I Am Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

By:
Eryca

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl (or MPDG) is a fictional character stereo type that has been pushed around the entertainment industry for years. The term MPDG was coined fairly recently, after A.V. Club writer Nathan Rabin  saw Kirsten Dunst in  Elizabethtown (a movie I was never quite able to sit through) 

The MPDG is described 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 it's infinite mysteries and adventures."  

This is a problem. To continuously perpetuate the notion that women are only there as character foils. Even if they are the main character in cases like Amélie (yes, I just called Amélie a MPDG)

But I'm not here to argue the validity of the MPDG. Or the fact that it's completely anti-feminist and pretty sexist if I do say so myself. I'm here to make it very clear that I am not, nor will I ever be, your Manic Pixie Dream Girl. 

For most of my teen years, I looked and dressed something like this:

and when I say "something like this" I mean, this is a picture of me when I was 15.

What can I say? I hated high school and this was my small little way of making the day to day awfulness ever so slightly bearable. 

Now, because of this "look" (which I have since grown out of, however I still wear those boots constantly) I have been perceived as somewhat "aloof" or "bubbly" as Nathan Rabin put it. Which, at 15, isn't such a big deal, except for the fact that I was trying so hard for every authority figure to take me seriously as I was galavanting around town with bubblegum pink hair. 

But as a 20 year old member of American culture it pisses me off that to most of the world, I am perceived as a real life version of the MPDG. 

"You like Indie Music? OH MY GOD YOU'RE JUST LIKE NATALIE PORTMAN IN GARDEN STATE" 

"You dyed your hair crazy colors? OH MY GOD YOU'RE JUST LIKE KATE WINSLET IN ETERNAL SUNSHINE"

"You're a bit manic and actually say what you're thinking? OH MY GOD YOU'RE JUST LIKE DIANE KEATON IN ANNIE HALL"

"You don't want to get super serious but you like hanging out with me? OH MY GOD YOU'RE JUST LIKE ZOOEY DESCHANEL IN 500 DAYS OF SUMMER"

Okay, so no one has actually said these things to me, and I am not claiming to be as attractive, or talented as any of those actresses. 

But every time I meet a guy who likes me in any capacity, that is what I imagine their internal monologue to be. 

(if you are a guy I've dated who is reading this right now, please, feel free to argue with me, I would be highly amused) 

Now, I'm not going to get into all this personal mumbo jumbo, but let me say this; I have a very strong feeling that part of the reason every single one of my "relationships" (or what not) has ended was partially due to the fact that I have been minimized to a movie character that does not exist in real life! 

I feel like I speak for all women who have ever been called "quirky" or "weird" as a compliment, when I say that we do not want to be boxed in your MPDG mind-box where you store all the qualities you think you want in a woman based on sexist stereotypes that help our society continue to place these "quirky" women on ridiculous pedestals based on the fact that they are cute, and the guy always gets them in the end (in some way or another) 

Why would any woman want to be reduced to a two dimensional fixture of the male imagination? Haven't we moved past this as a society? Women are (obviously) just as dynamic and interesting as men, why do we constantly need to be categorized  by the male writer-directors? The MPDG ultimately becomes this helpless female, a modern day damsel in distress. 

the A.V. Club illustrates it so perfectly "the Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype is largely defined by secondary status and lack of an inner life. She's on hand to lift a gloomy male protagonist out of the doldrums, not to pursue her own happiness."

All women have an inner-life, come on now! Do we really need to see another movie with the MPDG? And do we really need to introduce the MPDG to a whole new generation of impressionable minds? I think it's about time we started writing better, more dynamic female characters! and not ones that are quintessentially adorable and run through IKEA in pastel colored clothing thankyouverymuch.

So just because I'm a tad neurotic, shorter than average, and on the cute side does not mean I am your dream girl. 

Okay, so I may be a walking clichè. I was born with dimples (which is kind of a deformity if you think about it) and I have a unique sense of style. But, this should not make me "that girl" this should not make any real person "that girl" 

So, for the last time, I am not, nor will I ever be, your Manic Pixie Dream Girl. 

On that note, I'm single and accepting applications on a temporary basis.

~Eryca