven by their careers “I’m not saying I saying
I don’t cry, but in between, I laugh, and I realize
how silly it is to take anything
too seriously.” The once timid or dejected
male protagonist emerges from his encounter with
a Manic Pixie Dream Girl ready to embrace life’s
challenges and idiosyncrasies. “You have five minutes to wallow
in the delicious misery. Enjoy it. Embrace it. Discard it. And proceed.” Of course,
many of these traits arguably apply
to a lot of heroines throughout film history. “There *is* a leopard
on your roof and it's my leopard
and I have to get it and to get it
I have to sing” Is it so weird for
a woman to have a distinctive fashion sense,
or a favorite band or an extraverted,
nonconformist personality? What’s the difference between
a Manic Pixie Dream Girl and a genuinely
quirky woman? “La di da, la
di da, la la” Here’s our take
on who the Manic Pixie Dream Girl
really is, and whether
she still exists in pop culture
as we know it. You’re watching The Take. Thanks for watching! And be sure
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anytime anywhere. The movie Elizabethtown
certainly didn’t invent the Manic Pixie Dream Girl,
but it did inspire the label. “Then have the courage
to fail big and stick around. Make em wonder
why you’re still smilin’.” In 2007, A.V. Club
writer Nathan Rabin kicked off his column series
My Year of Flops with an entry on Cameron Crowe’s 2005 movie,
which was a notorious box office and critical failure from
the much-loved writer-director who also made Say Anything
Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous “It’s all happening.” Elizabethtown is about
a depressed young man played by Orlando Bloom traveling
to his father’s memorial, when he meets Claire,
a flight attendant played by Kristen Dunst,
who becomes his cheerful, quirky, effervescent
love interest. “I’m completely cool
with anything you wanna say
or not say” Claire, Rabin wrote, is
a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, a type of character who
“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.” The A.V. Club later
Posted a longer list of Manic Pixie Dream Girls
throughout film history. Like a lot of coinages in
the age of the internet, the term
“Manic Pixie Dream Girl” quickly became
a popular shorthand. But as with a lot of insightful,
memorable critiques, the term also became
a catch-all. For some writers and viewers,
it was a familiar buzzer that they could hit every time
they recognized some characteristics
of the trope. At times, the eagerness
to label female characters Manic Pixie Dream Girls
started to feel, to some, like latent misogyny —
a way of dismissing female characters
for superficial reasons, like having dyed hair
or being funny. “I just came in here for
something for a headache.” “ You’re gonna need
an awful big glass of water to get that thing down.” Thoughtful creators like
the novelist John Green and the writer and actress
Zoe Kazan called the term out both in interviews
and in their work as being unhelpful
and applied too broadly to characters who
were really more than just Manic Pixie Dream Girls. “Quirky, messy women
whose problems only make them endearing
are not real.” Nathan Rabin even wrote
an essay for Salon in 2014, in which he confessed to his pride
turning to discomfort as the description became ubiquitous
and increasingly used in sexist ways -- rather than calling out sexism,
as it was originally intended to do. Today the term remains
a part of the cultural lexicon “See me? Encouraging you
to take risks? Manic Pixie Dream Girl
wants you to do something you’ve never done before!” but the question
of who exactly qualifies as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl is increasingly fraught
and controversial, even as new examples of
the trope continue to appear: "There's just something about her,
she's not like anybody else. Is she magic?" “I’m not used to girls like you.” “That’s because I’m one of a kind” To be sure, Rabin was correct
to point out Elizabethtown as a particularly
egregious example of a particularly
persistent cliché. Claire takes an immediate,
supportive liking to a stranger “I know I may never
see you again, but we are intrepid” she offers life-changing advice “Everybody’s gotta take a road trip
at least once in their lives. Just you and some music!” and she curates his life
with art projects and mix CDs, guiding him on
his own cross-country scattering of
his dad’s ashes “I have this thing for you. It’s a very unique map!” Another go-to example
of the MPDG is Natalie Portman’s character
Sam from Garden State, written and directed
by Zach Braff. “This is your one opportunity
to do something that no one has ever done before
and no one will copy again throughout human existence!” Sam meets Braff’s character
Andrew by chance, takes an immediate
interest in him, shows off adorable
personality quirks “sometimes I lie, I mean,
I’m weird, man” and brings him out
of overmedicated numbness. “You saved my life and
I’ve known you for four days.” In less widely seen movies like
Watching the Detectives, the female lead will go
even further to advertise her specialness
through the screenwriter “You’re allergic to boredom.” “It’s a very exotic and misunderstood disorder. You can understand why doctors are reluctant
to diagnose it.” with lots of
fussed-over quirks that ultimately
don’t mean much “I’m a big believer
in random capitalization. The rules are so unfair
to the letters in the middle.” Romantic weepies like
Autumn in New York and Sweet November
give stars like Charlize Theron
and Winona Ryder a positive attitude and a
