Bronwen K. Bradshaw

Features Writer

The manic pixie dream girl (MPDG) is a character trope used throughout the cinematic universe. Natalie Portman’s character, Sam, in Garden State, and Kirsten Dunst’s character, Claire, in Elizabethtown are examples of this character type. The trope often involves the MPDG being outgoing and quirky, but static, with their sole purpose to enrich the lives of the sad and timid male protagonists. Nevertheless, how has the archetype come to be? Furthermore, how has it evolved in film? These are questions I wish to answer in this article. 

Film critic Nathan Rabin coined the term in 2007 for his column “My Year of Flops” in the pop culture and film newspaper The A.V. Club. He used the term to describe Cameron Crowe’s box office failure, Elizabethtown. The film stars Orlando Bloom, a sullen man on the way to his father’s memorial who encounters Kirsten Dunst’s character, Claire, a flight attendant. Rabin states that Claire is a manic pixie dream girl who “exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors.” Rabin says the girl is meant to teach the male protagonist to embrace life and be adventurous. The A.V. Club later created a list of other MPDGs throughout film history. The term became widely known as a standard description for female film characters showing some MPDG characteristics. 

However, some critics have said that the trope can diminish female characters and act as a misogynistic label to categorize women with anything resembling the specific traits as simply an archetype, not dynamic characters of their own. Suppose the female character has dyed hair or an unconventional approach to life. In that case, she is no longer a character but an MPDG. 

John Green, author of Paper Towns and The Fault in our Stars, detests the trope for restricting female characters, who are more than what the MPDG entails. In 2014, Nathan Rabin published an article for Salo apologizing for coining the term, which had become pervasive. In the article, Rabin stated, “The trope of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a fundamentally sexist one, since it makes women seem less like autonomous, independent entities than appealing props to help mopey, sad white men self-actualize.”

The MPDG is often described as “not being like other girls,” implying that a woman is not valuable if she is not outwardly different from her female peers. She must be outgoing, listen to obscure music, and dress strangely or unlike the period’s trends. The MPDG usually approaches the male protagonist voluntarily. She is the savior for the protagonist’s missing passion or sense of adventure. In Zach Braff’s film Garden State, the character Sam, played by Natalie Portman, approaches him first, showing him what she is listening to on her headphones. “The Shins, you know ‘em? You gotta hear this one song, it’ll change your life, I swear,” Sam says before placing the headphones on the male character’s ears. Sam goes on to hang out with the male protagonist, giving him life-changing advice and making him feel alive after the passing of his mother. 

Even though the term is relatively new for identifying female characters, many earlier works of cinema contain similar traits. However, using the term can diminish the heroines of classic movies and famous characters in romantic comedies of the 20th century. Katherine Hepburn’s character, Susan, in the 1938 film Bringing Up Baby may be the earliest example. Susan is quirky, outgoing, and devoted to a guy who does not necessarily understand her different charm. Though Susan has the MPDG characteristics, the film is a zany comedy that relies on the tropes (before it was a trope) to move the plot along. In the 1972 film What’s Up, Doc? Barbra Streisand plays a similar character, whose purpose is to help the male protagonist break out of his timid shell. However, her persistence is comical and carries the film. Can a quirky woman make jokes or enrich a man’s life while enriching the movie? Can a classic be categorized as an MPDG film without thinking about the context of the film’s story itself? 

The term has grown beyond women to men who fit the trope as well. The manic pixie dream boy is idyllic and innocent, meant to provide sage advice to someone who is conflicted by the life around them. The character of Augustus in the film adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars is an example. He embraces his cancer diagnosis and provides insight to Hazel, who has cancer as well. His use of cigarette metaphors and adventurous attitude open Hazel up to a life she had once not perceived as possible, much like the MPDG does for a male protagonist. The archetype is not inherently a female character, but rather one who doesn’t develop and whose sole purpose is to help their love interest. 

I understand the MPDG as inherently misogynistic, but I also understand that by diminishing the characters themselves, we are taking away the importance of beloved movies throughout history. To evolve from this trope, the film industry needs to be conscious of the manic pixie dream girl and provide more dynamic storytelling when writing these different and quirky characters.