The Death Of The “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Trope
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- Опубликовано: 25 июн 2024
- The ever-stunning, youthful, otherworldly being from the dimension of tired clichés. Whatever happened to the manic pixie dream girl? 🌸
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0:00 - Intro
2:45 - The Problem With Manic Pixies
12:01 - "Manic Pixie" Misuse
19:18 - From Film Critique to Tired Term
21:20 - Death of the Trope
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#manicpixiedreamgirl #mpdg #movieessay #manicpixie
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yeah so Donkey is basically Shrek's manic pixie dream boy change my mind
I feel no need to attempt to change your mind. This is compleetely correct.
Cant argue 😳
This is so accurate
You know what 🤔
I want to change your mind so fucking badly but I can't so I'll just go get myself a lobotomy instead
Wait so jack from titanic-
YOU ARE SO RIGHT HAHAHA
Yes. Yes, he is.
@@JinMeowsoon He could not fit on the board because a man sacrificing him self for a women is a fetish for a lot of people. If you ever have girlfriend ask you "would you die for me?", lie and make a mental note that she is no keeper.
Or the 10th Doctor
Oh shit
My idea for a deconstruction of a manic pixie dream girl would start off by playing the cliches straight, but as the film goes on, the boy would ask the girl basic questions that she can't answer and he becomes more and more suspicious. Eventually, he finds out that she is nothing more than a figment of his imagination and he's just been hallucinating. It would be like Fight Club, but for romance stories.
This kinda sounds heartbreaking haha - I'd pay to see this.
Or maybe she’s just straight up a Skrull
🍿🍿🍿🍿 I'm listening
"I'm thinking of ending things" is very close to that.
Pfft lol, I love it. Shampoo instead of soap?
Summer had very clear goals. We the audience couldn’t hear what it was because Tom wasn’t listening.
People missed the point of this movie, and then blamed Zooey for it.
@@pippiecarr9378 yes! It was from his point of view and thus she was only shown how he viewed her.
Yes. This was the entire reason of the movie. Her line, after she cries at the love scene in the Graduate: "I think I'm just going to call it a day." And he says : "I know, pancakes!"
Yes! I think that is perfectly summarized in the scene where Summer is telling Tom about a dream she had and all he think about was "Wow, I bet I'm the only person in the world she ever told this to. I must be very special." Literally doesn't listen to her dreams lmao
Yes!!!!!!!
The trope is as old as art itself. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is simply the modern label for the muse, mystical and untouchable female goddesses who inspire the creative energies of artists stuck in listless doldrums.
Oh, I never thought of it this way! Awesome point though, thanks for highlighting this. 😊 I guess in the modern age the struggling "artist" has been replaced by angsty teens/young adults with growing pains. MDPGs hold pretty much the same traits as classic muses, with a new coat of "quirky/indie aesthetic" paint.
Wonderful post, but one note... isn't saying "listless doldrums" redundant?
Ana Isabel thoughts on Ramona Flowers?
A fairy godmother for mediocre men
Hell yeah! They're quirky muses
I need a movie where manic pixie dream girl meets manic pixie dream boy. Let's see what would happen
They will make a manic pixie baby
explosions
This is the overly lovey dovey couple that you see as side characters in other films
They both die at the end from their unexplained terminal illnesses.
Hear me out Harry Potter right, the Lovegood family 👀
"Peter Pan is the original manic pixie dream boy." True, except in the original book, where he is a literal psychopath.
When I was a little girl in the 1970s, I completely wrote off Peter Pan as a story because all I could see was “a family of children fly away to an enchanted land of magic where the boys proceed to engage in fun and adventure while the girl gets to cook & clean for a bunch of rowdy boys engaging in fun & adventure” and I was *furious* about it! 😂
Peter Pan is a dead boy that takes the kids to their heaven, while they're dying in their room. In the end, they come back and the parents are happy they're not dead. Not sure you can be a psychopath if you're a spirit.
@@annemontgomery3890 In JM Barrie's book, Peter Pan kidnaps three children against their will, holds them hostage while he abuses the lost boys, then systematically murders pirates and terrifies Captain Hook before engaging in some Freudian shit the Wendy's mother. It's truly entertaining...but he's definitely a pyschopath.
@@annemontgomery3890 Peter pan is an aloof child who escapes from reality rather than face the real world. He is a 1900s NEET.
@@jankk The story villainizes such practices though. It may address these issues innocuously, Peter's world is dysfunctional. It isn't how things ought to be. He loses wendy because he decides not to grow up. To stay under the spell of a "mommy" figure to enable his folly.
Peter loses, and Wendy becomes a functional adult, no longer under the spell of the "mommy" he craves out of self-abandonment.
It's a great example of how this "trope" can be used effectively.
In E.Town, it's about a man who has recently been forced to give up all aspects and even his memories of childhood. The MPDG is a means by which a damaged individual can regain touch with his inner child, and give some perspective as to how his new life can be lived without the misery he feels before meeting her.
Garden state does this well by ending the movie as it does. Open ended, ready for Z.B.'s character to either succeed with his new tools, or fall to the inner death he fears.
No decisive inferrences are provided. The MPDG isn't an answer.
She's a device for the STORY of the main chars development.
Yes man was a PERFECT example of films that REALLY DO ENFORCE your opinions. So this video is about 75% off the mark, but poignant none the less.
JGL was so generous in the interview "if you really pay attention, Tom was not listening"
I mean. She said it. Clearly. Multiple times. Over and over again.
Pay attention...
No.
Tom is the audience that ended up hating Summer in the end
Probably just a bunch of guys with poor social skills taking out their anger because they relate to the character getting dumped by his dream girl... without enough self-reflection to see what's going on there.
Lots to say about this film that has already been said but my explanation for hate toward Summer: IMHO Summer’s character is poisoned by the intro’s “bitch “ comment. It primes the passive audience member into Tom’s point of view. So for those who are like Tom we already know “how to feel” about Summer when she breaks it off. And I don’t think Tom learns the lesson, nor does the passive audience member. Also audiences are always terrible to actors who’s characters don’t perform to personal audience desire. I blame Tom. :)
Manic pixie dream girl aka “the cutesy characteristics of ADHD but like, ignore all the hard bits uwu”
Oh my God THIS. I have a deep-seated loathing of this trope because I _am_ adhd and I _do_ have quirks that others have described as cutesy... and a lot of the time, that's the only thing people see when they look at me.
They don't notice that I'm an actual person that has issues and goals just like everybody else. They're too busy drawing parallels to the Hollywood Manic Pixie Dream Girls and assuming that I exist for the sole purpose of _fixing_ them.
@@vividdaydream1516 frikin same. i always wondered why only sad damaged girls liked me then i saw this vid. explains a lot
ikr. My favorite quote is "I like your personality" "Thanks its called mental illness" I can't remember where I heard that from. Your comment reminds me of it.
Exactly
OH. OH. OOOHH. This explains why I loved and actually could identify with the MPDG as a teen.
I knew a manic pixie girl once but it turned out she was just really into coke
The drink or the drug?
@@rmj8905 yes
hahahaha… i’m living.
Usually that's the case.
What a classic
Buddy the Elf: The ultimate manic pixie dream boy (and in this one, Zooey Deschanel is the brooding love interest, oh how the turn tables!)
I watched Elf for the first time _really_ late (like, last year) and I actually said out loud, "Oh, hey, she's getting manic pixied at!"
but, at least Buddy has a little bit of baggage for not having a relationship with his dad.
Lmao came down here to comment just this! I guess the movie sort of subverts it because he DOES have a backstory to explain his wackiness
I’m sorry but the phrase “sad lad to sensitive chad” is just amazing.
Idea: Manic pixie dream girl, but she forces herself to be all “quirky cool uwu” because she’s deeply insecure and terrified of people losing interest in her.
That's how the people who are perceived as Manic Pixie Dream Girls/Guys in real life often feel/act. A good friend of mine seemed like the archetypal MPDG for a good chunk of my teen years, and she actually helped me through a lot of stuff, in a way not dissimilar from the movies. Unlike in those movies though, I eventually learned that she had a lot of issues and insecurities herself. She simply used her bubbly, exuberant behaviour to shield herself from the things that might hurt her.
