Characteristics of the MPDG?
The 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl' (MPDG) is a trope commonly found in modern literature and film. This stock character can be found in a wide variety of works, from that of classics such as Truman Capote to newcomers such as John Green. The term 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl' was coined by Nathan Rabin, and was first used to describe Claire Colburn of the film “Elizabethtown". Rabin himself described the trope as "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."
The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is typically an eccentric, young woman. She is beautiful (most commonly …show more content…
MPDGs are always written in a way which makes them seem unattainable and fleeting, and this is true for Lux as well as Holly Golightly of Breakfast at Tiffany's- the authors make these characters untouchable, ethereal almost. The authors achieve this by creating a distance between the male protagonist (usually the narrator) and the MPDG. In The Virgin Suicides, the boys only have two direct interactions with the Lisbon girls- at a party and through the phone. Even so, they are strongly infatuated with the Lisbon’s, and Lux specifically, observing them and even collecting what they can of the girl’s personal belongings. All the girls commit suicide before the boys have a chance to truly get to know them, the novel ending with them wondering how much they really understood the Lisbon sisters at all. I believe that the fact that Lux is not the one to survive the sister’s collective attempt only contributes to her ethereal aura. Mary dies a significant amount of time after her sisters, yet the male protagonists act as though she died with the rest- as a separate entity, she is not intriguing or special enough to hold their interest, in contrast to Lux, who had been the focus of the better part of the book all on her
The 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl' (MPDG) is a trope commonly found in modern literature and film. This stock character can be found in a wide variety of works, from that of classics such as Truman Capote to newcomers such as John Green. The term 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl' was coined by Nathan Rabin, and was first used to describe Claire Colburn of the film “Elizabethtown". Rabin himself described the trope as "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."
The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is typically an eccentric, young woman. She is beautiful (most commonly …show more content…
MPDGs are always written in a way which makes them seem unattainable and fleeting, and this is true for Lux as well as Holly Golightly of Breakfast at Tiffany's- the authors make these characters untouchable, ethereal almost. The authors achieve this by creating a distance between the male protagonist (usually the narrator) and the MPDG. In The Virgin Suicides, the boys only have two direct interactions with the Lisbon girls- at a party and through the phone. Even so, they are strongly infatuated with the Lisbon’s, and Lux specifically, observing them and even collecting what they can of the girl’s personal belongings. All the girls commit suicide before the boys have a chance to truly get to know them, the novel ending with them wondering how much they really understood the Lisbon sisters at all. I believe that the fact that Lux is not the one to survive the sister’s collective attempt only contributes to her ethereal aura. Mary dies a significant amount of time after her sisters, yet the male protagonists act as though she died with the rest- as a separate entity, she is not intriguing or special enough to hold their interest, in contrast to Lux, who had been the focus of the better part of the book all on her