Thursday, April 19, 2012

Manic Pixie Dream Girls and Glamour Bombing

I always thought the Manic Pixie Dream Girl was a myth; a kind of quirky person, with child-like innocence, that only existed in romantic comedies. But they do exist, I've met a lot of MPDGs, who are mostly under the age of 25. When I ask them how they're doing, they say, "Happy!" real loud.

This sounds annoying. It really isn't. The world can be a dull, colorless, fluorescent bulb lit place. Culture puts a premium on being cool and aloof, and by its nature, sneers at novelty. The real-life MPDG seems like a reaction to disgruntled, seen-it-all bitterness. If people want to be quirky, even if it is an affected quirkiness, then more power to them. These girls only get into trouble when they realize that round-the-clock chipperness and positivity, isn't part of the human condition. Life gives us disappointment and defeat, and these truths are hard to deal with if one is in thrall to the Manic Pixie Dream Girl state.



Related to the idea of a real-life Manic Pixie Dream Girl, is the concept of Glamour Bombing. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl attempts to alter and skew reality by her very presence. Glamour Bombing is more anonymous. Glamour Bombing can be done by anyone, even you, dear reader, and is related, and perhaps a subset of Culture Jamming. Glamour Bombing has a less subversive nature than Culture Jamming, and is akin to doing "random acts of kindness." Yarn Bombing created by anonymous knitters, is wonderful example of this.

The quintessential example of Glamour Bombing is from the French movie, Amélie. The title character, who is really more of a Subdued Pixie Dream Girl, creates elaborate pranks, that try and make the world  a stranger, magical place.

So get busy, and make the world weirder. I won't tell anyone.


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