@@rarazalproductions519 Still, it would be nice to see it in film. The reality is that just like men who are eccentric, eccentric females are often highlighting one aspect of life to hide another. I’ve seen it sometimes expressed in film, but often they are the companions of the boring side character who has to watch them break down. I want to see a film tackle what it’s like to BE the actual eccentric quirky girl who’s got allot of shit and baggage, kinda like new girl but starker and realer.
Teenage me feels personally attacked.
I spent a lot of my teenage years trying to figure out what "interesting" meant, and then trying to be whatever I thought that was. Once I got out of high school, I realized that the "real world" required a bit more conformity and then rubber banded and spent my early 20s being bland and boring and wondering why I had no friends.
It took till my late 20s to really start settling down and now that I'm in my mid 30s, I'm happily at a point in life where I can be "myself" because I eventually more or less figured out who "myself" is.
It just took a lot of letting TV, movies, and other people dictate who I thought I was "supposed to be" to get there.
Honestly, I'm still light on the amount of "close friends" I have (and Covid makes socializing a lot harder), but I'm just as quirky as I want to be, and not any more, because I don't care about people losing interest in me - if it's not meant to be, then it isn't.
Hollywood does a really good job of feeding the line that you need to be a certain way, and that love means a certain thing. And maybe to some people, it does. But it didn't for me. And it probably doesn't for a lot of people. A lot of our insecurities come from not feeling like we're "worth it" because we're surrounded by people, both in real life and in media, who seem like they're way cooler than we'll ever be.
@@rarazalproductions519 ... Das simply me. U described me.
that just sounds like a lot of uwu girls in real life tho
When I was younger I hated Summer and it took me years to realize she was just living her own life and doing what she could to make herself happy
#summeraintthevillain. Change my mind.
@@jessehenderson2967 Just because someone has feelings for you does not obligate you to return his or her affection. If everyone were required to date or sleep with anyone who was interested in them the world becomes a much different and (in my opinion) much creepier place.
@@danielwong6468 summer ain't the villain. I agree.
@@jessehenderson2967 she outright tells him she’s not looking for anything serious while he just stares at her with clouded over eyes. Summer did nothing wrong, and that is the point of the movie
@@jessehenderson2967 I think thats pretty accurate and obvious from the film
I was peacefully drinking a glass of milk but then the "I don't fit in" edgy riverdale guy appeared and I almost choked.
I hated that scene so much, haha. "I'm weird, I wear a hat!" Lol oh my gosh
thats what you get for drinking milk 🤢😂
Kinda why I didnt like the Flash in the Justice League movies(2017 and Sack Snyder cut). When he meets with Batman, hes the most awkward thing that ever happened to the DCEU and its as cringe as it gets. That and he runs like an alien that came to Earth and has never heard of the concept of running.
I have a love/hate relationship with that scene lol
I would like codependency torn down from the media trope. Relationships don’t fix you. That’s your job
I'll be sure to file a complaint next time I visit Media Trope headquarters.
No one can "fix" you but yourself, but loving someone can give you an incentive to be a better person, and someone who loves you can help you feel like you're worth fixing.
@@cmay7429 As someone who has dealt with mental health issues for several years, I can tell you that I had to "fix" myself in order to change my life for the better. Wanting to be "fixed" isn't enough, I had to take concrete actions towards healing and I had to make that decision every step of the way on my own.
No amount of love from family, friends, and significant others, can help you if you don't want/try to help yourself. It's a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.
Don't get me wrong: having loved ones supporting you is great and can be a motivator to continue on a path towards healing, however, one needs take that first step and to make the necessary changes to get better (it is an action not merely a "want/desire.") If I didn't change and take better care of myself (i.e. fix myself) no one else could have made the progress for me. If my "feeling better" was dependent on love from someone else, it would make my wholeness/healing dependent on the feelings/existence of others. Other people can't be my primary motivator to getting better if I want to actually be healed. I have to want it for my own sake independent of others' emotions or thoughts. Otherwise, if that loved one leaves or no longer loves me, I would go back to being "broken."
The ideal partner is someone who can take care of themselves, has their life figured out, shares the same core beliefs/lifestyle, and, is open to growing older with you. Lacking in one if these areas may become the source of stress, fights, and dissatisfaction in relationships. Love is a choice and one has to choose wisely.
It's just the standard escapist fantasy of being rescued from your situation. I'd suspect that this also preys on men who have trouble initiating contact or finding motivation in general, in addition to general loneliness. I suppose an argument could be made that these are prominent examples of relationships shown as positive in media of the time, but you could just as easily argue that anyone who's getting sincere life advice or role models from random characters in said media has bigger problems.
@@farmerboy916 life's a joke and then you croak
I was friends with a guy once who was always looking for his real-life MPDG. He was obsessed with movies and novels and wanted a relationship straight out of a film. The problem was, whenever those women would start, you know, acting like real people, he'd move on, often before actually ending the previous relationship. He'd been married several times and even had several _children_ with these women by the time I met him. He started to romanticize my personality and trying to tell me he had feelings for me in "quirky" ways. Thankfully, all the red flags were obvious enough that I never reciprocated. I don't think he understood just how self-centered and destructive he was being, and how many people he'd hurt in his wake.
i feel you buddy i had this guy in class crushing over me saying i'm like his hermione
That is worrying how he (and probably other men) fail to see women as people but just as some''thing'' to entertain them and just be there to be perfect and uplifting to them
@@v.e.jansen7720 On the flip side of that coin is the women who view men as ATM Machines, among other shallow desires that will leave him ditched in an instance for not fulfilling. As a male, I view this the same as a "disney princess" waiting on her "prince" to fix her problems. I think we are seeing how powerful media is in molding us. Men who are waiting for this type of girl, probably aren't living their lives either. They waste away. I imagine this type of male is what we refer to as a simp. The type of guy who, wrongfully, puts a woman on a pedestal and showers her with gifts just because she exist. Of course, many women are making a business out of using those sort of men.
Somehow, this reminds me of Ted Mosby. Which makes sense - he also tried finding his quirky, loveable, character and background lacking MPDG and also came forward as very creepy and obnoxious.
CAPITAL CREEEEEEEEPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
I love you for pointing out the missuse of the term with characters that literally subvert the whole trope
Haha no worries! ❤️ It's always frustrated me how viewers were quick to lump (well-written) MPDG deconstructions in with the actual trope. Plenty still latch on to the idea of Summer being the poster girl for manic pixies; when the entire point of her character was to criticize the concept.
Thank you!
"Literally"
@@therealtijuanaman yes.jpg
@@riley8385 that ain't it chief
You missed the biggest Manic Pixie Dream Boy in the entirety of cinema: Jack Dawson (Titanic). It's completely insane.
Great analysis! I was so, so worried that you'd lump (500) days of summer into the trope and was pleasantly surprised.
She really loved him until she also died after having a full life after only knowing him for like a week that's some strong juice
The MPDG made Zooey Descenal’s entire career, either playing one or playing someone who makes fun of them.
Ironically, in "Elf" the Maniac pixie is the male.
Amelie is one of the worst examples of misusing the term. It’s literally a movie about her and her struggle as a young woman with a massive heart but who is too shy to reach out for what she wants. So she awkwardly tries to get the attention of the man she is interested in without actually talking to him. If anything, he is a MPDB.
The romance trope in Amélie Poulain is actually pretty great because the conflict in them getting together is simply that they're too shy to approach each other. So in a way they both evolve to gain that confidence, because of their own experience (Amélie opening herself to others, and Nino discovering the secret of the mystery man) Plus I like how the ending suggests a happy relationship but without the cliché overromantic scene. Like, their getting together scene is just sweet and wholesome (like the whole film, it's just so cute)
Extremely late reply - but I agree! The fact that we get to learn a lot about Amelie as a character (and the world through her eyes) completely removes her from the MDPG archetype. I haven't seen the film in years, but from what I remember we only really got to know the guy from her POV. So yes, if anything, he'd fall under the MPDB category.
I also like wlwskam clizzy's take; their wholesome little cat-and-mouse game was very cute, and I like how we eventually see them form the courage to get together. I'm writing this based off a hazy memory of the film, but the ending was especially memorable because of how simple - yet quirky and sweet their getting together was.
@@ana-isabel I think so too! And I also agree with them. We know less about him, but they are still both presented in a way that feels very human. My favorite romances are the ones between two really quirky people. I just find them so adorable! And it's kind of the anti MPDG. Because interesting people deserve to be with other interesting people.
