Posted by Harshala Gupte
We encourage motion pictures and flicks encourage us. For occasion, a biopic is an account of a rare life as soon as lived by somebody which in flip might inspire us. But a terrific disservice of cinema is the byproduct of stereotypes; characters that emerge out of both lazy writing or an inexpensive shot to enchantment to the plenty on the idea of the cultural biases of “what works”: the dangerous boy with a golden coronary heart, the all-evil drug lord with automobiles and arm candies, savior male protagonist with a six pack…you get the purpose.
I gained’t deny the truth that these characters include an leisure quotient. Who doesn’t wish to unwind to a senseless, cliched comedy that doesn’t ask you to spend your mind energy? But what we undermine is the potential of those film characters to creep into our actual lives and alter our views, if particularly consumed at a younger age. Gradually, we lose the sense that these stereotypes set fairly damaging requirements, and subconsciously we’re already internalizing them. And there may be one such stereotype in explicit that formed my earlier years and continues to take action for a lot of younger ladies round me, undoubtedly not in their greatest curiosity. She is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
Definition
Manic Pixie Dream Girl was outlined because the time period by Nathan Rabin, a movie critic, to fling his reproach in the direction of the character of Claire Colburn (Kristen Dunst) in the rom-com Elizabethtown. In Rabin’s view, an 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.”
MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL WAS DEFINED AS THE TERM BY NATHAN RABIN, A FILM CRITIC, TO FLING HIS REPROACH TOWARDS THE CHARACTER OF CLAIRE COLBURN (KRISTEN DUNST) IN THE ROM-COM ELIZABETHTOWN. IN RABIN’S VIEW, AN 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.”
By the technique of which, Claire is carved to be an eccentric, enjoyable woman who’s the personification of Carpe Diem. And that’s alright, apart from the truth that that’s all there may be to her character. Her position revolves across the transformation of the male protagonist who courtesy her vivaciousness, learns to “live life to the fullest” by the climax of the film. Because, in the tip it’s a person’s story, and the manic pixie dream lady is merely an instrument to take it ahead.
Bollywood And The Manic Pixie Dream Girl
Now let’s take this template of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl and transfer eastwards to use it to roles in Bollywood. How many feminine characters does it match? I say, an amazing lot!
My first severe tryst with such a ladies was on the display screen, Asin as Kalpana in Ghajini. Before she will get violently killed in the film, all we all know of her is that she has a coronary heart of gold, and her presence is so sunny that you simply most likely can’t look straight at her with out sun shades. We by no means get to dig into the depths of her character, her flaws, insecurities and moments the place her mascara just isn’t on level. She teases an ease out of the alpha male lead (Aamir Khan) and propels him time-to-time to juice out life. That’s all there may be to her.
However, women at college (together with myself) beloved her bubbly magnificence and we had been fast to, nothing wanting, idolizing her. Why not? She was agreeable, slender, had lengthy hair and most significantly, this portrait of a lady was devoid of any actual flaws. The solely approach I might ever win a person over was by being that lady, as a result of sufficient motion pictures testified. And as soon as I did, all my efforts needed to be directed to make him see double rainbows in the sky.
Also learn: No More Tokenism – Why We Need More Diverse Fiction
Before Kalpana, there was in fact Kareena Kapoor together with her bandwagon of chirpy roles that earned her a standing of a diva in the 90s, together with her ear to ear smile, willowing dupattas, or vivid tank tops. Then there was the case of Katrina Kaif whose sole function in motion pictures like Zindagi na milegi dobara, Meri Brother ki Dulhan, Dhoom three, and many others. was to make the hero really feel beloved or triumphant. I might cite a web page stuffed with references, however my goal of bringing the prevalence of this rampant film trope to note is that though now I’ve readability on the utter shallowness and outright sexism weaved into it, as a lady I struggled to match up with the manic pixie dream lady.
I might cite a web page stuffed with references, however my goal of bringing the prevalence of this rampant film trope to note is that though now I’ve readability on the utter shallowness and outright sexism weaved into it, as a lady I struggled to match up with the manic pixie dream lady.
I attempted to develop my nails, dance to any beat that performed, straighten my hair, and to place up a smile the moment I noticed a man; none of which gave me a way of being myself. But teenage is a troublesome time to navigate, after we come to the brim with questions on who we’re and what we need to change into, and for a lot of, our upbringing or training doesn’t equip us to reply them. To many Indian younger ladies, grappling with their id, the MPDG stereotype presents a prepared mould for the thoughts and the physique, that’s nicely accepted by our households and stretches throughout the societal limits.
And I say societal limits as a result of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a extensively exportable narrative, however the one present in Bollywood has been brushed a bit and assuaged on the edges to enchantment to the Indian viewers. In English cinema, a basic MPDG is a at all times a bit on the sting, with a loopy hair color or a sneaky intercourse enchantment. In India, she is tremendous kempt, pale skinned and infrequently sexually coy (if that matter arises in any respect in a Hindi film). She has a voice, however by no means can it’s louder than the hero’s. Her attributes are fastened and nicely, with these we think about her to be good! There isn’t any transformation or development that she undergoes.
Blame it on the dearth of perception as a result of, that is what occurs when males write ladies. There is a deluge of screenwriters and filmmakers in the business, however most of them are males out of which a handful search to inform tales of girls with funding in fact, evaluation, empathy and depth. And with out it, they pen feminine characters which can be projections of their very own vivid fantasies, stealing bits and items from modern tradition and ignoring the actual feminine voices altogether.
In India, she is tremendous kempt, pale skinned and infrequently sexually coy (if that matter arises in any respect in a Hindi film). She has a voice, however by no means can it’s louder than the hero’s. Her attributes are fastened and nicely, with these we think about her to be good! There isn’t any transformation or development that she undergoes.
And we as ladies want to change into that lady? Seriously?
As a lot because it shakes our roots as a girl, it additionally proves to be a poisonous trope for males who devour it. It creates an environment of brooding self significance for them, with an entire disregard in the direction of growing emotional intelligence as a result of alongside the way in which they are going to discover a lady who will compensate for it. In the Indian society, the place the battle in opposition to patriarchy continues to be an on-going one, characters that ascribe nurturing, empathy and help to solely be lady-particular traits might be extra dangerous than we will think about.
Women are usually not the catalyst of the emotional transformation of males, and so they should be beloved all the identical for being the “heroes of their own stories”. In reel or actual life, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl exists as a result of the thought of a girl’s world revolving round a person’s issues hasn’t been completely banished. We want pull ourselves out of the constructed-up fantasies in our heads and be taught to understand ladies for all their good, dangerous and ugly.
Also learn: The Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Shifting Focus From MEN To ME
And simply earlier than I relaxation my case, I do know I’ve wrote an enormous deal about feminine characters that determine because the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, right here’s a dialogue for the closing from a trailblazing feminine character that smokes the trope explicitly- Clementine Krucynski (Kate Winslet) in The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,
Too many guys suppose I’m an idea, or I full them, or I’m gonna make them alive. But I’m only a fucked-up lady who’s lookin’ for my very own peace of thoughts; don’t assign me yours.
Harshala slings her ink, professionally and in any other case. Her mother and father suppose it’s only a part. Sigh. Most of her private writing revolves round points with a powerful Indian voice and spunk, one thing she believes that current-day internet content material is basically devoid of. Apart from that, her life oscillates between being buried below books or devising plan to steal Nutella jars. PS. Is she the one one who’s a sucker for Hannibal TV sequence?
You can discover her on Instagram.
Featured Image Source: Miss Malini
