ADVERTISEMENT

A Manic Pixie Dream Girl is defined as a female character who's "quirky" and "unusual" but really exists only for the development of the male lead. Think of a female damsel in distress that film critics argue is edgy and fun at best and a cliché or even a sexist stereotype, at worst.

Recently, the term resurfaced again after TikToker Amy Lovatt asked everyone to share "the most Manic Pixie Dream Girl thing" they used to do.

Hers was bringing a trifle (a particular dessert) whenever she’d go to a party. “It was like, look at me, I am so quirky,” Amy recounted in her viral video.

More people joined the trend to share their own MPDG moments and it’s both hilarious and somewhat painfully relatable.

Image credits: amylovattt

@amylovattt #manicpixiedreamgirl #stitchthis #fyp #iwanttoknow ♬ original sound - Amy Lovatt
#1

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious Bubbles in my purse when I would try to stop smoking, so I would take bubble breaks.

beetledoot , Flickr Report

To find out more about the significance of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl character, we reached out to Lauren McMenemy, a writer, a journalist, and marketer dedicated to running workshops and training to help people get their words down right. Lauren was happy to share some insights into the topic.

Lauren told us that there was a time when the Manic Pixie Dream Girl was everywhere, especially in the indie scene. “Heck, I idolized those girls on screen: Natalie Portman in Garden State, Zooey Deschanel in literally everything. I did the '50s dresses with Converse trainers. I did the black-rimmed glasses and had (still have) a fringe (or bangs for our American friends),” Lauren recounted.

#2

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious I would drop pennies as I walked so people could find them and have good luck.

magpiemakingmusic , Jared Polin Report

Add photo comments
POST
bantrobel avatar
La Petite Morte
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's a really sweet & cool reason. Trying to spread a little magic into the world isn't a bad thing.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#4

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious I would wear thrift store clothes and tell people it was because “I like wearing other people’s stories on me.” *HEAVES*

droogette , Becca McHaffie Avatar of user Becca McHaffie Becca McHaffie beccamchaffie Report

Add photo comments
POST
master_minds9_1 avatar
DennyS (denzoren)
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Lol I like buying used books because I like that they have been on a journey before and hopefully when I die I'll pass it on to someone else and so on.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT

She said she used to call herself quirky, just like many girls out there. “I met my now-husband on a dating site under the username 'QuirkyWriter' - and I still do. Because to me, and to many women out there, these aren't tropes but aspects of our personality.”

Lauren explained that the issue with the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is the way these characters are handled by the writer, who is inevitably a "sensitive" man.

“It was film critic Nathan Rabin who, when referring to Kirsten Dunst's character in Elizabethtown, said the Manic Pixie Dream Girl ‘exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.’”

#5

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious I wore fairy wings to class a lot and wore vintage ball gowns to punk shows (those poor dresses)

ohkathrynmoon , Daniel Kempe Report

#6

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious My best friend would bring a lemon to every party and very casually eat it.

youarenotinwonderland , Nothing Ahead Report

#7

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious I’d take my journal everywhere to write down funny moments and quotes I wanted to remember. Now I’m a journalist

lornsassij Report

ADVERTISEMENT

“At that point, the quirky girls ceased to just be quirky girls and suddenly became tropes and white male fantasies. This problem isn't just confined to the MPDG; it's the problem with any two-dimensional character in any story who serves to provide important life lessons to the protagonist while having no discernible inner life. They're just a plot device.”

Lauren believes that the same is true when this carries over to young girls finding who they are. “If they only have Garden State's Sam, they're going to focus on looking right and having some weird quirk and being available to interested, sensitive men. But if they have Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, or they have Summer in 500 Days of Summer, then they'll at least meet MPDGs who have flaws and seem more real to anyone who's not the sensitive male soul attracted to them,” she explained.

#8

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious What didn't I do? I used to take my shoes off and splash in every fountain I saw because I was 'living in the moment'

mollystanley7 Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#9

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious I drew on my converse to show that I was artistic and quirky I also stood pigeon toed so that you could recognize I wasn't like other girls hehe

icamefortwilight , James Davies Report

Add photo comments
POST
bantrobel avatar
La Petite Morte
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We all drew on/decorated our Converse or Docs in the 80's/90's. Hell, I had a minor side business in HS painting combat boots for my classmates. My own were painted white & covered in literary quotes. It's just being artistic & bored in class.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#10

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious Used to research unknown bands with terrible music and know just enough about them to seem indie and mysterious.

kikiandthebrain , Thibault Trillet Report

#11

i bought a bunch of miniature people like the tiny ones for model train sets and would give them out randomly to ppl with no explanation

rodeorodent Report

#12

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious l used to take books to parties and read while drinking wine while my friends were normal college kids and partied accordingly.

amylovattt , Ingrid Santana Report

Add photo comments
POST
bantrobel avatar
La Petite Morte
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I did this, but mostly bc the book was usually more interesting than the conversation. Sometimes I'd get into great conversations with others about the book, the author, or the genre. Got turned on to some great books like that.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#13