Definitely. They’re both quirky and shy and trying to find their place, and they compliment each other when they both finally find the bravery to literally show up for one another.
lill eyeglasses
“you let a stranger in the house? are you a SIMPLETON?!" has me rolling
No, I'm compassionate! I'm not going to just leave him outside in this thunderstorm. Besides, he looked really tired having to carry that chainsaw and severed head.
Best line in a horror flick 😂
Lmaooo what movie is that?
@@everberry51 Bird Box on Netflix
Dude was the smartest one in that house. I felt bad when he died.
My favorite parody of this trope is definitely from Arrested Development! I even saw the actress who plays the MPDG in the ep in one of the clips you showed, so I learned it had another layer to it today! The main character was so into this whimsical fantasy of a girl 'filled with childish wonder', that he fails to realize she's actually mentally handicapped.
This parody actually hadn't crossed my mind until some people pointed it out in the comments! I now have a newfound appreciation for that plot, and it was already my favourite of the series :) Agreed - defs one of the best (and most entertaining) deconstructions out there.
I also thought of that lol xD....Mr.F
every time I watched a manic pixie dream character I was waiting for them to have a complete breakdown because I behave like that around other people when I feel super depressed and don't want them to know, so I use all I have to manipulate myself into being a ball of happiness when I'm not. Kind of disappointed that it never happened. Except I had a feeling that in Fault in Our Stars it showed a bit at the end.
I wonder what the complete inversion of this trope would be called. Imagine a story of a main character girl that thinks life is all fun and games and one big party until she meets this very plain and simple guy whose only purpose in the story is to get her head out of the clouds and her feet on the ground, making her face the harsh realities about life and herself.
Throughout the movie, she keeps trying to get away from him because he always seems to be there whenever tragedy comes her way, such as losing her part time job, getting evicted from her apartment, watching her friends die from drug usage or suicide, etc. She mistakenly attributes these events to him as if he is some sort of force of doom and destruction, when in reality he's just a dude who has come to terms with life's struggles. Maybe the whole thing plays out as a bit of a psychological horror film instead of a cheery, quirky, whimsical comedy?
Brooding Fiendish Nightmare Boy
EDIT: Wow this kinda blew up. Thanks for the replies, especially the ones that reference media I’m not familiar with.
But that's just another 'Uppity Girl Gets Put In Place' narrative, as old as Eve getting lead astray in the Garden of Eden. It would be far better, surely, for that 'stable man' to be a monster, either in the metaphorical or literal sense, as they often are in reality. The viewer would then be left to address a dilemma. Is it better to be a happy trainwreck, or a successful monster?
@@TruculentSheep well yeah, I realize it sounds kinda dumb. After all, the inversion of a bad trope is still a bad trope.
Maybe it could pull a 500 days and subvert expectations. The dude projected all this crap on to Summer as his cure-all muse, only to have her shove it back in his face. Maybe the inversion of that idea could unfold as the main girl projects all this fiendish personality onto this dude like he’s out to get her, only for him to shove it back in her face because he’s actually a decent human being just living life.
@@Intrafacial86 maybe it could work as instead of the mpdg teaching the surly man how to enjoy life the guy starts to make her think life is actually horrible and at the end shes bordering depressive and needs to be away from him not because it’s necessarily his fault but because be makes her think that way, idk
Sounds like the story might be the dude is waiting to manipulate her when she's weak. Somewhere between an incel and a Nice Guy. He's there for her when tragedy strikes, but is thinking she's there to change his life and can't understand why she wants nothing to do with him when he's been good to her.
Pretty sure there are horror movies, less known, about a man ruining a lady's life. I feel like i've seen some : /
As for just a dude there to ground her to reality, I've no doubt this exists. I'd imagine the protagonist is a rich heiress, and the dude is either the boy next door she never acknowledges until the end that he's always there for her and totally right, OR he's the standard jerk trope who warms up over time but is still an asshole.
Always annoys me when people try and say Clementine from Eternal Sunshine is a MPDG just because she has colored hair. She has her own problems, she's her own person, and she doesn't just show up to inspire Joel and take him out of his "creative slump". If anything, she flat out tells him that every dude she's been with thinks that's what she's gonna do for them.
Edit: just got to the point in your video where you bring her up, you nailed it
I agree. Eternal Sunshine is my favorite movie and I hate when Clementine gets clumped into that role of Manic Pixie.
I agree. Eternal Sunshine is one of my favorite movies and I hate when Clementine gets clumped into the manic pixie group. Luckily this video shows that she is not that and her own person.
i wish i had the courage to say what she said in this video... the trope sort of depicts of a toxic relationship where one doesnt help themselves and relies on a dream girl/boy to cause a miracle ._.
Clem is the exact opposite of a MPDG, lol.
¡Exactly!
I'm so thankful when people reiterate that JGL in 500 Day of Summer was really the problem in the relationship and I have always hated how his meeting Autumn at the end of that movie revealed he learned little to nothing from his selfish behavior.
Great video! Keep it up!
Tom is supposed to be the villain of the movie and I think that Autumn’s name is Autumn for a reason. Maybe he will change after Spring leaves?
Fantastic video, Ana. As a guy who spent his 20's at the height of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl craze, I definitely had my share of unhealthy relationships because I put too much pressure on women to be a fix for the problems I had instead of dealing with them myself. In fact, this almost led to me breaking up with my now wife of 8 years (it's been a great 8 years!) after 1 week of dating because I built up unrealistic expectations of what a woman should be and how relationships should work. So, thanks for the accurate and detailed breakdown of this stereotype, and reminding us that behind every "dream girl" is a woman with hopes, dreams, flaws, needs, etc that are just as important as any the person who'd seek to be with her.
why i always lose the shit when jughead starts quoting the i’m weird stuff
I'M WEIRD, I'M A WEIRDO
@@diip-ali1228
not Soo
PleasE
@@diip-ali1228 I don’t fit in. I don’t want to fit in.
I can’t help but hear it as read by Daniel Howell.
"lose the shit" lol me
this video looks like it would have 2 million views and randomly be in everyone's recommended
This is so sweet haha - thank you! ✨
Yeah I've also been surprised by that
my thoughts exactly, this is really well written and edited. Top tier "video essay" material
EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT
it randomly appeared in my recommended.
I think the trope still lives on in the minds of "sensitive" guys--I had a quirky sense of style and a short haircut with bangs in college, and nerdy guys would romanticize ME all the time and see me as their own manic pixie dream girl. It was so frustrating
Life is so hard sometimes.
Lou from Me Before You is the perfect example of flipping the MPDG trope. The bubbly, quirky, crazy fashioned girl is the narrator, not just a prop. We see her experience not JUST happiness but loss, frustration, anger, insecurity, desperation, anxiety, trauma, and a feeling of being lost. We even get to see that the reason Lou became so “different” and picked up her crazy fashion was because she found dressing herself in bright colors and childlike accessories helped her cope with a sexual assault. It’s like JoJo Moyes wanted to write a quirky character but didn’t want the flaws and struggles to get lost in the quirkiness and I think she did an amazing job at that.
Yeah that movie has other problems but Lou’s character isn’t one I actually think she was done very well
Manic-pixie dream girl but she's actually a Changeling feeding off the wonder they inspire to get glamour.
Heck, you could have your big resolution being the Changeling, now that there's nothing to feed off of, flatly telling their victim: "Humans aren't like that, and it wouldn't be good for them to be that way, any more than it would be good for me to treat you as something other than food I can hold a conversation with." Then you can have a pleasant ending of the Changeling has fed and moves on, the lead isn't dead/crazy/hollowed, has learned a life lesson and moves on, plot resolved pleasantly.
So, stock manic pixie dream girls, but with Instagram? 🤣
That's just a succubus
Enchanted is one of my favorite films and I love how they take this trope, and many others, on its head. Giselle is literally a 2 dimensional character in a 3 dimensional world, and she starts to realize her previous dreams might not be all that they’re cracked up to be. Yeah she comes into the life of a mildly depressed business man, but they both change a lot throughout the film as they both learn from each other and they get a fairytale ending together BUT without actually being in the fairytale world as royals.
And in THIS story, Mc Dreamy is the device without substance.
SHE is the character.
It does a great job of clearly defining WHY MPDGs are an unhealthy ideal to look for in a partner, but it's just what the main character needs.
Have you seen the trailer for Stargirl? Trope is alive and well! Lol
I read that book and i can imagine
It’s just staying true to the book, which for it’s time was still kind of new
@John D Ruddy Yeah, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl Trope isn't going anywhere, nor should it. For the most part I don't think there is such a thing as bad tropes only bad writers, the MPD trope doesn't need to die it just needs to evolve.
