Since I will soon be heading home for a month-long holiday break, I wanted to do something special for my last blog on campus this semester. Today we are taking a trip down memory lane. I guess this blog is a bit of a picture diary. Last year, I made a video of videos from my time at MSA last year and put it on Instagram. I still love that video and plan to make another like it at the end of this year.
For now, I will settle for a collage of some of my favorite pictures from this year. Hopefully, once we get back, I’ll be able to make even more great memories!
Senior Weekend (August 21st-23rd)
Back on campus!
Reuniting with friends!
Decorating my dorm!
A classic MSA sunset!
Make-up Prom!
Pool Day!
Back For Class! (Sept. 8th-18th)
Not consenting to getting my picture taken
Hanging out before class
BINGO!
Juniors and Seniors back on campus together! (Sept. 28th- Oct. 8th)
Hulu’s new holiday rom-com has no doubt hit your radar this Thanksgiving. And it probably wasn’t for the best reasons.
“Happiest Season”, directed and written by Clea DuVall, tells the story of Abby (Kristen Stewart) and Harper (Mackenzie Davis) as they try to navigate a Christmas spent with Harper’s family, who is unaware that she and Addy are in a romantic relationship. It was released as Hulu exclusive content on November 26th, 2020.
As soon as it was announced, members of the LGBTQ+ community were overjoyed to hear that a holiday movie would center around a lesbian couple. When I googled “LGBT holiday movies”, only ten results appeared, so their excitement was understandable. However, upon the movie’s release, that excitement quickly turned to disappointment.
While I cannot speak on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, I can speak as a lover of Christmas movies. So here are some of my thoughts on “Happiest Season”!
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PIECE INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR HULU’S “Happiest Season”! PROCEED WITH CAUTION!
It is not a romantic comedy.
Although marketed as a fun holiday rom-com, there’s nothing really funny about it. I think I made it through the entire hour and 42 minutes without laughing once.
It’s good for the first few minutes, but as soon as Abby and Harper leave to go see Harper’s family, Abby is just miserable for the rest of the movie. And that’s just sad to watch. The movie also carries more of a serious tone than a humorous one, so any jokes that appeared in it usually felt out of place.
it’s barely a Christmas movie
The beginning feels like Christmas. The ending scene before the flash-forward feels like Christmas. But everything in-between forgets about Christmas completely. There are no warm Christmas cheer moments that are a staple of the holiday classics! It just feels like a normal movie that just happened to happen during Christmas.
Abby and Harper
Abby (Kristen Stewart) is probably my favorite character in the entire movie. She wanted to meet Harper’s family under the impression that they knew she was Harper’s girlfriend. But when Harper waits until the last second to tell Abby that she hadn’t come out to her parents yet, Abby is fine with. She keeps their relationship and her own sexuality a secret just to keep Harper happy, because she loves her and Harper promises to tell her family after the holidays.
Harper (Mackenzie Davis) is probably my least favorite character of any Christmas movie that I’ve ever seen. She ditches Abby in favor of sucking up to her parents and hanging out with her ex-boyfriend! She gaslights Abby into thinking that she’s the victim and that Abby is overacting about certain things!
Eventually, Abby break up with Harper… only for Harper to run after her and convince her to stay. And Abby does… only to break up with her again, this time when Harper denies their relationship after being outed by her sister at the Christmas party (in front of all of her family and friends). I don’t feel like this should have to be said but apparently..
IF THE CHARACTERS IN YOUR CHRISTMAS ROM-COM BREAK UP TWICE, THE AUDIENCE ISN’T GOING TO WANT THEM TO END UP TOGETHER!
But of course, Harper runs after Abby again and they end up living happily ever after. woo.
My favorite part of the movie is when they broke up. I loved watching Abby tell Harper off, it was great. She deserved it.
a waste of Aubrey Plaza.
It’s just an objective fact that Abby should have left Harper for Riley.
Riley (Aubrey Plaza) was Harper’s first girlfriend from highschool. In my favorite scene in the entire movie, Riley tells Abby that when she and Harper were lifelong best friends that fell in love. But when someone found a love letter from Riley in Harper’s locker, Harper outed Riley to the entire school rather than come clean about their relationship. So ultimately, she and Abby were in similar situations.
Every scene with Abby and Riley hanging out or even just briefly interacting is just infinitely better than any other scene with Abby and Harper. The absolute best scene in the movie is when Riley takes Abby to a drag show to cheer her up! It’s really one of the only scenes in the movie that feels like Christmas!
