WOMEN EMPOWERMENT-FOCUSED IDIOMS: MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL

Good morning / afternoon / evening, depending on when you are reading this... happy Thursday to you!

Since Tuesday was International Women's Day, this week we are looking at different words and expressions related to female empowerment. Some of these expressions are not necessarily positive, and may represent ideas and beliefs that women have been fighting to change for years. Today's is an example.

Today's expression is: MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL

Definition: The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a type of female character often depicted (in films) as a whimsical, quirky, sometimes eccentric, fantasy woman who saves the male protagonist from himself. She usually aides in his transformation without ever showing any real power of her own. It is often abbreviated MPDG.

This term is generally used to speak about characters in films, so you're not likely to use it in normal conversation, unless you're speaking about films. 

Example 1: Jennifer Lawrence's character in the film "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012) is a clear example of a manic pixie dream girl character.

Example 2: Natalie Portman's character in the movie "Garden State" (2004), which was written and directed by Zach Braff, is another example of a MPDG.

For those of you who follow cinema, you may have heard of this expression before. These MPDG characters depict women in a superficial way and there has been lots of debate about these characters over the years. For more information you may want to check out the article on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manic_Pixie_Dream_Girl 

Enjoy the rest of your day!