The book came out in 2000, so I guess the trope was new at the time.
I’m a big fan of the book and think the second book is even better than the first. The first book is told from Leo’s perspective and it’s all about what he thinks of her. But without spoiling it I’ll say her whimsical mystery shtick doesn’t last. The second book is entirely from Stargirl’s perspective and really develops her character and is all about her figuring out what she wants and who she is. So I feel the books break down the trope as they go but I’m not sure how the movie handles it, I haven’t seen it.
The Paper Towns movie totally butchers Margo’s agency at the end so I wouldn’t be surprised if the movie forgoes Stargirl’s character development to give audiences what they expect.
The irony is that Ramona Flowers herself, despite being the #1 or #2 most famous MPDG, breaks the stereotype in an interesting way. She's depressed, not manic, and Scott's love for her -- his stupid, toxic-masculine, goal-oriented love -- is what breaks her cycle and lets her accept herself.
Lol Masculine. Scott Pilgrim.
@@Psychedelicgothicpink Lol Truth can sting, and hurt. But it isn't toxic, because it's ultimately good for you.
Also, most of the time the MPDG wears little to no makeup cuz she's like...real, y'know? Bonus points if she's dying of a tragic yet invisible illness
The mpdg either move away or get sick and die
Lol I always try to see what “natural” makeup techniques were used on mpdgs.
Your Lie in April definitely did this
The MPDG is very carefully made up to look like she's gorgeous, but not wearing makeup.
Step one: pick a supermodel
Step two: erase their backstory and any possible flaws
Step three: random quirky bullshit go!
Step four: fill them with youthful energy
It's true that the women playing these characters are white and conventionally attractive but they're not supermodels. That would imply that they can't really act, lol. A lot of these actresses while not favorites were done dirty when they were cast into the more taken straight version of the trope. The majority of them are pretty great imo
@kibblewibble I got more a "cool kids" vibe from her before she disappeared. Not really manic nor pixie
@@hugofontes5708 cool girls are still supposed to be perceived as “different from other girls” just as mpdg are so she counts
Step 5: $$$
I would love to see a story where the facade falls apart and the quirky girl is just as a terrible person as anybody else.
Excellent breakdown and analysis of the trope!
Completely irrelevant to your channel so no I won't be watching
@@whiteydiamond ?
I think an interesting take on this trope would be this. It starts out standard, guy is unhappy with his life, he meets the MPDG, she shows him how to live, but then he decides he should also seek therapy. While in therapy he is told that people express depression in different ways, and some people even seem extra happy, but their really hurting. The guy then thinks of the girl, and goes to see her, and he finds her in her bedroom crying. The reason she seemed so bubbly and perfect was because she was trying to hide her true problems.
I'm my own manic pixie, then I revert to the imperfect leading man who hates his job while striving to find my pixie within my self again.
That’s a great way of looking at it. Makes the journey more intrinsic than extrinsic.
I always try to tell myself the things I’d want someone else to tell me and take myself on adventures I’d want an Mpdg to take me on.
it sounds like you two should go on a series of madcap adventures together and learn the true meaning of christmas
I am attracted to other manic pixie dream girls 😂 and after dating one it isn’t the best combo Because while we get each other, neither one of us could keep the other grounded. (I’m EnFP and she was INFP)
"Sad lad to sensitive Chad" got me good.
I love that line so much
You know what I want? I want one of these manic pixie dream girls to be the villain of the story. The try hard, the overbearing one, the one to constantly try and weasel her way into other people's lives. Other people are rightfully creeped out by her overbearing nature. "Quirky" is only quirky when the other person is into it / if the manic pixie dream girl can pull it off. If not, they are annoying, possessive, and creepy.
Just a small correction, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" was directed by Michel Gondry not Charlie Kaufman, he co-wrote the script with the french director.
I once saw a French film from the '80s called Betty Blue, which had the standard Manic Pixie Dream Girl. However it was much more realistic, because rather than end on Happily Ever After, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl phase ended and she became Depressive Pixie Nightmare Girl.
Hmmm I gotta see this! 😛 Like how it veers away from the standard manic pixie happy ending haha; but was the ending from the viewpoint of the protagonist or manic pixie herself?
do u know where i can watch it?
I wouldn't call her standard, she was literally showing signs of BPD throughout the film
I loved that movie, which is uncharacteristic of my taste in movies...
I would say the rolls are reversed in Betty Blue. While she is wild and liberating. He is much more representative of the 'cool bohemian artist type' that is being obsessed over. In terms of the relationship, he is just along of the ride. I think that's the root of her emotional break down. She's obsessed over getting him publish and he is already so resigned to the fact that it isn't happening that he doesn't share in any of her emotional highs and lows.
Does anyone else remember "Stargirl?" She literally says "I'm NOT like other girls" in the second book lol.
THERE’S A SECOND ONE??????
the first one was cool ig but the second was a trainwreck 🤚 really wish i didnt watch the movie
💀💀💀 my favourite book in 5th grade. had to unlearn a lot 🤪
@Unojhiir0 Yeah I haven’t seen it cause I feel like it’s not going to portray the characters correctly
@@tigerleddy THERE’S A SECOND BOOK???????
In high-school my best friend was so fond of this kind of films that it affected his idea of love. He was always looking for his own MPDG (Which he obviously never found and ripped lot of hearts in the process). At some point I think I started to think that I had to be that "dream girl" in order to attract boys. Needless to say I only attracted boys who wanted me to fix them (: I think I experienced the exact plot of 500 days of summer lol. I never fully understand the connexion to films and pop culture untill now. I think it's really important that teenagers have access to more realistic depictions of love and relationship
The manic pixie dream girl/boy (MPDG/B) is basically a hot, Cartoony Jiminy Cricket or the Devil/Angel on your shoulder to tell you to throw caution to the wind and live life to the fullest. That's why they seem so surreal. They never really talk about their origins (family, education, work) and they miraculously make all the time in the world for the main character. Just as you would summon a helpful spirit guide, MPDG/B always seem to be up for 3 am deep conversation skinny dipping sessions and never seem to be at work ever again, even if where you met them was their place of work. It wouldn't be crazy to think that the whole time, MPDG/B was a figment of their imagination to help them cope with their grief and/or depression.
I still can't believe they took Jughead and made him into a bad boy. I grew up on Archie comics and I would never be able to take Riverdale seriously.
Its bizzaro world
Ugh same, it got so popular and I'm just like the destroyed everything about Archie! But most people I guess didn't read the comics
It's absolutely awful don't bother with it
Neither the comics or the show are meant to be taken that seriously.
While I think Ramona is the poster girl for MPDG, I fail to see how she is one. She’s the one with the baggage and constantly causes problems for Scott and hardly ever seems manic, expressive, or dream like. Of anything, Scott is the manic pixie dream boy since (at least in the comic) is loud, brash, childish and naive. I think she gets a bad wrap for being so closely tied to a category she hardly belongs in. While yes she literally appears to Scott in a dream and her fashion sense is wild, I feel like Scott and Ramona’s relationship is in itself a parody on the trope since the both have aspects of it
ramona complicates scott's life due to conditions beyond her control. scott complicates ramona's because he is weak and a coward
Ramona doesn't take scott's shit (especially comic Ramona) but she demonstrates that not only is she non-judgemental but also does not tolerate assholery she's aware of, other than the ending. Movie Ramona and Comic Ramona are very different, thats why they initially wrote and shot that different ending because it made a bit more sense.
But... but... but... the hair! And the music! And she banged Chris Evans!
tbh, while I don't think she completely fits the trope in the movie, I think this is portrayed a lot better in the books. Love the movie, and it's definitely weird and ironic to see Ramona become the poster child for manic pixie dream girls, but honestly she was pretty thoroughly reduced to a more blank slate character that's mostly only there to fulfill Scott's arc, and it doesn't do much to drive home the point that the books do: Scott is a childish fucking asshole who has been acting selfishly the entire time, reducing his life and his romantic interest to an achievement in a video game and alienating all the people in his life with his refusal to grow up in the process... and Ramona isn't the mysterious, perfect dream girl he makes her out to be - she is also very flawed, in ways similar to Scott, and he needs to stop projecting his unrealistic, exaggerated fantasy onto her. in the movie, i don't think nearly as much can be said for Ramona's character growth, & she kinda just forgives Scott for cheating without batting an eye. And as for Scott, he earns the power of self-respect rather than the power of understanding, which makes his character growth a lot more selfish, & he doesn't really gain any self-awareness of his own assholery by the end, at least not the way he does in the books.
