# Manic Pixie Dream Girl > Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a 2007 character trope coined by film critic Nathan Rabin for a quirky, bubbly young woman who exists solely to inspire brooding male protagonists to embrace life. The **Manic Pixie Dream Girl** (MPDG) is a stock character trope in film and fiction describing a quirky, bubbly young woman who exists primarily to inspire a brooding male protagonist to embrace life. Film critic Nathan Rabin coined the term in 2007 while reviewing the 2005 movie *Elizabethtown*[2], and the concept quickly exploded across film criticism, internet culture, and mainstream conversation. Rabin eventually apologized for creating the phrase in 2014, arguing it had spiraled beyond its original intent and was being used to dismiss all unconventional female characters[2]. ## Origin Nathan Rabin was writing for *The Onion*'s A.V. Club in January 2007 when he published a review of *Elizabethtown* as part of his "My Year of Flops" column[2]. Watching Kirsten Dunst play Claire, a "psychotically bubbly stewardess" who offers her phone number to strangers and draws whimsical maps, Rabin realized he was looking at a repeating pattern. He wrote: "Dunst embodies a character type I like to call The Manic Pixie Dream Girl" who "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"[4]. Rabin broke the name down into its components: "Manic" for the high energy, "Pixie" for the dainty, mischievous quality, and "Dream Girl" for the male fantasy element[6]. He also pointed to Natalie Portman's character in *Garden State* as another textbook example: a girl who lies compulsively, invents new sounds to feel unique, and literally changes Zach Braff's character's life with a single song[11]. The initial response to Rabin's review was "pretty positive but relatively sleepy," as he later recalled[2]. The A.V. Club was much smaller then, and the phrase didn't gain real traction for another year. - **Platform:** The A.V. Club (coined), internet film criticism (viral spread) - **Creator:** Nathan Rabin (film critic, coined the term) - **Date:** 2007 ## Overview The Manic Pixie Dream Girl refers to a specific type of female love interest in movies and TV: she's attractive but more "cute" than "hot," full of offbeat quirks, childlike energy, and zero personal ambitions beyond helping some sad, emotionally stunted guy find meaning in life[4]. She might play the ukulele at random, dye her hair bright colors, or drag the male lead on a spontaneous road trip. The key problem critics identified is that the MPDG has no interior life of her own. She's a prop, not a person[2]. The archetype traces back decades through Hollywood. Katharine Hepburn in *Bringing Up Baby* (1938) is often cited as one of the earliest examples, and Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly in *Breakfast at Tiffany's* (1961) is a classic proto-MPDG[6]. But the trope reached peak concentration in the 2000s, with characters like Natalie Portman's Sam in *Garden State* (2004), Kate Hudson's Penny Lane in *Almost Famous* (2000), and Kirsten Dunst's Claire in *Elizabethtown* (2005) forming a kind of holy trinity of the archetype[5]. As TV Tropes describes the setup: "Let's say you're a soulful, brooding male hero, living a sheltered, emotionless existence. If only someone could come along and open your heart to the great, wondrous adventure of life"[12]. That "someone" is the MPDG, and she will fix you whether you like it or not. ## How It Spread The term picked up serious momentum in August 2008 when Rabin's A.V. Club colleague Tasha Robinson compiled a list titled "16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls"[3]. The list expanded the concept backwards through film history, applying MPDG status to characters like Diane Keaton in *Annie Hall*, Audrey Hepburn in *Breakfast at Tiffany's*, and Goldie Hawn in *Butterflies Are Free*[4]. Rabin himself had doubts about stretching the concept that far, but the list took off[2]. That same month, Jezebel published an article calling MPDGs "the scourge of modern cinema," singling out Natalie Portman's *Garden State* character as "the most pernicious of these cinematic sweethearts"[3]. The piece also introduced the term "Whimpster" for the manipulative, insecure men who orbit MPDGs[3]. NPR picked up the concept around the same time[11]. In October 2009, the blog We Love Media Criticism drew a comparison between the MPDG and the "Magical Negro" trope, noting that both archetypes exist solely to serve a protagonist rather than having their own storylines[3]. The TV Tropes entry went live in August 2010, linking the MPDG to related tropes like "Blithe Spirit" and "Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is For Losers"[3]. Zooey Deschanel's rise as a Hollywood It Girl turbocharged the MPDG discourse. Between her ukulele-strumming persona and roles in films like *Yes Man* and *(500) Days of Summer*, Deschanel became the living avatar of the trope. By 2011, Rabin recalled, the phrase was "everywhere"[2]. That year brought a surreal moment when *Elizabethtown* director Cameron Crowe was asked about the term and responded: "I dig it... I keep thinking I'll run into Nathan Rabin and we'll have a great conversation about it"[2]. YouTube parodies and critiques multiplied. In December 2011, YouTuber KyletheDingbat uploaded a sketch about meeting an MPDG at a park[3]. In March 2012, NaturalDisastronauts created a video imagining a mental health facility for MPDGs[3]. Feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian released a video in March 2011 arguing the trope perpetuated offensive stereotypes about women existing only as creative inspiration for men[3]. A major Flavorwire supercut in July 2012 traced 75 years of MPDG characters across film history, from *Bringing Up Baby* to modern rom-coms[5]. That December, a satirical video called "Manic Pixie Prostitute" depicted a man hiring a sex worker to roleplay as an MPDG. *Slate* covered it, suggesting that "critiques of the MPDG may have become more common than the archetype itself"[1]. ## How to Use The Manic Pixie Dream Girl isn't a meme template in the traditional image-macro sense. It's a critical label used in several ways: **Film criticism:** Point out a female character who has no personal goals, exists to fix a sad man's emotional life, and displays whimsical quirks (ukulele playing, spontaneous dancing, colored hair, childlike wonder). Call her an MPDG. **Internet shorthand:** Use it to describe someone (fictional or real) who fits the archetype. Often deployed on Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok when discussing movies, dating culture, or personal aesthetics. Example: "She's giving Manic Pixie Dream Girl energy." **Self-identification (ironic or sincere):** Some women adopted the label for themselves, sometimes earnestly, sometimes as a critique of how they're perceived. Articles with titles like "My Week as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl" and "I Was a Manic Pixie Dream Girl" became their own mini-genre[9]. **Subversion:** Writers and filmmakers now use awareness of the trope to deconstruct it. *Ruby Sparks*, *(500) Days of Summer*, and later works like *Fleabag* deliberately set up MPDG expectations and then tear them apart. ## Cultural Impact The MPDG concept crossed from niche film criticism into mainstream vocabulary faster than almost any other critical term of its era. Major outlets including NPR, *Slate*, *The New Yorker*, *Jezebel*, and *The New York Times* all adopted it as standard shorthand[1][4]. The term changed how Hollywood approached female characters. Zooey Deschanel herself noted the frustration of being typecast: "When you get sent scripts and you see you're always playing someone's girlfriend when you want to be the central role, it's so depressing"[1]. By the mid-2010s, the MPDG critique had made writers and directors self-conscious about one-dimensional female love interests, leading to more complex portrayals. The concept spawned sustained academic and critical discussion about gender representation in media. Critics drew connections to older archetypes like the *Mary Sue*, noting that both terms could be weaponized against female characters and real women who displayed unconventional traits[3]. Jennifer Quist, writing for *The Awl*, explored what she called the "Manic Pixie Dream Mom," tracing the trope's roots to male writers' relationships with maternal figures[10]. Cameron Crowe, the director of both *Elizabethtown* and *Almost Famous* (two films heavily associated with the trope), publicly engaged with the term[2]. The concept was analyzed in TEDx talks, debated on feminist blogs, and referenced in Mindy Kaling's *New Yorker* writing about female-centric films[2]. ## Fun Facts - Nathan Rabin initially misspelled it "Rubin" in early references, and many articles repeated the error for years[3]. - The term made it into the *Oxford English Dictionary* in 2015, eight years after Rabin coined it[9]. - Cameron Crowe, whose films inspired the term, said he wanted to meet Rabin personally to talk about it[2]. - A comprehensive study of 40 films labeled as containing MPDGs found that many don't actually meet all the criteria for the trope, suggesting the label was massively overapplied[7]. - Zooey Deschanel called out the term for calling her a "girl" when she's a "woman," adding: "it's a way of making a woman one-dimensional and I'm not one-dimensional"[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl? The Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) is a stock character type in film and fiction, typically a quirky, bubbly young woman whose only narrative purpose is to help a brooding male protagonist learn to enjoy life. The term was coined