A few years ago a very funny film critic named Nathin Rabin coined the term “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” to describe an increasingly prominent female character archetype – the beautiful, whimsical, almost otherworldly nymph that can’t be caged, nor fed animal products. She is, wrote Rabin, “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 its infinite mysteries and adventures”.
Deemed “the scourge of modern cinema” (Jezebel) and “the Natalie Portman problem” (Salon) the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is attracting increasing criticism from film crtitics and feminists alike, for representing a romantic ideal even more unattainable than Jennifer Aniston’s body. Now not only are women expected to be bullshit hot and Einstein-intelligent, they should also be adept at knitting and enjoy staring into cavernous pits. Also, obvious signs of mental illness only increase her romantic appeal. As written by the hilarious Mindy Kaling:
“This girl can’t be pinned down and may or may not show up when you make concrete plans with her. She wears gauzy blouses and braids. She likes to dance in the rain and she weeps uncontrollably if she sees a sign for a missing dog or cat. She might spin a globe, place her finger on a random spot, and decide to move there. The Ethereal Weirdo (or MPDG) appears in a lot of movies, but nowhere else. If she were from real life, people would think she was a homeless woman and would cross the street to avoid her. But she is essential to the male fantasy that even if a guy is boring he deserves a woman who will find him fascinating and perk up his dreary life by forcing him to go skinny dipping in a stranger’s pool.”
FUCK YEAH MINDY KALING!
Nathan Rabin was inspired to write about the Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) following a viewing of Cameron Crowe’s 2005 fluffball, Elizabethtown (poor him) in which Kirsten Dunst plays the MPDG to Orlando Bloom’s doddering sap. But the MPDG is by no means a new phenomenon. No, she is as old as the vintage lace bobby socks she wears under her red Mary Janes. Think Katharine Hepburn in Brining Up Baby; Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s; Goldie Hawn in Cactus Flower; Barbara Streisand in What’s Up Doc; and Shirley Maclaine in The Apartment. Later examples include Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist, Meg Ryan in Joe vs The Volcano, and - I would argue - Daryl Hannah in Splash.
These days the MPDG is more often than not played by indie darling Zooey Deschanel, but occasionally the role will go to Mila Kunis, Kat Dennings, Aubrey Plaza or whomever Zach Braff is dating when he makes a film/Scrubs plotline. Kate Hudson’s Penny Lane (Almost Famous) is a prime example of the MPDG, as is Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Amazingly little has changed over the years for the MPDG. Her clothes remain alarmingly similar (although now they are “vintage”, “boho” and other such terms used on eBay to sell old crap), her interest in obscure Marxist literature remains, and she is as beautiful as she was when staring into Tiffany’s. Sure, she may sometimes now be dressed in a hoodie, or high as a first year Uni student, but the principle remains the same.
And thus, having thoroughly analysed those characteristics most common amongst Manic Pixie Dream Girls (or as thoroughly as one can analyse anything without Wikipedia for help), I now present to you a list of tips for becoming a capricious fairy-vixen yourself. Follow this guide and who knows, Zach Braff might but you in a movie/cage one day.
1. GET A FRINGE
(I believe this is called “bangs” in the USA. Americans name hairstyles the darndest things.)
2. OR DYE YOUR HAIR A COLOUR THAT WOULD MAKE YOUR MUM CRY
3. DRESS LIKE A TEENAGE BOY
4. OR DRESS LIKE AN OPSHOP THREW UP ON YOU
5. WEAR A FUN HAT
6. BE RIDICULOUSLY PRETTY
(FYI this is the most important step in becoming an MPDG. Without this all the other steps are futile.)
7. GET A BICYCLE
(Preferably a fixed gear one, obvs.)
8. OR BE A MERMAID
(Splash!)
9. KNOW HOW TO READ GOOD
10. BE FRENCH AND ADDICTED TO NICOTINE
11. OR BE A HEPBURN AND ADDICTED TO NICOTINE
12. HAVE EYES THE SIZE OF REALLY BIG EYES