It does make some sense, given that the books definitely had more room to explore the characters & themes, but it's a little disappointing IMO cuz Ramona is a pretty great character and Scott Pilgrim as a series does a better job making a point out of Scott's toxicity... The books seem a lot more nuanced & mature in how they explore dealing with baggage and unmet, unrealistic expectations in relationships, where the movie is more of just a fun action story by comparison.
I feel this also applies to summer in 500 days. I think MPDG as a trope sometimes is overused and wrongly purposed to describe girls that are actually nods or critiques of the trope. Scott perceives Ramona as his manic pixie dream girl, but she is not actually that. Tom perceives summer as his manic pixie dream girl but really we learn that her purpose was to teach us a lesson that they don't really exist. It is a very thin line obviously as both are shot and costumed and acted exactly as manic pixie dream girls. But I feel like it's important to note that they are truly not. People can be too dismissive of things or characters just because they are popular.
I feel like the e-girl just replaced it
E-Girls/Boys are a subculture. Like Scene, Emo, Punk, and Goths before them.
@@ScoobieDoobieDoob Isn't Manic Pixie Dream Girl a cliche too?
@@williamdrum9899 yeah, it indeed is. I used the wrong word though. E-Girl/Boy is more of a subculture.
@@williamdrum9899 I edited my comment to portray what I meant a little better.
Kinda? I’d say the romanticization doesn’t come from the same place though. The appeal with E-girls is like an approachable alternative girl, that isn’t as far out as something like full goth. And it’s almost like just an edgier girl to people.
i'm so glad that people started recognizing that the misuse of this term has become a misogynistic way of criticizing any sort of "quirky" girl in a story. At the height of the term's usage I started to become really paranoid and self-conscious because some of my own personal tastes fell in line with some of the stereotypical characteristics of MPDGs... I started to feel like I needed to change myself out of fear people would think that I was fake and pretentious. That's when I realized that the trope usage was beginning to really spiral out of control and just became another way for people to cram others into boxes to make fun of.
I can't believe so many people thought Summer was so awful because she didn't give him what he wanted. I saw it back then as a realistic interpretation of how relationships can end up. I didn't think about the manic pixie trope satire or any of that at the time. However, it also goes to show how many people projected themselves onto the main character in a "he's like me" kind of way, which should say, "fuck, I need some help cause this guy is a bit of a dick." And how many others just expect a "happy" ending when happy isn't one person feeling trapped and the other blissfully unaware until they are finally left probably decades later.
Could not agree more. As a naive teen back in the day, I admit I was one of those who felt for Tom and was disappointed at the lack of a "happy" ending.
Watching it again in my mid-twenties (with actual experience in love and relationships), I realize how immature - and at some points, toxic - his perspective was. I guess the film sort of grows with you in that way. But yeah, any grown adult who sympathizes with Tom may need to re-evaluate why.
@@ana-isabel I was more, "oh cool he's moving on." Now I'm like, "oh no, please run from him he needs to work on himself". I am writing a book with a with a manic pixie type character but I don't believe that's how she fully comes off as. I am going to ask an editor at some point though. However she's a lesbian, and I want to explore more that she's barely got herself together ofc. I did put in a whole, "fuck that manic pixie bitch" quick joke, and her being like, " what? Idont like sad boys. I dont even like boys. Although manic pixie bitch would make a good band name." Since this book is about five friends starting a band in their teens.
Not THAT many people interpreted it that way though, hence the great reception of the film
@@crytkryssus9851 iiii4iu4iikiii 4ii3ii99 and imkkiooi.. miiii8iiii3i33i33 ew××ii88iii8iiiii7ppuui8
Not to mention, Joseph doesn’t learn his lesson at the end as you see by his reaction to meeting “Autumn”.
"Are you a simpleton?!?" He's such a mood, sometimes.
That's the Malkovichest thing ever
Dang, I loved him in birdbox and in the Red movies LMFAOOOOO
@@flidethechemist Yes! His character in that might be my favorite.
I think the part that makes 500 Days so painful is when you find out that Summer gets married to some other dude at the end. You spend all this time empathizing with Tom, and you feel for him when she dumps him. But at the same time you understand that there's no villain in the story, they were two people on different pages. She was up front about her feelings on love and what she was looking for, so if Tom let himself believe that something more was possible; that's on him.
But then you find out that she marries some other guy, and you realize that Tom wasn't wrong. It was possible for her to form that kind of connection with someone, just not with him. Either because of bad timing or because of their personal dynamic. I think there is a unique sort of powerlessness that comes with relationships, because you can't change how someone truly feels about something. You can't logic someone into believing you're the one, or make a convincing enough argument. You either are or you aren't. In that scene at the end of the movie, Tom realizes that it wasn't actually that she didn't believe in it; she just hadn't felt it yet. And the fact that their relationship came and went, then she found it with someone else; means he was never going to be it for her. I think that's a painful realization that you can't rationalize away or make excuses for. You can only stand there and feel it gut punch you full force. And I think a lot of the undeserved rage against Summer comes from people feeling that energy, and having no place to send it. So they aim it at Summer, because on the surface it can look like she lied to Tom. But she didn't, she's just feeling what she feels; at different points in her life about completely different people. So it's like being mad at the weather, you can be as mad as you want but it's not going to change anything.....
** It also sucks that you never see the guy she ends up marrying at all. You don't get to see if he's similar to Tom or completely different. If they're similar, you could convince yourself it was a timing thing. If they're very different, it could have been a personality thing. But instead she just implies that she discovered feelings she didn't think she could have with some off screen rando. **
I really liked how you defined the MPDG. I personally liked both Elizabethtown and Garden State and didn't really understand the hate of the trope, because... well... there are girls who are manic, have good taste in music, and have quirky personalities.
Your analysis that these characters didn't really have any character development, but were just there to help the male lead develop was really insightful. I hadn't heard that before and I agree that 500 Days of Summer doesn't fit the trope, because her character does change over the course of the film. However, Elizabethtown, Garden State, and even Scott Pilgrim do fit that description and it does change how I'll watch those films.
What's funny is that even without knowing the term MPDB, I was able to recognize their artificiality in movies pretty easily before watching this video. I couldn't have articulated what was wrong as well as you did, but I could see something was off, whereas my wife loves those kinds of films. It's interesting how we can have those blind spots when it comes to our own fantasies, but see them so clearly and baldly when looking at the fantasies of others.
I think I'll still enjoy films like Garden State and Elizabethtown, but I agree that just knowing about the trope helps writers create more fully fleshed out characters. It also helps audiences demand more from writers. Thanks for sharing this.
Aw, no worries! And yeah, I think we've all been guilty of giving in to our own fantasies/biases, while being more aware or critical of others' (I've been there!). Glad I could offer my insight on this trope!
Wdym? Ramona is a deconstruction of the trope. Her whole shtick is that she’s actually a flawed and troubled person but Scott doesn’t acknowledge it at first, just like in 500 days
"a John Green ending" I've never read a John Green novel where the romantic leads end up together but somehow the name John Green has become synonimous with happy endings for the romantic protagonists? When did that happen?
I've read one and that was "an abundance of Katherine's "
Should be “a Nora Efron ending”
Yeah, I was gonna say. Paper Towns and the Fault in Our Stars both end badly for the main character, and they were the ones she referenced in the video.
@@BuddyHollyMallCop Turtles all the way down too
Don't get me started on a Nicholas Sparks ending
I just watched a video explaining the trope and it used 500 Days of Summer as an example, which was to my dismay considering it's one of my favorite films. Glad you cleared that up.
No worries! It's frustrating seeing people miss the complete satire of it all, haha.
It was by Alex Meyers right?
@@MrCordycep sameee that's the video that led me here lol
@@ana-isabel me
Lol. I’ve followed the same RUclips path.
Thank you for saying what needs to be said. I think the lazy use of the term in criticism contains notes of misogyny, as if to say- there are ways to be a REAL woman and these are not it. Which, like you said- some of us are just actually quirky! Haven't we been bullied enough!? Let us sing in the hallways and walk barefoot in the street, dance around the room to Tchaikovsky records, be late to things in our shitty cars and wear shirtwaist dresses!
