A trope reaching back to some of the earliest forms of printed and staged media is that of a female muse, and her unwavering support of the hero of the story; the sometimes unvirtuous, brooding male protagonist. This can be referred to as the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Now for the following obligatory statement, hopefully before the majority of readers have rolled their eyes and clicked away: this is not an essay about how men are bad, this is not an attack of any kind. This is about addressing the normalization of stereotypes placed on women in media, and the way that this affects both women and men who consume this media. Women do not exist to help a lost man discover his purpose, and no man needs a woman to help him do so.

So, what exactly is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG)?

The dictionary has this basic definition on hand: “a type of female character depicted as vivacious and appealingly quirky, whose purpose within the narrative is to inspire a greater appreciation for life in a male protagonist.” Seems harmless enough, right? Perhaps not. Not to mention the pervasiveness, and sometimes surprising examples of this trope. Some extremely popularized films containing this trope include Fight Club, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and, who could forget Elizabethtown. All of the former very notable films, some with their own cult following.

When an impressionable young girl watches a film that propagates the MPDG trope it shows her that she doesn’t need any of her own definable qualities, goals, or, to open up about her life experiences to her partner at all. And, many young or teenage girls consume romance films on a regular basis, therefore subconsciously absorbing the idea that all they need to do to find their own happiness is to be ‘quirky’ and ‘free-spirited’ enough to attract a man who will romanticize select aspects of their personality, fall in love with his idea of them in a ridiculously short amount of time, and live happily ever after. They have no way to relate to the love interest in the film, because she is one dimensional, and not meant to stand on her own.

When a young girl recognizes that she is not relating to any of the prominent female characters in popularized films, she may default to believing that the problem must be her. She could even begin to model herself after these MPDG’s, stifling her own emotions and ambitions to fit an idealized role she thinks men desire.

And what about the lost young men, who (due to the actual character development of men in films like the aforementioned) relate to the male protagonists in these movies? They begin to believe that, instead of searching inside themselves, they can find their happiness and completion in another person. In extreme cases, they may also begin to view women as objects. A means of acquiring their own fulfillment. and not as their own people with their own purpose.

The idea of finding yourself in another person is a harmful notion in and of itself, as you can never be complete when you depend so fully on a romantic partner to do your ‘soul searching’ for you. But, the idea that you must change yourself to find a partner, or that your own perception of your partner is more important than their actuality is even more harmful.

But, surely, the average audience member recognizes these stereotypes and common reoccurrence in films as harmful, right?

Unfortunately, no.

A quick YouTube or Google search of the phrase “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” will return primarily results such as “Which Manic Pixie Dream Girl are You?” and “Definitive Rankings of the Best Manic Pixie Dream Girl’s” with upwards of hundreds of thousands of views and shares of these quizzes and videos. Thus, the typical consumers own perception and acceptance of these tropes promulgates the concept of damaging, one-sided, and underdeveloped fairy-tale romances.

There are of course sterling examples of well rounded female characters and their sometimes still troubled, yet more realistic male love interests. Films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Leap Year, and, everyone's favorite, 500 Days of Summer portray realistic yet simultaneously beautiful romances. 500 Days of Summer is a particularly great example of a film that challenges this platitude. While the main character in the film views his love interest as a kind of MPDG, she certainly sees more worth within herself and consistently reminds him she won’t just be ‘someone’s girlfriend’.

In fact, Summer is not the only one that realizes that Tom is romanticizing her image over her actual existence. Tom’s own younger sister reminds him in one scene, “Just because she likes the same bizarro crap you do, doesn’t mean she’s your soul mate,”. At the end of the film, of course, this idealization did not result in their happily ever after. Tom learned the lesson we all must learn in real life: you must find your motivation within yourself to make positive changes in your life, you cannot rely on someone else to create your own happiness.

So, where do we go from here? Each individual, man or woman, must be the hero of their own story. We cannot continue to allow ourselves to be so heavily influenced by shallow, dramatic Hollywood interpretations of ‘real life’.

Look inside yourself to determine your own worth and your own goals in life, then, wait for someone to fit those goals and join you on your own, congruent path. You will find so much more fulfillment in exploring another person's emotional composition rather than searching for a Manic Pixie Dream Girl to help you understand yourself. And, on the flip side of this metaphorical coin, women must strive to understand themselves for their own personal growth, without worrying about how it will determine their romantic future.

Emotional development will give both parties a happier ending than a mysterious and unimportant backstory, wacky and hyper-extroverted tendencies, and fictional complexities ever could.