A friend of mine sent me this video because she knows I'm firmly against the Manic Pixie Dream Girl stereotype in literature and film. You know the girl I'm talking about. The one who sweeps a depressed man off his feet, dusts him off, and teaches him to live and love again with her bubbly, bouncy, sugar-high personality.
This, my friends, is her only purpose in the story. Her fundamental role in life is to get her main man back on track again, while teaching him to see the beauty in the world (which he never noticed before).
This video pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject. Even if you're not a hardcore feminist, the main takeaway from learning about the Manic Pixie Dream Girl stereotype is this:
Don't include ANY main character in your story that doesn't have depth. Give each one a life, ambitions, likes, dislikes, a purpose, a family, drive, goals, faults, quirks, shortcomings, dreams. If your character is only there to make your main character "change" or "find himself/herself," then there's more work to be done. Don't stop there.
Delve deeper.
Also, have any of you ever seen this stereotype in reverse? Such as a Manic Macho Dream Boat perhaps? If so, leave a comment in the doobly doo below. I know I've read quite a few male characters who fit the bill--swooping in to teach a buddy how to loosen up and enjoy life, or swooping in to show a free-spirited girl the joys of settling down--but I can't remember the titles off the top of my head. I'll have to do a bit of research on that one because it's worth noting.
Psht. I've already seen all those videos.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it's just a coincidence that 90% of the movies she cites are awful. Especially Elizabethtown. Ugh.
And I can't think of any instances of a Manic Pixie Dream Boy, but I'll keep thinking.
Haha, who do you think sent me the video? :)
ReplyDeleteOne that comes to mind: Breakfast at Tiffany's. Paul doesn't have a life outside of Holly. He's really only in the story to help cure her neurosis. He sweeps in to show her how to give up her obsessive and crumbling lifestyle in exchange for a "normal" life with him. They'll be poor, but their life will be loverly.
All we know about him is that he's a struggling writer who is employed by a Sugar Mama. He's really only there to cure Holly.
Thoughts?
Haha, who do you think sent me the video? :)One that comes to mind: Breakfast at Tiffany's. Paul doesn't have a life outside of Holly. He's really only in the story to help cure her neurosis. He sweeps in to show her how to give up her obsessive and crumbling lifestyle in exchange for a "normal" life with him. They'll be poor, but their life will be loverly. All we know about him is that he's a struggling writer who is employed by a Sugar Mama. He's really only there to cure Holly.Thoughts?
ReplyDelete