Not gonna lie, a lot of the backlash around the MPDG stereotype is valid but a lot of it reads like “how dare other women be happy and bubbly and pleasant to men and different to me! REAL women are sad and serious about stuff so she MUST be faking it for attention!”.
I like to call it the “I’m not like the “I’m not like the other girls” girl”.
I take issue with my car being jokingly called a "runabout" because I feel reduced to a naiive character that's blithely happy in their cute little car, unaware of the social standard of using your car as a status symbol... Aww, my car isn't a financial tie, cute.
Once an ex-boyfriend of mine called me a manic Pixie dream girl right to my face I was very insulted
Lmao
blegh, that sucks. I had a similar thing, basically came away thinking, well it's not my fault you don't listen to me or ask me questions. love your profile pic!
sorry for your loss
Same lol
But that's why he's an ex.
Luna Lovegood was a "Manic Pixie" done right quirky, interesting, funny, and overall very relatable while still being slightly un relatable perfect balance
And her backstory was fleshed out enough for people understand her more. I especially like the scene where both she and Harry can see the thestrals
In the movies yes, in the books she's more just awkward and uncomfortable. I like both, it's just very different portrayals imo.
Hard disagree.
@@fleacythesheepgirl Book version of Luna is even better. In the movies she's adorable and whimsical. Book Luna might have been uncomfortably weird, but that was the point. She grew on us slowly because of her bravery and good heart. We were never meant to like her immediately. Also, what made her amazing was her sincerity and empathy. The quirkiness was not something to look up to. Her strangeness was not shown to be a good thing. It's just something about her, neither good nor bad. Actually, it comes about because of trauma. It's implied that before her mother died, she was a pretty normal child. I love her, because she has this ability to connect with people, and is very true to herself. Nowadays there are characters that are quirky just for the sake of it, just to be cool. Too many people think quirky character = interesting character, but that's not the case.
That's why I disagree so strongly with the Harry/Luna shippers. If she ended up with Harry, it would be like she only exists to make Harry feel better about all the grief in his life. She would really only be a shallow Manic Pixie Dream Girl, if she ended up with him. She was introduced very late in the series. All the way in book 5. It would be like Rowling only created her just to give Harry a love interest. But the fact that she can have a good impact on him, while still having her own struggles, and just being really good friends with him, is amazing. Harry/Hermione and Harry/Luna are such good examples of a platonic friendship between a girl and a boy, that I just don't understand why people want to ruin that with romance.
i think the test of a MPDG (or boy) is this: if there were to be a "this character was imaginary the whole time" twist at the end, and the movie would generally STILL make sense, they're a true MPDG
Hold on... is Tyler Durden a dark MPDB then?
@@fifthcolumn388 DAMN... i think he kind of is!! a manic pixie nightmare lol
cough im thinking of ending things cough
This helps a bit, I wanted to draw some cute shit about a girl helping a boy through some shit mentally and him maybe returning to do the same. but I kept worrying that would be this trope. And I've heard so much about men objectifying women I've started thinking I would never be treated as well as a gay couple because any man would never empathise with me as much i emphatised with him, I fucking hate internet polictics and i fucking hate twitter for the anxiety it gives me. I just want all this to stop.
@@fifthcolumn388 this crank up the homoerotic tension present on the movie to another level.
I really wanna see a story written from the MPDG perspective. I've been cool-girled and it super sucks and it's a wealth of drama and emotional anguish!
Wait...Ramona wasn't really a 'Manic Pixie' character, she was totally the colder sarcastic character in the dynamic with Scott
Yeah I think like with 500 days of Summer, Scott saw Ramona the perfect girl and having the characteristics that a MPG would have when Ramona was blatantly dealing with quite a lot of baggage and completely human
I like Ramona and Scott as characters because they're really just kinda shitty people who are similar in the way they treat the hearts of other people with kind of a fickle disregard. They're actually the both kind of manic pixies that blow into a character's life, make them feel like a million bucks, and then flit out again with nary a thought to the damage they caused. The characters call Scott a "user" and I think that's what they both are. They use other people to make them feel good, but they don't CARE about other people at all. I think Ramona through Scott's eyes is a MPDG. It's ironically not her presence in his life not the wacky battles with the evil ex-es that change Scott, though. It's when he learns to grow up and take some responsibility for his actions that makes him change, and he uses this newfound power to free Ramona from the ultimate "user" Gideon Graves.
@@AuspexAO it’s that moment where he says he’s fighting Gideon for himself that really sets the film apart from others using the mpdg trope
True. Scott Pilgrim comics are a satire.
I like this, but as a Peter Pan nerd : He isn't Manic Pixie Boy.
1. We get his backstory not only in Peter Pan the book but in other books written by the author.
2. His lack of character development is 100% on purpose. He is a metaphor if not a flat out personification of childhood. When Wendy, the protagonist, chooses to go home, she has realized she can't remain a child forever and must grow up.
3. It is very clear Peter is extremely flawed. He's easily angered (being willing to kill his own Lost Boys), stubborn, and arrogant - which is again the whole point, he's the personification of childhood. But his flaws have serious consequences in the story including Tink's near-death and the abduction of Wendy and her brothers.
4. Despite his lack of maturity being the point, Peter does have growth. He learns faith in Tink and empathy.
5. Wendy doesn't choose Peter, she chooses growing up - and Peter doesn't choose Wendy, he chooses to remain a child.
Peter isn't a Manic Pixie. Don't be slighting my boy that way.
But everything else I agree with.
Edited to add- it's not a coincidence that Wendy's father and Hook are almost always played by the same actor in movies and plays. Her father is the one always pressuring her to grow up and mature, to contrast with Hook who foils Peter as everything Peter fears - adulthood. Both Wendy and Peter have these major adult figures in their lives who symbolize change and maturity and what it can do to your hopes and dreams. For Wendy, adulthood equals adult job and responsibility. For Peter, adulthood equals corruption and death and lack of fun.
It is absolutely on purpose that one character, Wendy, chooses to face her fear by returning home, while the other (Peter) confronts his own fear (the final battle with Hook) but accepts that he is and always will remain true to himself even after losing almost everyone he cares for (Wendy and the Lost Boys).
The metaphor and symbolism are big tools of the author's and anyone who wants to handwave it away by reducing Peter Pan to a Manic Pixie Boy has both missed the entire point of story and has done little to no research.
I scrolled down to the comments specifically to look for someone saying this, thank you.
Thank you! Peter Pan is my favorite book and I was so upset by the accusation.
... it finally clicked. I never thought much about Peter Pan but that all makes sense.
And the crocodile with the ticking clock? The one thing all adults fear; time and its inevitable running out resulting in death. Great comment.
We did the play a bunch o times when I was younger, fkn love Peter Pan
Wow that was a really thought and well written character analysis
Ramona isn’t a MPDG in the comics: she’ actually a really complex character, and in the end, she leaves Scott for a bit to find herself (her words, not mine) then comes back, and fights with Scott to kill her toxic ex, with a scene about how she wasn’t completely over him, but parts of her were. It’s amazing.
Then, after that, she has a talk with Scott about how she doesn’t know if she can change from her asshole-ish ways (my words, not hers) and Scott asks her to try.
In the end, she’s free of Gideon, and she’s trying to be a better person.
THIS. Everytime somebody uses Ramona Flowers as an insult I’m like “well...” and tell them this.
Still a mpdg.
i kinda blame the movie for it, the movie really made her an icon for manic pixie dream girl trope
@@MrTibbs220 have you read the comics?
I agree for the books. Since the movie focuses on the action and surrealism, I think even if Ramona qualifies, it has a different impact on things. Ramona doesn't show Scott the meaning of life or get him to embrace being himself, and she doesn't really do childish it quirky things. She didn't get development and mostly functions to push Scott's, but that's mostly incidental.
I want to see a reverse manic pixie dream girl, let's call it gothic pixie dream girl where the boy protagonist sees the world through rose-colored glasses until he meets a girl, cold, tired of living, full of imperfect dimensions and teaches him that our world is really cruel and unjust
I dig
That’s how you get 500 days of Summer.
@@nekurobaito summer is still bubbly and cutesy. Im talking abt an emo, dark, goth girl
That sounds like the Goth girl from South Park and she's "not fucking emo!"
100% approve
So as someone suffering from bipolar, there are times where i literally am a manic pixie dream boi. It's fun until you cant sleep at night.
