Who's just as cute as a button? Who's the most deliciously delirious young woman, always up to her false eyelashes in madcap romps?
It's the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, of course.
Film critic Nathan Rabin coined the term after seeing actress Kirsten Dunst in the 2005 movie "Elizabethtown." The Manic Pixie is, in his words, "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."
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Wow. I am so glad they put a name to this archetypal character in cinema history, a character that I happen to always be drawn to in movies (but I never even knew the reason why!). Some of my favorite movies-- Breakfast at Tiffany's, Bringing Up Baby, Annie Hall-- contain MPDGs!
I think the reason that I am drawn to movies that feature MPDGs is because... I am a little of one myself. Or at least have subconsciously strove to be one since an early age. I can admit that I am a little more than zany, I get myself into predicaments, I have odd quirks, I enjoy life despite the ups and downs, and I am altogether lovely and charming in my own special way. And I don't mind saying so (Wink).
Do you have a favorite MPDG? Here is a list of some of the best and most famous:
1. Natalie Portman in Garden State
2. Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's
3. Katharine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby
4. Diane Keaton in Annie Hall
5. Babra Streisand in What's Up, Doc?
6. Kirsten Dunst in Elizabethtown
7. Kate Hudson in Almost Famous
8. Ruth Gordon in Harold & Maude
9. Amy Adams in Enchanted
10. Jennifer Aniston in Along Came Polly
Can you think of more? Let me know! And let me know who your fave/least fave MPDG is.
5 comments :
I feel like one of the requisites for a MPDG is that they're one-dimensional. It's a stereotype for quirky girls, who often have their own issues and deeper personality, but are often in films only to serve the purpose of enlightening the male. So Annie Hall and Ruth Gordon wouldn't fit into that I don't think, because they're characters are strong and multi-layered without their male counterparts...but I enjoy your list nonetheless! Especially the Amy Adams suggestion, that's interesting...
Teri Garr in "Young Frankstien". hmmm maybe?
Yah, maybe! Probably the silliest version of an MPDG ever.
Surprise Allie! I read your blog!
I'm glad you put Natalie Portman at the top of the MPDG list. I feel like she is the most infamous for our generation at least.
I'm afraid that I have one to add to the list, although I'm looking for loop-holes in the criteria to get her out- Scarlett Johansson, Lost in Translation?
Scar Jo could POSSIBLY be an MPDG in "Lost in Translation"... But I feel like she's a little to melancholy... ALEX PARK READS MY BLOG!!!!
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