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious I would wear a mini skirt and knee high leather boots, and carry a hiking backpack to parties. What was in the backpack? That was the mystery

mommatribe , Isabela Kronemberger Report

#14

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious Wrote “die young” on the heels of my converse in 8th grade then had a teacher pull me aside to ask if everything was ok at home.

idonthaveatiktoksorry Report

Add photo comments
POST
underachvrnproud avatar
Satan Laughs
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Celebrate Oblivion,” was what was written on my Converse. Sharpie held up nicely. Ball-point pens always smeared. No one took me aside, hence the resulting poor life choices which followed, including my Panda name. I would have probably complimented you in class.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#15

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious Use something overly utilitarian as purse: lunch box, old camera case, thermos, basket.

jjstewart1076 , Marc Mueller Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#17

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious I had “more energy” on days where I felt like it would rain because it was “more beautiful than sunshine”.

amylovattt , Erik Witsoe Report

Add photo comments
POST
bantrobel avatar
La Petite Morte
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's actually science that backs this up. Like natural circadian rhythms, there are people that naturally feel 'more energized' when the weather/ time of day corresponds with what they find the most soothing or comforting. It's why you have night owls, morning people, solar babies, people who feel the most like themselves during a certain season or during certain weather, etc. It has to do with what gives you serotonin, which is part biology & part personality. ~~ Personally, I'm very much a night owl, my sleep cycle naturally shifts to me being awake at night & asleep during the day if not forced into 'normality' by work or school. I'm also happier during the summer & autumn. And I like rain. Good book reading weather.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#18

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious I would wear 2-3 cereal box watches at once and put flowers in my docs and tell people I knew how to palm read when I couldnt I'd just make it up.

hotistic , Mike Mozart Report

#19

I used to carry 5+ apples in my bag at all times so I could give them out to people. I also had a month in 2006 where I wore roller skates everywhere.

pommepommebananeanana Report

#20

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious Wore an Elvis Presley T-shirt with an Aladdin looking vest and drank rain water out of mason jars.

courtabel Report

#21

I strung individual faux pearls onto my actual hair (this was when feather hair extensions were popular) but I did pearls because I was different

crumb_dumpster Report

ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#22

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious Wore coloured contacts everywhere and stared at people like this until they noticed.

georginaarbon , JulieAlexK Report

#24

I would read in public but actively try to ~look mysterious~ and wait for people to ask me what I was reading (they never did)

notmesorrynope Report

#25

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious I remember laying in the grass while drunk to feel wild and free and it was just in a weird spot to do so and my friend was like “uh can you get up?”

caitlinwoudstra , Andrea Piacquadio Report

#26

... I only dated people for a month, and in that month I would make sure I changed their life by enrolling them in school or getting them a job...

sm0_0thii Report

#27

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious Wearing the tweed jackets of dead old men.

peachnixon , Rydale Clothing Report

#28

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious I would just like quote Clementine from eternal sunshine and pretend it was my own thoughts.

jjghoul Report

#29

35 “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” Things Women Used To Do, Thinking It Made Them So Cool And Mysterious Does reading while walking down the halls at school and running a library out of my locker count?

pugnpoli , Francisco Osorio Report

Add photo comments
POST
bantrobel avatar
La Petite Morte
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you've never said 'Excuse me!' to a lamppost or barked your shins on a fire hydrant you're not reading enough.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#30

I would doodle on my backpack and write song lyrics on everything and when people asked what they're from I'd be like 'you haven't heard of them...'

robot_bicycle Report

#31

Project my internalised misogyny on every other women I met.

_plantmilf Report

See Also on Bored Panda
#32

Embroidered the knees on my jeans with flowers. Writing my journal CONSTANTLY. Nothing more dull than a tween stream of consciousness.

therenegadecrafter Report

Add photo comments
POST
bantrobel avatar
La Petite Morte
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Embroidery is an awesome skill that can create some amazing works of art, & writing is another good skill to have & practice.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#33

I pretended I snorted when I laughed! I ONLY read ~classics~ in high school. I did go on to get a lit degree so ig I'm still living the dream

savannahhartje Report

#34

i used to stick a guitar pick in my hair clip/barrette so people would know i was a musician

moonmirrorart Report

Add photo comments
POST
redrouge avatar
Red
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No picks for singers, unfortunately, so when I started singing in bands I developed habit of singing everywhere, all the time time, like the Disney princess I am, and get super embarrassed when people pointed out how good I was. I don't deal well with compliments, so I wasn't really pretending, but the habit of singing stuck with me and I learned to deal with people pointing out. Now when people compliment my singing skills I'm like thank you, I'm a singer. It's true we live for the applause.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#35

I went to school with a girl who made a huge deal about being scared of stickers

weeleld Report

Note: this post originally had 59 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.