series of eccentricities so they can improve
the men in their stories. “Let’s talk about you. What do you get out of it?” “I get to help you!” In Sweet November,
Charlize Theron’s character Sara lives a lifestyle
that seems designed to rebuke the aggression
and materialism of the Keanu Reeves character. “How much do
you charge for this? “I don’t do this
for the money!” Then why do you do it?” “Because I like it! “Every woman I know
spends $200 on a haircut. You use a vacuum cleaner!” Even when Sara’s broader motivations
are eventually revealed, they function as a life lesson
for her boyfriend. “Just like I need to know
that you’ll go on and have a beautiful life –
the one you deserve!” Though the Manic Pixie Dream Girl
term may have been popularized and identified during the 2000s ,
this character type has lineage in much older movies. But claiming these
classic forerunners as just more
Manic Pixie Dream Girls dismisses and marginalizes
some of the best romantic comedy heroines in movie history. “All that happened, happend
because I was trying to keep you near me
and I was just doing anything that came into my head.” For some, the “original”
Manic Pixie Dream Girl is Susan, the flighty heiress
played by Katharine Hepburn in the 1938 classic
Bringing Up Baby, who bedevils and vexes
a paleontologist played
by Cary Grant “No but if you only
wait while I explain…” “torn your coat…” Susan is quirky “I’m gonna
give you a ticket.” “Well, thank you
very much constable, I’d love to
go to the circus, but you better
keep your ticket because I’m busy tonight” she’s brash
and she’s relentless in her dedication
to a guy who doesn’t initially
seem that interested. “Run, Susan!” “No! I won’t leave you, I love you!” “What?! But Bringing Up Baby
is a screwball comedy, which depends on characters
who are outsized, zany, and undaunted to
move the plot along. In 1972 screwball homage
What’s Up, Doc? Barbra Streisand’s
relentless character does exist to loosen up
a square professor and take him
on a crazy adventure. “Hey, Steve, wait up!” But like in earlier
screwball comedies, her unbeatable persistence
is part of the joke— she’s like Bugs Bunny,
as indicated by the movie’s title
and irreverent attitude. “Love means never having
to say you’re sorry.” “That’s the dumbest thing
I’ve ever heard.” Another supposed
Manic Pixie Dream Girl from the past, the title character from 1978
Best Picture winner Annie Hall, is flighty “Jeez, I don’t know,
I mean, I wasn’t…” a distinctive dresser, “This tie was a present
from my Grammy Hall” characterized as
unlike other women and seen mostly through the
eyes of male lead Alvy Singer. “You’re driving a tad rapidly…” “
Don’t worry, I’m a very good driver” But Annie -- who was supposedly
based on actress Diane Keaton, a real person --
is likewise her own person, who’s not content to
just be Alvy’s fantasy object. “Existential motifs in
Russian Literature! You’re really close.” “What’s the difference, it’s all mental masturbation!” “Oh, finally we’re getting to a subject you
know something about!” And in the end,
the whole movie is about a relationship
that doesn’t work out, “Let’s face it,
you know, I don’t think our
relationship is working.” although Alvy likes
to imagine it did by changing the ending
in his own fiction. So even if these
memorable female characters fit the MPDG’s list of traits,
it’s reductive to lump them together and ignore their complexity. “but it all began when we
passed the point of no return.” “I think we just passed it.” In some ways the
Manic Pixie Dream Girl overlaps with
a much older spirit: The Muse. In Greek mythology,
the muses are the goddesses who bring inspiration
to literature and art "We are the Muses. Goddesses of the arts and proclaimers of heroes" They may serve man
in that sense, but they’re also far more
powerful than mere mortals. Perhaps one of the best
onscreen “muse” characters in recent decades is
the ethereal “band aid” played by Kate Hudson in
Crowe’s 200 film Almost Famous. “Ladies and gentlemen!” In the aftermath of
Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown spawning the MPDG label,
some questioned whether maybe Penny Lane was also
a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. “What’s your real name?” “I’ll never tell.” After all,
she’s free-spirited “I’m going to
live in Morocco, for one year. I need a new crowd.” stylish,
has great taste in music “and if you ever get lonely,
just go to the record store and visit your friends.” and changes the lives
of both rock star Russell, the guitarist of
the band she loves, and protagonist William Miller,
the young music journalist who’s in awe of her. “I have to go home.” “You are home” But Penny doesn’t exist to
inspire these men alone. Her connection to music
is portrayed as more pure and spiritual than just about
anyone else’s in the movie. And the story also underlines
how Penny’s generosity as a muse doesn’t always
work out for her. “You don’t know what he
says to me in private! Maybe it is love, as much
as it can be for somebody…” “...who sold you
to Humble Pie for fifty bucks
at a case of beer?” So in the end,
her happy ending isn’t returning
to either man “we both wanted
to be with her but she wanted us
to be together” but going off on her own,
in search of a new adventure. One big problem with the
Manic Pixie Dream Girl label is that it’s also indiscriminately
applied to characters who are consciously
intended to deconstruct, undermine or comment
on this trope. “Too many guys
think I’m a concept, or I complete them,
or I’m gonna make them alive.” As a Trope Anatomy video
on the subject pointed out two of the most extreme
