Defend the Indefensible: films in which gorgeous, independent, "edgy" women have nothing better to do than break uptight whiny squares out of their bubbles

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drop dead fred with phoebe cates in the MPDG role instead of rik mayall would probably be much improved.

Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 20:15 (eleven years ago) link

is 'jules and jim' sort of the anti-MPDG film? two happy non-uptight non-square guys living in their blissful bubble meet a gorgeous independent 'edgy' woman and it all ends in misery and suicide.

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 20:18 (eleven years ago) link

xp: might be the fault of screenwriters butthurt over Alvy not getting Annie Hall in the end.

Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 20:25 (eleven years ago) link

oh yeah in sleepers, woody is the MPDG, and it has aged better than annie hall.

Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 20:31 (eleven years ago) link

Peter Pan is a hard one to parse because not only does the manic pixie Peter invert the trope and help the freewheeling Wendy leave childhood and accept the uptight world of 'growing up', but Peter also has the ultimate MPDG of his own in Tinkerbell.

llurk, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 20:40 (eleven years ago) link

what do you think about the interpretation that it's actually captain hook that is the MPDG?

Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 20:42 (eleven years ago) link

Nah, it's clearly the crocodile.

emil.y, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 20:44 (eleven years ago) link

xp isn't that the plot of Hook?

which reminds me of the manic alien dream guy Mork

llurk, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 20:46 (eleven years ago) link

Satan as MPDG in the Garden of Eden?

Bill Goldberg Variations (Merdeyeux), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 20:53 (eleven years ago) link

Manic Pixie Demon Guy

Gollum: "Hot, Ready and Smeagol!" (Phil D.), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 20:54 (eleven years ago) link

Five Easy Pieces is kinda anti-MPDG. Quirky Karen Black unsuccessful at liberating uptight hero, gets dumped on whole film, abandoned at gas station as hero enters existential oblivion.

Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 20:55 (eleven years ago) link

^^Not only that, uptight hero falls for and loses a woman more uptight than he.

Big Sambola & The Tailspinners (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:00 (eleven years ago) link

He fails at being the pixie as well.
And the harsh father totem at the center of it all. Philip may be onto something with this Hook idea.

Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:04 (eleven years ago) link

So in Pretty in Pink we have the paralyzed father at the center of the tale with pixies Ringwald and Cryer generally failing at liberation from uptight reality.

Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:07 (eleven years ago) link

xxp Jesus as MPDG in the New Testament

llurk, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:13 (eleven years ago) link

Hamlet

to each his own but (Eazy), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:30 (eleven years ago) link

Vertigo may be the MPDG cautionary tale.

to each his own but (Eazy), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:31 (eleven years ago) link

Paralysis a big part of it too.

Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:38 (eleven years ago) link

I thought dangerous dream girl was a whole separate thing

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:41 (eleven years ago) link

Manic Pixie as DDG's innocent face?

Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:44 (eleven years ago) link

eddie furlong in T2 was oddly effeminate for this supposed macho leader dude -- this doesn't make sense until we realize he is the MPDG designed to get Ahnuld to stop being so stodgy and get in touch with his feelings.

Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:50 (eleven years ago) link

ha!

Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:54 (eleven years ago) link

"Lame father" archetype again with Reese spending his final minutes of screen time in T1 limping around.

Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 22:08 (eleven years ago) link

is it reese or the terminator in T1 that's trying to break linda hamilton out of her square existence?

Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 22:10 (eleven years ago) link

So in Pretty in Pink we have the paralyzed father at the center of the tale with pixies Ringwald and Cryer generally failing at liberation from uptight reality.

― Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Wednesday, January 23, 2013 4:07 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ringwald's Hughes characters in general have too much of a tormented interior life to be MPDGs imo

Doctor No Cassie (some dude), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 22:12 (eleven years ago) link

angst is antithetical to the whole concept

Doctor No Cassie (some dude), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 22:12 (eleven years ago) link

kim novak is about as un-manic as dream girls get

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 22:19 (eleven years ago) link

well but she does have a frazzled, dim expression.

the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 22:22 (eleven years ago) link

xp: Yeah, in Hughesverse, it's more Manic Nightmare.

Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 22:24 (eleven years ago) link

The overlook hotel

standard disclaimer applies (darraghmac), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 22:28 (eleven years ago) link

in Breakfast Club isn't there a reverse MPDG happening? They normalize the goth with a makeover and now she's happy in a square bubbleverse with the diminutive jock.

Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 22:40 (eleven years ago) link

Hughes is essentially conservative

Welcome to my world of proses (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 22:41 (eleven years ago) link

With Judd Neslon providing "Hook" archetype, father issues, limp and all.

Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 23:06 (eleven years ago) link

hahahaha some dude's DN is making it really hard for me to read this thread, constant double-takes. How impish! How quirky! Maybe he's...just the ILXor I never realized I was looking for.

Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 23:47 (eleven years ago) link

^^Your Manic Pixie Dream Poster...

Big Sambola & The Tailspinners (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 24 January 2013 00:17 (eleven years ago) link

How about Fight Club?

Mark G, Thursday, 24 January 2013 11:46 (eleven years ago) link

Well, that's certainly some form of MPD...

emil.y, Thursday, 24 January 2013 11:50 (eleven years ago) link

heath ledger in the batman

― 乒乓, Wednesday, January 23, 2013 1:54 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

under-appreciated

for the relief of unbearable space hugs (Austerity Ponies), Thursday, 24 January 2013 14:12 (eleven years ago) link

Melanie Griffith in Something Wild. I like this one a lot.

nickn, Thursday, 24 January 2013 17:35 (eleven years ago) link

Discussed above, I see.

nickn, Thursday, 24 January 2013 17:36 (eleven years ago) link

'Perks of Being a Wallflower' has the wondertwin power of both MPD Girl and Guy, w/ bonus points for Emma Watson actually wearing a pixie cut

llurk, Thursday, 24 January 2013 17:43 (eleven years ago) link

How do Edward Cullen & Christian Grey fit into this, if at all?

All kinds of heinous things, Friday, 25 January 2013 09:34 (eleven years ago) link

In pieces, hopefully.

Manti and the Catfish (Trayce), Friday, 25 January 2013 09:38 (eleven years ago) link

can i just say that i think louis ck and parker posey pretty successfully turned this trope on it's ear and made it into something at once fairly unlikely yet believable? + awesome? [SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER] i mean she's just giving the shlubby nice guy one last chance before.... i dunno, it all makes sense. for once. plus, not the ending to the arc i was expecting.

seeking a friend for the end of the world tho - i liked the movie fine, but steve caroll? really? WHY HIM?

messiahwannabe, Friday, 25 January 2013 11:24 (eleven years ago) link


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