I am a big fan on the YouTube
channel, Feminist Frequency that deals with a variety of versions of sexist
depictions of women in popular culture. This particular blog is about her video
of the “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” trope, which is found in the characters of Summer
from “500 Days of Summer”, Natalie Portman in “Garden State,” and Kirsten Dunst
in “Elizabethtown,” and Kate Hudson in “Almost Famous.” This video was
particularly interesting to me because I had always kind of admired these
characters, but the video call them out, claiming that they portray women as
being shallow and goal-less, with the sole purpose of wanting to change the
lives of men that they meet, rather than furthering their own aspirations as a
person. I think that this is a very important point, because these are
characters that many young women try to emulate, but it is crucial that they
understand that they are their own person, and they weren’t just placed here to
be a muse to men.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqJUxqkcnKA
I really enjoyed this because I also always admired those characters, but did always feel like something wasnt right, but I couldnt put my finger on it. I guess that is it. That all of those characters based their lives around helping the main character (a man) find his spiritual salvation or purpose while they were completely unstable themselves.
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