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So the term "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" is an accepted term. Is there a term for the person who falls for them?
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That article lists Vanellope von Schweetz as a MPDG, but a huge part of the first movie (I haven't seen the second) was about Vanellope overcoming her issues. In fact, shortly after she shows up, it stops being about Ralph's motivations and mostly about hers.
To answer OP, one who falls for a MPDG? How about A Brooder. The males are always brooding in those movies when we're introduced to them.
MPDB example - uh, the love interest in most romantic comedies? They're a successful lawyer, good looking, great single father, altruistic, his walls are up but there's an obvious vulnerability to him, etc. The father in that movie Enchanted is a great example.
I fucking love Eternal Sunshine. One of my favorite movies ever. And I love Clem as a character, even if I don't think I'd fall for her as a person.
Something to consider about her is that our perception of her is colored by Joel's experiences. At the start of the movie she's a mysterious stranger so we don't know anything about her and her personality and then in her scenes with Elijah Wood she is but really isn't the same Clem (as in, it's post-Lacuna) and Elijah's character is an unlikeable prick so it contrasts a lot... but most of the time we don't even see the "real" Clementine - it's just Clementine as she appears in Joel's memories, essentially a part of Joel himself manifesting as Clementine.
And memories can be unreliable.
In a lot of ways, the MPDG is less about women than it is men. Generally, films featuring them are from the perspective of the man.
I guess if you were to make a film for women, with a male romantic lead that would be viewed as equivalent, it would be something like "the non-threatening bad boy." I'd say a guy like James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, or Brad Pitt in Thelma & Louise.
I guess if you were to make a film for women, with a male romantic lead that would be viewed as equivalent, it would be something like "the non-threatening bad boy." I'd say a guy like James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, or Brad Pitt in Thelma & Louise.
Nah the Nice Guy is the match for women who are sorta attracted to him but not really (The Mask or any coming of age movie where they end up with the best friend). Manic Pixie Dream Girls end up with the Loser character to teach him the value of living life.
Then you have that weird middle ground where you lack the whimsical attitude of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl but your actions are too sporadic and weird to be normal. And everything you do is scored with acoustic guitar.
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Yes, a key part of Eternal Sunshine was that the Clementine Joel loves is a flawless idea in his head, not a real person. Faced with the real person, the relationship quickly spirals out of control.
They can only find compatability if it's always "the first time" for them, and Lacuna makes this possible.
To buy into the MPDG fantasy does not reflect well on the fantasizer, not that I deny her appeal, but it's very escapist and self-indulgent.
The bad boy would be the male equivalent, yeah. Or the stoner character with the heart of gold who does the exact same thing the manic pixie dream girl does, like Andy from Parks and Rec
The closest male equivalent is probably the bohemian artist, writer or aristocratic typical of some 19th century literature. I'm not sure what the exact translation into the modern era is.
500 Days Of Summer also critiques people who fall in love with the idea/symbol of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl more than a real person.
Generally in this is case if the protagonist were to be the person who falls for the MPDG, they would probably be as relatable to possible to the audience so we feel and understand their reactions and thoughts. The applicable tropes would be Audience Surrogate, This Loser is You or The Everyman.
Someone told me Jack Dawson from Titanic was the male version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. He does kinda tick off all the boxes...
Um, Its been awhile since I saw Big Hero 6, but I don't think Hiro ever ended up with Gogo in the movie.
Um, Its been awhile since I saw Big Hero 6, but I don't think Hiro ever ended up with Gogo in the movie.
I don't necessarily see it as a character fault to fall for a person like that. They would come off as attractive, insightful, supportive, devoted, etc. The problem is they don't actually exist in the real world. Ain't nobody got time for that.
Indeed. Fictional MDPG are the targets of affection for real nerds, but in the work the one targeted by the girl is typically not a substandard male, just a relentlessly dull one. The problem with the MDPG trope isn't typically how they're written in their own stories but how they are received by audiences and expectations they subsequently set in the minds of those audiences about real women.
I think the teen goth girl is a common character now, aesthetically, but not as a romantic interest.
I would probably attribute her rise on the popularity of Raven, who herself was not a romantic target.
Watch Dating Around "Sarah" episode on Netflix, there are real people who try so hard to be that level of quirky. It's...exhausting and she's one of the most hated of the daters :P
(skip to 18:40)
I get that vibe from a lot of the shit anime I've seen honestly.
That video is freaky and creepy for all the wrong reasons. Guy gets way to into generalizing animators and their lives. I don't recommend watching it.
The black eyes were really disconcerting but also slightly arousing.
I mean it's the fact it's so common and so commonly used badly is the reason the reaction. I mean it's the easiest possible way to swage into an unpopular male fantasy power or otherwise.
lol, I have two cousins who pull the kind of crap that Sarah does. It is so much worse to see it happening in real life.
I looked this up on Wikipedia and realised that in the first season of Westworld William's first journey with Dolores is a reflection on this character. She rejects the role he assigns her. That isn't particularly new; George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion is more explicitly about this phenomenon.
At first I assumed the term referred to a self-consciously oddball character like Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's or Suzy Wong, and clearly this is the way many people use the term, with even women using the term about themselves. That's a whole different thing with manifestations in the real world.
At first I assumed the term referred to a self-consciously oddball character like Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's or Suzy Wong, and clearly this is the way many people use the term, with even women using the term about themselves. That's a whole different thing with manifestations in the real world.
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Quirkiness is common in the trope, but it's not the necessary component of the trope, which is the lack of any internal motivation or personal goals.
Isn't the guy just delusional?
The pixie girl is the non-paedo Lolita complex, essentially applying your own imagination onto the wants and desires of the person you fancy.
The pixie girl is the non-paedo Lolita complex, essentially applying your own imagination onto the wants and desires of the person you fancy.
Basically. In American media containing "MPDG" characters, the main character is 9/10 going to be a male who's only real descriptor is that he's a "Nice Guy"
