The Manic Pixie Dream Girl (shortened to MPDG) is a trope often used in today’s media. The term was first used by film critic Nathan Rabin, in which he stated that the MPDG is ”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”.
Some famous Manic Pixie Dream Girls include Holly Golightly, Alaska Young, Giselle from Enchanted, Ramona Flowers, and literally anything portrayed by Zooey Deschanel.
Why exactly is this archetype so destructive? Well, the whole objective of the MPDG is to help the most likely sad, most likely white, most likely male protagonist to “embrace life”. (If you think I’m wrong please look at everyone of the male counterparts that I listed above)
But the problem is…women aren’t put onto this planet to help sad white men figure out their shit. They will not magically cure your sadness, they will not open your eyes for you, this is all something that the protagonist can (and should) figure out their self. The MPDG is often romanticized so much that the protagonist falls in love with the idea of the MPDG and not the woman that she actually is. As John Green eloquently put it, “the way you think about a person isn’t the way they actually are.”
Another side effect I have seen happening due to the MPDG trope is the deathly horrible phrase “not like most girls.” I have seen this mostly in media targeted towards younger, teenage girls, and let me tell you this is the most dangerous area to have the MPDG floating around. When you’re a teenager, one of the most desired things is to be noticed. To see/read a story about this girl that gets all this adoring love and attention from a conventionally attractive, but awkward, boy is like reading a book of your desires. (Source: I was a teenage girl once)
But the problem is the MPDG has to stand out. She has to be different to shine above and how does she do that? By distancing herself from her peers by viewing them as lesser.
The problem now is this superiority complex I see developing in young adult novels specifically. What writers are often forgetting as that all girls are not like most girls. What writers are forgetting is that every single girl has a different personality, different interests and different desires that everyone should respect.
Every girl needs to know this.
There is nothing that makes an MPDG morally superior because they wear polka dots or funny socks. There is nothing morally superior to partying and dressing up. There is nothing morally superior over sticking your nose in a book versus a red solo cup.
The MPDG needs to die so women can find solidarity as individuals finding their selves instead of finding the happiness of a cute, depressed white boy. The MPDG needs to die so young women can learn to respect the individuality of other women.
Super Heroine Addiction 