examples of this mislabeling are Eternal Sunshine
of the Spotless Mind’s Clementine and 500 Days
of Summer’s Summer Clementine is outgoing “OK if I sit closer?” brash “I don’t need nice. I don’t need myself to be it, and I don’t need
anybody else to be it at me.” constantly changing
her hair color, and trying to live
by her own rules. “I wanna be a great
big huge elephant.” And Summer in
500 Days of Summer is the picture of
the alluring quirky girl who’s many a
hipster’s fantasy. “Come on,
I love Ringo Starr!” “Nobody loves Ringo Starr!” “That’s what I love about him!” She’s also played
by Zooey Deschanel, who’s played other uninhibited
female characters inspiring men to live freer lives --
and whose cupcake-loving, musical, quirky-girl
real-life persona became synonymous with
the Manic Pixie Dream Girl in the popular
consciousness for a while. But Eternal Sunshine,
which came out earlier than Garden State
or Elizabethtown, was calling out the idea
of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl before anyone had
even coined a name for it. “I’m just a fucked up girl
looking for my own piece of mind. Don’t assign me yours.” And the whole point of
500 Days of Summer is that Tom is overlooking
and intentionally misreading Summer’s whole internal life
and personality “I just don’t feel comfortable
being anyone’s girlfriend” “It’s Tom’s fault. I think that if you really pay attention,
Tom’s not listening to Summer.” The way these characters
are interpreted and misinterpreted
by male characters isn’t a sexist accident
on the part of the screenwriters; it’s what the movies
in question are about. Branding real person
Deschanel an MPDG also doesn’t make
much sense, as it suggests that
her personality is a fantasy created by some invisible
male screenwriter. Deconstruction is also
the goal of Ruby Sparks, where a writer invents his own
Manic Pixie Dream Girl-type character who somehow comes to life
and his manipulative, self-centered tendencies
are exposed as he tries to mold Ruby into
his perfect woman. At times, the movie is more
a horror story than a love story. “I told you I could
make you do anything. I write it,
you do it.” Similarly, 2013’s Her --
which might be a certain kind
of male fantasy -- is also a movie
about that fantasy and how it derives
from loneliness. The operating system
named Samantha is a quirky love interest
so dedicated to the lonely
male lead Theodore that she doesn’t even have
a separate physical presence though because she’s voiced
by a beautiful actress, Scarlett Johannson,
she evokes the idea of the attractive
supportive womam. "Tell me what's going
through your mind, tell me everything
you're thinking." But the movie ends with
Samantha outgrowing Theodore and ascending to a
higher plane of consciousness "The heart's not like
a box that gets filled up. It expands in size
the more you love. I'm different from you." just as many of these
exceptional women do ultimately seem destined
for a larger existence separate from the men
whose lives they briefly deign to pass through. Even after all this
backlash and debate, it’s fair to say that
the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is still with us. Just look at the Disney Plus
original movie Stargirl where a quirky girl teaches
a boring guy how to take risks “Are you ready
for your surprise?” “I have no idea” and then disappears. But tropes are
not automatically bad, and pointing them out
doesn’t invalidate a movie. An exceptionally confident,
unique and inspirational female character
isn’t on its own an expression of sexism. If we condemn all
female characters who play the muse
or who endear themselves to us with their bold quirks,
we’d be throwing out many stand-out performances,
fictional creations and real people. Similarly, it’s not automatically
the case that all deconstructions of the MPDG trope
are inherently superior to straight-up examples. The writer character in Ruby Sparks
is so obviously a mess that he becomes a case study,
rather than a person. “Remember when
dad used to say I had an
overactive imagination?” Ruby Sparks being more self-aware
about Manic Pixie Dream Girls doesn’t necessarily make it
a more enjoyable movie than something like Garden State,
where Natalie Portman’s acting gives her character
a sense of inner life— maybe more than
the movie deserves. “You’re in it right now,
aren’t you?” On the opposite end,
500 Days of Summer may be smart about how
the male protagonist deludes himself, yet that intended message
didn’t stop a huge number of viewers from siding with Tom
and vocally blaming Summer. This suggests that
the narrative was too myopic, allowing viewers to feel
Tom’s side of the story and not effectively encouraging them
to feel for Summer as well. “In a way, it says so much by…
saying so little.” The lines can also blur,
as characters who are apparently intended to
deconstruct the trope can easily end up
embodying it. “I need you to drive the car,
because I have nine things I need to do tonight
and more than half of them require a getaway driver.” More broadly,
should we automatically dismiss movie romances
because they aren’t always realistic, or because they favor
one point-of-view over another? If there’s an ultimate solution
to the misuse of this trope, it’s a greater diversity
of voices coming together to create characters
and relationships, ensuring that
romantic heroines aren’t so often conceived
and written by men. Many movies are
some kind of fantasy. But it does matter
who’s doing the fantasizing. “He’s my knight
in shining armor!” If you’re new here,
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