Why We Need the Manic Pixie Dream Boy

The Manic Pixie Dream Girl has become a stock character we’re able to spot from a mile away, but what about her male equivalent, the Manic Pixie Dream Boy? The MPDB is a paradox -- he’s youthful and innocent but also holds sage-like wisdom. While the MPDB can be more or less a simplified fantasy of a perfect boyfriend, at his best he’s a mentor and therapist to us all. Here’s our Take on the manic pixie dream boy - the man who’ll swoop in when you least expect it, but when you need him the most.

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[feelflows]

Peter Pan is the OG manic pixie dream boy; he’s essentially a pixie!

[miriesong]

The main difference for me is that the idealized male MPD has agency and is usually the main protagonist--- we understand his motivations--- while female MPD are usually just "the love interest" and are not fully thought out characters at all.

[trinaq]

Jack Dawson is the epitome of a Manic Pixie Dream Guy. Rose's narration all but confirms this, stating that he saved her from being trapped in high society "in every way a person could be saved."

[harshtiwari]

The Manic Pixie Dream Boy is a self-actualised well-developed character that offers courage and mentorship to others. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a mere character who exists to self-actualize the male protagonist. This is why the former is good and the latter is bad.

[The]

Your description of The Manic Pixie Dream Boy reminds me of Mary Poppins.

A character who encourages everyone around them to embrace their inner child.
Is able to help other characters open up and interact with others.
Is a grown-up child.
Is never reduced to being a love interest.

Mary Poppins is all of those things.

[iampomegranates]

I think the best way of updating the "manic pixie dream girl" would be to create the "manic pixie dream woman." The woman full of life and childlike energy, but who gets to be the protagonist and help everyone instead of playing second fiddle to a boring man. I honestly do think there are women like this but the media only really views them from the perspective of the male gaze.

[maloneaqua]

*I'd consider Peter Pan the ultimate Manic Pixie Dream Boy. He helps Wendy to embrace maturing after she struggles to accept that it’s time for her to move out of the bedroom she shares with her younger brothers, and into her own room. It was more obvious in the 2003 film than in the cartoon.

[chantalkellyman]

Anyone else here missing Robin Williams. He was the ray of sunshine that the world needed

[witchplease]

Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle is my favorite Manic Pixie Dream Boy. He fits the trope to a T, right down to being magic. A lot of anime and Japanese media has interesting Manic Pixie Dream characters of all kinds

[trinaq]

I used to think that Augustus was a Manic Pixie Dream Boy to Hazel, since he helps her to make the most of the time she has left. But ultimately, they are drawn closer not by Gus' whimsical romantic gestures or declarations of love, but by being honest with her, and admitting that his cancer has returned.

[AgathaVitoriaTavares]

I think it all comes down to having an actual personality. MPDBs help women or other people, without stoping their lifes. MPDGs only exist for their male romantic partners. Even in real life, there's absolutely nothing wrong with changing someone's life for the better, being young in spirit and enjoying your existence. You just can't forget to live too.

[mariamarchese]

I enjoyed it a lot, there is only one thing: a nurturing man is not showing his feminine side, he's just a nurturing man.

[konraddygudaj]

"You're never lonely if you love your own company."
Lenore Appelhans, The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Improvement Project

[christinasameh]

Yeess Jake peralta getting the recognition he deserves
All B99 characters deserve all recognition and love in the world

[hortensia]

So my ex was a " reverse manic pixie dream boy" ...he came into my life unexpectedly, messed it up and disappear! 😯

[Curatedby_me]

If the manic pixie boy is a figment of the female character's imagination, it would explain why they seem to be written for the female gaze. They are written with more of a feminine perspective.

[Ben-kzkm]

5:25 That's the problem from a female perspective. From a male perspective, the problem with the manic pixie dream girl trope is that it reinforces the belief that a girl will come to save you and complete your life. Many boys are struggling with dating and living under the illusion that once they get a girlfriend, their life will be amazing. So they're waiting for their manic pixie dream girl to show up and spice up their life instead of going on a journey to become who they want to be and lead the life they want to live. And instead of learning how to find, select and attract their dream girl, they stay passive and wait to be selected.
As a man who has been there and dabbled in this type of wish-fulfillment escapism, it's frustrating to watch movies that use this trope, knowing that they will not give a compass to the boys who so desperately seek one.

[Gross]

Why does he have to die??? Like saying a great guy doesn’t exist.

[katherinelynch]

Arguably this trope is as old as Prince Charming in Cinderella. The only characters who, like, do things and have interactions are the heroine, her evil family, and her benefactor (usually all women). He’s little more than a plot point: that thing that gets her out of the bad place and secures her happy ending.

[JSplif]

Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle is a MPDB