Manic Pixie Dream Girls?
Shouldn't i be able to make a little scrilla out of my ubiquitous brainchild?
Hey you beautiful people,
I was thinking that it might benefit this newsletter if I prominently feature the phrase/idea/archetype that will outlive me and be my enduring legacy, beyond getting people to appreciate the genius of “Weird Al” Yankovic and Nicolas Cage and be less harsh and judgmental towards Phish fans and Juggalos.
I’m talking Manic Pixie Dream Girls, baby! I would like to make money off my creation so I am asking you, dear subscriber if there is a movie or television show that you think features a Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
I’m thinking I could then have paid subscribers vote on which MPDG to write about for a monthly column called “Manic Pixie Dream Girl or Not?”
Yes, The Bear is in play because that is a hot show everyone is talking about and I used to get dipped Italian Beef sandwiches with sweet peppers and loaded fries as the place that inspired the show. Man, do I love Italian beef! I’m headed to Chicago for a friend’s wedding this week and one of the first things I do when i touch down is have an Italian beef sandwich.
Hit me with your Manic Pixie Dream Girls, people! This should be fun and heck, it might even attract more eyeballs for this modest yet ambitious endeavor.
I'm not recommending this (in fact, I'd recommend against it if you're trying to be commercial here), but I've always been fascinated by proto-MPDG's from literary history: Lady Philosophy from Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, Beatrice from The Divine Comedy, Scheherazade, Olivia in Twelfth Night, etc. In some cases, they're allegorical figures that literally do have no independent inner life. In other cases, they superficially serve a similar role, but are better written than the movie cliche and exist as richer characters. "Man gets through a block in his life with the unexpected help of a woman" is very well-trodden in literary/dramatic history.
(500) Days of Summer is an interesting example of a story about Joseph Gordon Levitt projecting his need for a manic pixie dream girl on to Zooey Deschanel, who just wants something fun and casual and so the relationship doesn’t work out.