glumby:

gaycatastrophe:

glumby:

idk why i did this i thought it would emphasize how ridiculous the trope is but now that i think about it the conventional “manic pixie dream girl” is still pretty crazy lmao..

here this trope is anyways lol…. gender reversal…..

Sorry to discourse but I would argue this isnt actually reversing the trope though because you’re giving the male character too much agency. The problem with MPDG is the story is told entirely through the lense of Normal Guy who is putting way too much weight on relationship with MPDG and then when MPDG leaves (because she’s actually a person with feelings and her own goals that don’t align with Normal Guy’s and she wants to be treated as such but thats never sufficiently stated in the text) then NG sulks and is like “noo…my symbolic savior, my muse, who i built my identity around despite still knowing jack all about her as a person because i thought she existed to *be my* spontaneity in life!” And then he goes on with his life and in 500 Days of Summer for example is heavily implied to do the SAME THING TO THE NEXT GIRL and we’re somehow supposed to feel sorry for him.

nah u are totally right. With this, I was mainly focusing on the absurdity of MPDG in itself but kind of overlooked how the Normal Guy aspect plays into the trope. Books and other media with a Normal Guy perspective often do make the guy out to be sympathetic when in reality he kind of an entitled brat who feels he should be rewarded with attention from girls because he’s nice, pitiful, etc. And especially MPD Girls who are really only written to enhance the life of Normal Guy because he really has no redeemable or interesting qualities whatsoever, lol. And in doing this, the MPDG character comes off as a plot device instead of a unique, complex, individualistic female lead that the work of fiction claims that they are.  Viewing it this way, the whole trope can really be read as just another means to pander to a straight male fantasy™. So yeah. I definitely see where you’re coming from, lol. Nice input !