To those who do not understand what manic pixie dream girl is... Film critic Nathan Rabin coined the term in his original review of Elizabethtown, writing that the MPDG “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.”
A manic pixie dream girl is the embodiment of a certain male fantasy: a charming woman who “isn’t like other girls” and has no desires of her own. While she may possess personality traits or a backstory that suggests a fully fleshed-out character, the story gives her little to no space to develop, learn, or advance her interests. She does not seem to have any interest in life besides to fix a damaged man. This type of woman normally exist in the fantasy of many men therefore of written by male storytellers. This just highlights the tendency of men to believe that everything revolves around them, or more importantly, the lives of women revolve around them and that women are incomplete without the presence of men in their lives.
To understand why this type of portrayal would not interest women or even offend them one just has to look into the past. How hard have women fought to have their voice? To have their own identity? They had to fight for the right to vote. Once upon a time, no woman could dream of being accepted into law schools or any postgraduate institution. Very few women had their careers. They were not able to apply for a credit card that was not in their husband’s name. They could not own property that was not in their husband’s name. They would probably get mocked for life if they ever aspired to hold any political or leadership position. Why did women fight so hard for these rights? Because no woman just wants to have a life that revolves solely around a man.
The manic pixie dream girl, even if shown as an independent working woman, has no other purpose in these male-oriented narratives other than to help the male evolve. She goes through no internal journey, growth, evolution, or transformation of her own. Once again she is not even shown to have any other aspirations or interests in life other than to help the male evolve. Her only importance in the narrative is how she aids in the male character’s journey of evolution. A very backward portrayal and perception of women. In the story everything revolves around the male protagonist, including the female character ..
Most of Imtiaz's Ali heroines have been Manic Pixie Dream Girls
Tamasha
The most important function that Deepika Padukone’s character has is to help Ranbir Kapoor realize that he’s ‘special’ and inspire him to get out of his dead-end corporate job. It’s important to note that, we are never told anything about the woman’s professional life or career (Deepika is supposed to be a successful career woman but what she actually does for a living is never mentioned), but the respective hero’s professional struggle forms the focus.
Rockstar
Nargis in Rockstar was an underdeveloped character compared to Ranbir. We never know her family, or her past. Again her job in the film was to come into his life and make him experience pain so that he can become successful in his career and evolve.
Chamkila
Again many people complained about why did the filmmakers not get Amarjot rights. Her contribution to the success of the musical jodi was never really explored. Nor was her mental process of accepting being someone's second wife. It was completely Chamkila's story that was depicted and his love for music. Amarjot just came along to help him become more successful.
Jab Harry Met Sejal
Sejal is unavailable to Harry. It was through his unfulfilled physical desire for her he found his own emotional core. There is literally a line in the show where he says, "Mujhe sirf tum bacha sakti ho."
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