'Fixing' the Manic Pixie Dream Girl

[cherrystark]

It's funny (in the strange sense.) I started about how often we see characters lacking any type of personality. Their personality is their relationship. That's it. The writer might sprinkle in some quirks as afterthoughts but they never grow as people.

The MPDG is only really appealing if she's written through the lens of the dull male protagonist fantasizing about her. If a character falls into the realm of MPDG and is allowed to live her best life as a fully realized character, I fully support her and would read her story in a heartbeat. But she's a really annoying character as a romantic lead. It's hard to root for the couple when the dull male lead realizes that it's a miracle she's still alive because she has no skills to take care of herself.

[PrinceLatte]

1. I do love this trope (though I don't use it)

2. She is adorable

3. I love this art style

4. Do you think it's true scott Pilgrim made this trope worse personally I don't see much of it.

[Mallory]

I think a lot of people are struggling to describe what a "dull" male character is and I think "typical dude bro" does it a disservice. It's less about the guy's description and more about his lack of ambition/drive (in other words, he's a static, passive protagonist). MPDG's role is to "wake" this dull character up, give his life some direction and make it more interesting, while making the female character's life inexplicably revolve around him in some way (for example, she may convince him to go to Paris because going to Paris was HIS dream that he let go of because he lacks ambition and drive. Now there's this outside force that's pushing him towards his dreams and he doesn't have to worry about finding the motivation. But she's not pushing him to go to Kathmandu, which is maybe her dream, but it's not his, so the MPDG writer doesn't care).

If you write the guy as an active protagonist who was already doing his thing before running into a weirdo, and the weirdo herself has goals and ambitions that she is pursuing for herself, then I don't think it falls under MPDG trope.

[cherrystark]

@Mallory I think you hit on a critical point of the male MC being an "active" participant in the story. If he's an active, fully realized character and he only needs to the weirdo to give him a kick in the pants to go live his dreams - it could be a good story. Most of the time, the guy's singular purpose in the story is to get a girlfriend. He's often not any better by the time the story ends.

[Ordinaryaverageguy]

makes his life interesting by her very presence without him having to actually do anything himself

I think I misunderstood the trope as permitting the guy to be improved by meeting the MPDG, but apparently that's not the usual way it goes. I think it was Robert Heinlein who said that if a main character isn't changed in some way by the events of a story, then it's not a very good story (or something to that effect). Then again, perhaps some slice of life stories are like that, somewhat like a documentary or diary vs something like an adventure.

[writerhongpao]

The two MC's are an 'ordinary' guy and an 'extraordinary' girl who fall in love, and despite her bright personality and supernatural abilities, the girl has always been a kind of feeble character who needs a lot of help from the people around her. Meanwhile the guy (who is the primary POV) is pretty self-sufficient, but a little boring and dull and wants something more out of life.

This setup naturally lends itself to a typical lopsided relationship where the guy "saves" the girl (through the bare-minimum achievement of knowing how to exist in modern society...) and in return her whole existence becomes a vehicle to make his life more interesting and fulfilling. And I don't think I have to explain why that doesn't appeal to me. ^^;

Why not make it even instead of lopsided? Maybe they "save" each other in their own unique way? I'm not too familiar with this trope, but sounds like two people of opposite personalities can help each other grow. If he is self-sufficient but a bit boring, and she bright and bubbly but feeble and needy, maybe they strike up a relationship when he gives her advice on how to be more self-sufficient, and she gives him advice on how to have fun by opening up to people and being more social.

I could see several episodes where situations arise that challenge each of the character's normal tendencies, then they go to the other for advice and try it out, and it doesn't turn out so bad. Or maybe for comedic effect it turns out ridiculously bad. But either way they come back to each other and their relationship grows deeper after every challenge.

Just my opinion. In my experience, I've appreciated most how much I've grown after knowing someone in that deeper way.

[system]

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