Same bro, same
Or when you ruin your own day at 7:30am sharp boiii
honestly I think that, while we need films about realistic love with deep characters, we also need love movies that are not deep and just make you feel good and fuzzy and dreamy
We had enough of those decades ago. Then we had even more and it just made more of Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character in 500 Days out of actual people who could have been better people or at least had problems that they could have recognized they needed help fixing instead of having all of society prop them up as not-problems.
correct
Ok but like you can do both. You can realistically depict a happy healthy relationship that gives you all those fuzzy feelings
Zoey Deschanel’s character in “Yes, Man” had absolutely horrible taste in music. It’s one of the recurring gags in the movie.
Interesting! What music did she like? I feel like music is so subjective. Although if someone listens to country music I usually say they have bad taste because it SUCKS.
I saw her on the thumbnail and thought “she better not shit on New Girl”
"Black rap"? WTF?
@New Life New Rules not really
@New Life New Rules Chile what?
Thank you! I have been so scared to write quirky characters because of the misuse of this tag! Really appreciate the clarification.
During a lonely phase of my life, I fell madly in love with what was pretty close to my personal version of what had then not been trope-ified as an MPDG. For a few weeks there it seemed she would transform my idea of me, leaving me with a more exciting, better version of myself - exciting times! However, turned out she was a young woman who had been hurt so badly by life, repeatedly and traumatically, that it almost defies explanation how she could ever decide to go on and still... you know, just try. She needed 'fixing' - or rather healing, unwavering support, steadfast and tender care - far, far more than I ever did.
Luckily, she got just that. From a man she met about a year after we broke up. Only met him once, seemed a good guy. Really made me happy to see them.
Me? Turned out I just needed to get my shit together and hang in there. Only took half a year until I met another very pretty, somewhat quirky, quite emotional woman with a fashion sense all her own. She really pushed my buttons! I forced myself to back off and actually put in the effort to get to know her. Good thing I did that, coz she turned out to be one hell of a wife, buddy, life partner, and mother to our two wonderful children!
Disney's+ Stargirl fits this dated trope perfectly.
I frankly loathed that film for it's unnecessary changes to Stargirl's backstory (where's her father?) among other things, and for the high school being a bit too diverse. The book gave off this vibe that most of the students were rather similar. They came from similar backgrounds, wore similar clothing; these students were basically carbon copies with a side of "normal" cliques mixed into a mundane existence. Which is why Stargirl's unique essence stood out straight from the beginning.
Plus Disney's+ version of Stargirl is nothing more than a dated Tumblr aesthetic. I believe she wore something that could be considered outlandish once or twice during the entire running time. At least they kept her pet, Cinnamon.
To be honest, I hadn't actually seen the entire film apart from trailers, random clips, and a few reviews. Didn't quite strike me as a stand-out teen movie (probs 'cause it screamed MPDG with its marketing), but seeing as the film seems like a haphazard adaptation - is the book worth a read?
@@ana-isabel
Yes, it is.
Stargirl's character might appear similar to a MPDG, however, she transcends such an ideal rather quickly. She's polite and unique, yes, yet her personality does verge on being "creepy." Something that isn't fully explored in the film, which I feel takes away from when everyone begins turning on her. Even Leo, the narrator and actual main character, thinks about turning his back on her because his reputation could be more important than their relationship.
@@MyCuteApple definitely agree the book is really good!
@@MyCuteApple I agree! It is a good read. When I saw disney+ doing an adaptation of it, it didn’t strike my interest because it feels like it’s missing some key things from the book. Basically the things you mentioned in your comment.
I wouldn’t consider Stargirl a manic pixie. She has a story of her own in which ***spoiler warning from here on out for anyone that may be reading*** she’s pressured to conform to the fantastical ideals that the classmates and even Leo want her to be and she goes through her own journey where she conforms for a while and it eats away at her until she finally takes ownership of who she is and that being herself is the best option, even if it makes all these “stick to the status quo” type characters uncomfortable. Even when Leo learns to be himself too in the end, she’s happy for him, but she doesn’t stay in his life. She’s aware he isn’t good for her cuz he wants her to be his manic pixie dream girl. And in the end she moves and cuts ties both with everyone in that town (including Leo) as well as the things and ideals they were upholding her to.
I loved Summer. I watched that movie at the right time in my life. She was independent. She didn’t need anyone, especially I needy little boy. She found what she needed.
I would love to see what the movie looked like from her perspective
Yeah, it's awful to be needed, isn't it
I feel like Tyler Durden falls into this category lol
I think he would be the Summer to that situation, like the ideal new companion cracking and the protegonist realizing like oh shit's actually on me and my life is saaaaad.
I concur. Tyler's stated reason for existing was to help the narrator to change his life. It's just the story become a horror movie by the end with Durden as the antagonist, which is how the MPDG would play out in real life. Seriously, the MPDG is likely to Bobbit you.
I think Tyler is the male empowerment fantasy taken to its ultimate conclusion: sociopathy.
@@AuspexAO mix yours and the statement that Tyler is the manic pixie boy and I think that's really it.
I want a manic pixie dream girl that tries to change a male character but ends up failing when he ends up in a toxic relationship with someone else, to send a message that it’s better to focus on yourself and not others.
While also writing them as characters that have flaws, misbeliefs, desires, fears, motivations, memories, hobbies, arcs, personality, and some interests other than trying to change some dude
I'm a creeeeep. I'm a weirdoooooo-oh. lol
lmao
What the hell am I doing here?
@@ScionStorm1 I don’t belong heeerrrrreeeee
@@spookyjones6577 sheeeeeeeee's running out the dooooOOOOOoooooor
@@janaekelis sheeeee's runninnnnn, she RUN RUN RUN...... RRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNN!
That Riverdale clip with jughead is some of the cringiest dialogue i've ever heard lmfao. And I love Ruby Sparks, also an interesting break down of the manic pixie trope and the idea of having a 'dream' partner.
Honestly when you know the backstop of the staff writer who wrote that scene and the showrunner it both gets worse and makes sense.
@@JinMeowsoon Riverdale is an interesting show in that there are 2 ways to watch it - take it seriously or just laugh at the goofiness of it. iamthatroby has a good video about it - ruclips.net/video/KQKIs7d7zJM/видео.html
@@dudetheman3 the cast doesnt even take riverdale seriously.
That is the least cringe line riverdale too 😆
@@dudetheman3 Absolutely. It reminds me of the Fear Street books, Goosebumps for teenagers. Basically cringy, over the top, fun, with murder.
This was such a good analysis! I love the Manic Pixie trope, but only when it's got that hint of bitterness. That touch of reality, breaking down the fantasy, or the explanation for the craziness to create empathy. Bridge to Terrabithia I feel was a good example of this and left you reeling because it really did stem from a girl wanting to live life to the fullest.
This was the first video of yours I watched and I just wanted to say that I am meant to be doing a lot of other things, but your video kept popping up and I had to watch it ^_^
TY for addressing the Ramona Flowers question at the end, I was literally about to complain that I'd waited the entire video to see if she got shunted into the box or not.
The Scott Pilgrim cosplay is accurate as Ramona is a deconstruction of the MPDG.
That's so true the book gives it away alot more then the film, they're both horrible people.
But those cuts and Ohhhh the filming ohhh and captain america is a skateboarder
@@deezboyeed6764 scott is also awful, they kinda deserve each other if anything
I love that film, LOL. Yes everyone in it is annoying.
@@eyeamstrongest that's literally what I said is they're both awful, book gets it across alot better.
Funnily enough, I feel like Ramona Flowers got hit by this a bit in the transition from comic to movie. She still has her own character going on somewhat, but she feels more like a pedestal girl in the movie, while in the comic she definitely had a more distinct personality. IMO it was probably just an issue of runtime, the comics had many issues to break everything down, while the movie just had one 2 hour cut you were meant to watch in one sitting.
My view on Scott Pilgrim is that the comics has many issues to break everything down, while the film has many issues to break down.
I love The Smiths is our generations biggest red flag😂
The Smiths suck
Morrissey is a douche
I will not be convinced otherwise
Morrissey is an asshole but I can’t help liking the smiths. Trust me I hate it too.
but johnny marr's guitar work is of no doubt respectable and inspiring anyway
I like the Smiths, but I don't think they deserve the credit they get
@@hannahl3538 Morrissey is one of the few intelligent musicians around
really loved your critique, had written a secondary character as a MPDG and didnt even know it...hopefully this will help me develop her into a well rounded character.