by critic Nathan Rabin in 2007[2]. ### Where did the Manic Pixie Dream Girl come from? Nathan Rabin created the term in a January 2007 review of the film *Elizabethtown* for The A.V. Club. He used it to describe Kirsten Dunst's character Claire, a "psychotically bubbly stewardess" with no real depth[4]. ### What does Manic Pixie Dream Girl mean? It's a critique of lazy writing: "Manic" refers to the character's high energy, "Pixie" to her dainty whimsy, and "Dream Girl" to the fact that she's a male fantasy rather than a fully realized person[6]. The character exists to fix a sad man's life and then disappear. ### How do you use the Manic Pixie Dream Girl concept? It's used as a label in film criticism and internet conversation to identify female characters (or real people) who fit the quirky-girl-saves-sad-boy pattern. Common on Twitter, Reddit, TikTok, and in think pieces[1]. ### Is Manic Pixie Dream Girl still popular? The term is a fixture of pop culture vocabulary and was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2015[9]. While the trope itself is less common in new films, the label is still widely used in media criticism and online discourse[4]. ### Who is the most famous Manic Pixie Dream Girl? Natalie Portman's Sam in *Garden State* (2004) is often cited as the most notorious example. Jezebel called her "the most pernicious of these cinematic sweethearts" in 2008[3]. Zooey Deschanel and Kirsten Dunst's *Elizabethtown* character are also closely associated with the trope[2]. ### Why did Nathan Rabin apologize for creating the term? In a 2014 *Salon* essay, Rabin said the term had "spun out of control" and was being used to dismiss all quirky women rather than critique lazy writing. He called the trope "fundamentally sexist" and asked that the phrase be "put to rest"[2]. ### Is the MPDG trope sexist? The trope itself is widely considered sexist because it reduces women to shallow accessories for male character development[2]. However, the label has also been called sexist when misapplied to real women or well-written characters with genuine depth[4]. ### What is a Manic Pixie Dream Boy? A gender-flipped version of the trope. Augustus Waters from *The Fault in Our Stars* and Jack Dawson from *Titanic* are frequently cited examples of quirky, free-spirited male characters who exist to transform a female protagonist's life[4]. ### What are the best examples of the MPDG in film? Classic examples include Kirsten Dunst in *Elizabethtown* (2005), Natalie Portman in *Garden State* (2004), Kate Hudson in *Almost Famous* (2000), and Audrey Hepburn in *Breakfast at Tiffany's* (1961)[5]. The 2008 A.V. Club list identified 16 films spanning from 1938's *Bringing Up Baby* to the mid-2000s[4]. ### Did the MPDG trope actually die? Not exactly. *Slate* suggested in 2012 that critiques had become more common than the archetype itself[1]. But writers like Róisín Lanigan argued in 2025 that the MPDG simply evolved into newer archetypes like the "e-girl" and "trad wife"[4]. The label shifted from describing a film trope to functioning as cultural criticism. ### Is Zooey Deschanel a Manic Pixie Dream Girl? Deschanel rejected the label in 2022, saying "I'm not a girl. I'm a woman" and calling the term "a way of making a woman one-dimensional." The MPDG tag followed her career since *(500) Days of Summer*, despite her being a real person and not a fictional character[4]. ## References 1. [Manic Pixie Prostitute video is the latest critique of the “manic pixie dream girl” archetype. (VIDEO)]() 2. [I'm sorry for coining the phrase "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" - Salon.com]() 3. [Home]() 4. [Manic Pixie Dream Girl - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Manic Pixie Dream Girl]() 6. [Manic Pixie Dream Girl - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [Exclusive Supercut: 75 Years of Manic Pixie Dream Girls]() 8. [Trope Patrol: The Manic Pixie Dream Girl - Hollywood Insider]() 9. [The Myth of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl]() 10. [Revisiting the movie concept of a 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl']() 11. [In Defense of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Subversions and Deconstructions of a Disowned Trope - TCK Publishing]() 12. [Gender Issues | Jennifer Quist, PhD | Page 2]() 13. [We Love Media Criticism: The Manic Pixie Dream Girl]() 14. [Manic Pixie Dream Girl - TV Tropes]() 15. [Manic Pixie Prostitute video is the latest critique of the “manic pixie dream girl” archetype. (VIDEO)]() 16. [Home]() 17. [World Edition - The Atlantic]() 18. [The A.V. Club — Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed.]() 19. [The A.V. Club — Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed.]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/manic-pixie-dream-girl Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library