Manic Pixie Dream Girl

Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) is a type in films. Film critic Nathan Rabin, who coined the term after observing Kirsten Dunst's character in Elizabethtown (2005), describes the MPDG 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." MPDGs are said to help their men without pursuing their own happiness, and such characters never grow up; thus, their men never grow up.

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl has been compared to another stock character, the Magical Negro, a black character who seems to exist only to provide spiritual or mystical help to the white savior protagonist. In both cases, the stock character has no discernible inner life, and usually only exists to provide the protagonist some important life lessons.

MPDGs are usually static characters who have eccentric personality quirks and are unabashedly girlish. They invariably serve as the romantic interest for a (most often brooding or depressed) male protagonist. An example of an MPDG is Natalie Portman's character in the movie Garden State (2004), written and directed by Zach Braff. In his review of Garden State, Roger Ebert also described this kind of rather unbelievable "movie creature" as "completely available" and "absolutely desirable."The A.V. Club points to Katharine Hepburn's character in Bringing Up Baby (1938) as one of the earliest examples of the archetype. The Filmspotting podcast created a list of Top Five Manic Pixie Dream Girls; Nathan Rabin appeared as a guest and created his own, separate list of MPDGs.

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