tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post5120152339002577292..comments2019-05-15T23:59:20.159-07:00Comments on Feminist Legal Theory: How NOT to Write Female Characters: Reflections on the “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” TropeLisa R. Pruitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16469550950363542801noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-28698845834548922062016-05-12T16:09:10.099-07:002016-05-12T16:09:10.099-07:00YES India. Natalie Portman in Garden State is the ...YES India. Natalie Portman in Garden State is the epitome of MPDG. I have tried to explain to so many people why I hated that movie, and have struggled to put it into words. This post does it perfectly! Another frequent MPDG culprit (victim?) is Zooey Deschanel. 500 Days of Summer? Ugh. It's one of the reasons I've never watched New Girl because it seems like she's the same type of character.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02744962099797064454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-60584366749248522642016-05-12T14:59:43.092-07:002016-05-12T14:59:43.092-07:00As soon as I read the first couple paragraphs of y...As soon as I read the first couple paragraphs of your post, I immediately thought of Natalie Portman in "Garden State." As the Atlantic article describes, that character was truly the epitome of MPDG. I remember watching that movie and for years trying to be exactly like her. That if I could just be a smart, skinny, quirky, tomboy-ish-but-still-classically-gorgeous girl, then life would be perfect. But as your post inspires me to dig into this issue, I'm realizing that all those quirky "flaws" that we see find so endearing in many MPDG's are note really flaws at all. Those characters, unlike their male counterparts, are so perfectly manicured that they're not really allowed any true flaws. Maybe those girls are "too honest" or "too spontaneous." But they're never narcissistic, or overly pompous, or strikingly ignorant. It's an unattainable standard of quirky, but not too quirky, relatable, but not too ordinary.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08484385770904728216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-74482448214390821612016-04-24T14:09:49.325-07:002016-04-24T14:09:49.325-07:00In response to a certain type of male attention, m...In response to a certain type of male attention, my college friends and I coined a real-life equivalent to the Manic Pixie Dream Girl - the Freaky Weird Girl. Freaky Weird Girls attract comments like, "you're so different from other girls," "wow, you've heard of bands I've never even heard of before," and "you have a really unique sense of style." Similar to the the MPDG trope, men's attraction to Freaky Weird Girls is related to their own self-image - by dating, or being associated with someone they see as "unique" their social status and sense of self is elevated. The older (and perhaps more "mainstream") I've gotten, these types of comments have diminished. But occasionally, when someone realizes I have tattoos, my Freaky Weird Girl status is reinstated. Fortunately, I can usually spot these types of people and tend to avoid social interactions where I am being commodified for my "uniqueness," and instead work to build genuine connections with people, based on more than the male ego. Sonjahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13536839955595195957noreply@blogger.com