Why THIS trope?

Nathan Rabin coined the term "manic pixie dream girl" as a way to describe the sort of archetype character that Kirsten Dunst played in her role in Elizabethtown - a character 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". Now obviously such characters, variations, and deconstructions of this type of character have existed way before this particular movie. But it created a perfect term to describe that sort of muse-like character: a beautiful free-spirit that brings a joie de vivre to the protagonist...with the character comes a lot of quirks that belie lots of psychological baggage which often deem her as an unsuitable "real" romantic partner for the male protagonist and is then tossed aside as a "lesson", much to the dismay of many feminist critics of the trope. But the trope actually varies a lot, if you think about it, and is comprised of some of the most recognizable characters in literature and film...from Daisy Buchannan in The Great Gatsby to Audrey Hepburn's portrayal of Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's to Summer in (500) Days of Summer...ALL GREAT CHARACTERS that are not as simple as what the trope simply subscribes (other variations of the trope include Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl, Lolita, Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim, and almost every prominent female character in John Green's novels). 

Kirsten Dunst as the inspiration for the term "manic pixie dream girl" in her role in Elizabethtown

Zooey Deschanel is the "Trope Codifier" meaning she is exemplary for playing roles that fulfill this trope

So aside from having a love of characters within this trope, why have an entire blog dedicated to it? Well for starters, this blog is not about manic pixie dream girls. This blog is about me. 

^ That is me. The one that this blog is about. Aren't I adorable ^

Now what do manic pixie dream girls have to do with me? Well, I've been doing a lot of soul searching and a lot of...deconstructing certain areas of my life, and I've come to this conclusion...I live my life like a manic pixie dream girl...not even just a male variant of manic pixie dream girl...like legit, haha...I mean everyone is a character in their own story and as both a protagonist in my story and as a a participant in others, I play that kind of role. I try to live my life in a way that makes people happy by being outrageous and quirky and free and candid. The realization actually came after I read Paper Towns by John Green, and I utterly fell in love with Margo...and I just felt this affinity and empathy for her and how she dealt with her life. And after that I just found a lot of associations between me and the trope...and I did a lot of personal deconstruction of the trope itself and characters within the trope, finding more characters that fit the trope, elaborating on it...it was rather intense. Even the music that I've been listening to recently, which has consisted of mainly 2 artists, Lana del Rey and Marina & The Diamonds, who are both artists who approach the woman of glamour in different ways but still touching on the fundamental aspect of a woman who is attempting to be free - free from care, free from love, free from hate, free from judgment, free from ridicule, but is at the same time the object of all of those things by the media, the men who love them, etc. And that's what I feel the manic pixie dream girl is...a girl trying to be free in their own individual way with all eyes fixated on them...and that fixation can be oppressive.


And that's what I want to write about in this blog. The struggle to be free in an oppressive world of expectations and judgment and criticism, yet also the struggle of being in love and wanting and other metaphorical chains that can bind you....just the struggle of life. I'm writing about how I approach life, the situations in my life...even what I'm wearing when it all goes down. So basically I'm writing about anything...but it all comes together...because everything, I feel, comes back down to life and how we live it.


And this is how I choose to live mine. To live a life with love running manic.


Enjoy


<3