Everyone, a wonderful book written by bo jack horsemans writer called "someone who will love you in all your damaged glory"
Is a beautiful collection of short stories and poems on love of all kinds. Marriage, family, pets, loss and its voiced by a wonderful cast on audible.
Nice pfp bro
Interesting how many sadbois misinterpret “500 Days” just as Tom misinterpreted “The Graduate.”
Same thing happens with Fight Club
Tom is the most dangerous character in all of cinema
I think that I represent the misunderstanding, of people’s misunderstanding of the film. I used to love it in my early 20’s because I sympathized with Tom and thought Summer was a bitch.
For not actually getting back together with him.
Now I hate it in my 30’s because I feel like it pushes a dangerous masculine agenda where Summer is painted in a negative light for having her own agency and growing as a person (if you consider developing the ability to commit as a sighn of growth) and Tom is “meant” to be sympathized with.”
Weird that another reply mentioned Fight Club because I have basically the same feelings about that film as well. Two movies that at one point were in my top ten and now I can’t even watch because they carry too much baggage :/
@@kode-man23 And you don't feel that it subverts those ideas, that it is actually critical of its characters and those kinds of readings?
@@MyScorpion42 I would probably have to watch it again. I haven't seen it, save for video essays and analysis in quite a while, so maybe I could parse out the meaning that I am supposed to get from it.
But from what I remember, I think that I am "meant" to identify with Tom and dislike Summer on a surface level, but then the movie is winking at me and nudging me in the ribs with it's elbow the whole time saying "But look, you see how HE'S actually the jerk in this film. You see? You see what we did there? You get it? You should be on the girl's side, but then we're not going to go out of our way to make sure that you, the audience actually has any sympathy for her by the end of the second act."
I get it, at least I think that I do. I also get that as a filmmaker you don't want to be too obvious, but I just feel like this leaves a very dangerous message that most guys who only watch it at a surface level, or going to walk away with. And it sucks, because I am almost certain that that wasn't the intent, and I hate having to use an argument of Art vs Intent, and it isn't the artists job to make sure that their art isn't misinterpreted... but I just feel like this was more a case of execution than intention.
Sorry for the rant, like I said, I have a lot of baggage with this film and my opinions on it changed almost 180 degrees and almost over night so I could just be way off base and completely not remembering the specific nuances of the film that disprove how I feel.
I have type 1 bipolar disorder with psychosis, and this trope pushing the idea that mania is simply like quirky and bubbly is kind of like... maddening? Mania is not a character trait and it isn't just being xD random, full blown mania often makes life unmanageable, not sleeping for 5 days straight and hallucinating figures running in front of my car and cycling between euphoria and impulsivity and being completely delusional and panicky/paranoid, feeling the compulsion and giving into banging my head against the tile floor repeatedly- not because I was depressed, but because I wanted to feel the pain and see my own blood splat against the ground-being unable to even use my phone because my hands are so shaky, falling in and out of complete delusion, believing I have super powers and have mind control over cats (an actual experience I had last Christmas lmao). Driving at 150 mph down the highway and covering my entire body in tattoos in episodes of extreme impulsivity, struggling with very severe addiction for years (have been clean for two years now, but the psychosis and mania has never gone away). It makes me want to hurt myself because I want to feel the adrenaline, leaving permanent burns and scars. Some times it makes me think about inciting violence against others, not because I dislike or hate those people, but just because I want to see what happens and I feel the urge to do it (I've never given into those compulsion, thank God).
Mania is not quirky. If anything some of these characters may border on hypomania, but anyways
Yeah
Idk man I don't know what I feel, it feels like Im experiencing every single emotion at the same time, creating a grey chunky mud of feelings
Yeet
“Irregardless” 😣 great analysis, love the take and the breakdown
Gone girl is a good subversion of the manic pixie dream girl trope, the ”cool girl” trope.
By subversion you mean she's a psychopath?
@@mr.scarfy6851 yeah but that’s not the point of the comment tho lol
I don’t know if the woman in Gone Girl was presenting herself as a MPDG, but it was a fucking fantastic movie holy shit
Wouldn't that be more of an inversion?
Same thing has pretty much happened to the "Mary Sue", originally legitimate criticism of a character who is basically a plot device and not a character, overused to the point of becoming a reductive, dismissive, casual insult.
Cough Rey cough
Mary Sue isn't a plot device. Mary Sue's are characters that represent the author. While they are often a perfected version of the author would like to envision themselves this does not mean that every overpowered flawless character is a Mary Sue.
It's when people say "Mary sues are not a real thing, just an insult" that you can bet money that they've written a mary sue character. But then you also get people who will call anyone a mary sue because they dislike some small aspect of the character. For some, just having the ability to succeed at all is enough to mislabel a character. It really is a world of extremes when mary sue talk comes up. Being the nerd in the middle, I came up with a little quiz to test the level of sue, and which category they fall into most. To my shock, this made people even more angry... I see it as a valuable term for a serious problem. But more often than not, the way it's used really helps you find out if the reviewer is a dumbass or not. It does tend to say more about the person, than the character they're describing.
The only instances where you see invalid Mary Sue criticism, is when someone is using a what-about fallacy defending an actual Mary Sue character.
@@conniethesconnie Mary Sues and self-inserts are two separate things, why else would they have separate names?
Really needed this to get over a girl, thank you for bringing 500 days of summer to my attention. Much love
You are so articulate! Your voice is so good and pleasant to listen to, as is your content! Thank you for this commentary! Also, your cosplay is great!
You going "so wut's the metaphor" at Gus made me sigh in relief, because I've read that book 6 times and I still don't get it.
Bruh so true
Does he even know what a metaphor is? _NO_ he just wants to be qUiRkY
It's more of a symbol than a metaphor, since it alludes to an idea rather than an actual thing
"If cancer were pretentious, it would be Garden State." - Mr. Plinkett
@Stix N' Stones
"I made a product in Vietnam when I was a Colonel over there. His name, or her name, was like Sung-Yee or… Yung-Woo or… something. Ah, it doesn’t really matter anyway cuz I think the napalm got him, or as I called it back then, birth control."
-Modern philosopher, Mr. Plinkett
ahhh, I see another man of culture joined the comment section.
always get people going for me thinking im a manic pixie dream girl when in fact im just manic that month because of the mental illness lmaooo
I read this in Marge's voice
As someone who grew up with both the mpdg and before trilogy as inspirations I found your analysis on point, glad I found you with this!
Eternal Sunshine was so great (Directed by Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman did the screenplay). Great video as always!
Ahhhh dang! Hahaa thanks for the correction on this one 😛 Yesss, Eternal Sunshine is one of the best scifi films imo - definitely has stuck with me all these years. And thanks so much!!!
(also did a quick lookup of Michel Gondry - dude went on to direct Green Hornet?? 🤔)
@@ana-isabel You're welcome. Have to confess that I haven't seen Green Hornet. Michel originally made a name for himself doing music videos, so I went to see Eternal Sunshine based on that alone having no knowledge of the plot which I think was the best approach.
@@domstevens2851 DEFINITELY the best approach! :) I did the same when I watched it for the first time - went in blind. Though I think the experience would still be mindblowing either way. 😊
@@ana-isabel Gondry hates Green Hornet, he had no control over it. If you loved Eternal Sunshine and its weird effects you should watch L’écume des jours (Mood Indigo) its way closer imo
Hear to say the very same thing, otherwise I sprocking loved this video.. definitely earned my subscription!
that clip of the one Sprouse twin saying "im weird" had me rofl-ing so hard
Popped up on my suggestions and...color me impressed...and a subscriber. Great content and quality wig game, which is always a deal breaker
I'm really glad you dressed up as Ramona Flowers for this. I loved the Scott Pilgrim comics when I was younger and it was always frustrating for me when people would label Ramona as this flat MPDG type when she's a legitimately complex character who makes a lot of messy decisions. How they handle her in the movie and comics reminds me a little bit of Summer, because Scott definitely projected this ideal relationship on her (and on Envy, and on Kim) even though it wasn't what she actually wanted. And reducing her down to that stereotype really takes away from the development both she and Scott have to undergo, and their sweet reunion at the end. But anyways, this was a great analysis and I'm glad you touched on so many female characters that get inappropriately labeled as manic pixies