Riley had chemistry with Abby that Harper NEVER did, not even in the being of the movie when they were a happy couple! I don’t understand why they didn’t up together.
the end.
the climax was stupid and I hated it.
Harper’s sister Sloane (Allison Brie) finds out about Harper and Abby’s relationship. She and Harper get into a physical fight that ends with a painting being smashed over Sloane’s head, a Christmas being tackled by three grown women, and Harper denying her and Abby’s relationship to her entire family. I didn’t enjoy it.
the ending was stupid and I hated it.
Harper receives no consequences for her actions and Abby just forgives her for everything. It’s such an unsatisfying ending and overall really disappointing.
In conclusion…
it was frustrasting to watch.
There is still so much about this movie that I haven’t even touched on!
The rest of Harper’s family (and how badly they treat Abby)
Abby getting arrested!!
John, and he’s subplot about killing a fish!
THE ENDING FLASH FORWARD!
But seeing as I’m almost at 1000 words on this post alone, I’ll just leave it here. Maybe I’ll revisit it for a part two next week?
A better Christmas movie with LGBTQ+ representation is “The Family Stone” and although it’s no where near perfect, I prefer it much more that “Happiest Season”. But hopefully in the years to come, there will be more than just ten options for LBGTQ+ Christmas movies!
I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME is a band made up of Dallon Weekes (former Panic! at the Disco band member) and Ryan Seamen, who’s debut album “Razzmatazz” has just released on October 23rd. I am most definitely not qualified to review it, as I just became a fan of their work recently, but I have strong feelings about this album so here it is!
(disclaimer: these are just my opinions on the songs and I’m just doing this for fun)
Leave Me Alone – 7/10
Exactly as the title suggests, this song is all about wanting someone annoying to leave you alone. This is something that everyone can relate to and the cherry on top is that the music video has a fun 80s apocalyptic vibe. Overall a solid song.
Mad IQs – 4/10
I did not enjoy this one the first time I listened to it and I still do not enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great song, but it’s the first in the album to sound basic. IDKHOW has a very distinct sound and this song specifically sounds just like every other song they’ve ever written. However, the first few lines sound eerily like “Take A Hint” from Victorious, and for that, it gets extra points.
Nobody Likes The Opening Band- 4/10
I have been to a few concerts in my lifetime and literally, no one shows up for the opening band. Everyone makes sure to show up right after they finish they’re set, just in time for the main event. So this is a fun song maybe if you were actually watching them open for another band, but just to listen to it as apart of their album is a kind of meh experience. Once again, a great song, but it’s probably one of my least favorites on the album.
New Invention – 4/10
Another song that is good but sounds exactly like everything else they’ve ever produced.
From The Gallows – 6/10
YES YES YES! This sounds like a completely unhinged love song to me and I’m here for it! The beginning of the song and the robot voice in the middle just fit the IDKHOW aesthetic perfectly. Honestly, it’s not a perfect song but I absolutely love it!
Clusterhug – 9/10
YES YES YES YEEEESSSSS! The perfect end credit song to your coming-of-age teen movie! I have and will continue to ball my eyes out to this song. Listening to it is just an amazing experience. Definitely my favorite song on the entire album!
Sugar Pills – 3/10
Least favorite song on the album. Sounds like a painfully average pop song. I enjoy listening to it on occasion, but I will most likely be skipping it whenever it comes on.
Kiss Goodnight- 10/10
This song is perfect. It is just absolutely perfect is every way. It’s just a solid love song. I just – I can’t describe how much I love this song.
Lights Go Down – 8/10
The chorus of this is very pop for IDKHOW but very good. Never will this song come on and I not dance to it.
Need You Here – 6/10
I swear the next time I’m feeling extra alone, I will be crying to this and that is a promise.
Door – 5/10
A good song that I will not be listening to because it makes me sad in a bad way and brings up feelings that I don’t want to confront yet.
Razzmatazz – 5/10
Don’t get my wrong, the saxophone is godly and the music video is cool but other than that, Razzmatazz is just fine. A little underwhelming actually.
So that’s my review of “Razzmatazz” and I hope you’ll give it a listen, as it is a very good album! If you do listen to it or if you already have, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!
I can remember being eleven years old and being obsessed with Percy Jackson. I loved learning about Greek mythology and reading about Percy fighting off monsters and going on adventures with his friends. At first, it was just the original series. Then it was the spin-off, Heroes of Olympus. Then it was two more spin-offs of the original spin-off (“Magnus Chase” and “The Trials of Apollo”).
There were some nights I didn’t sleep at all because I was so invested in the story. And then there were some days where I’d check out the next book at the library and the librarian would be like “Didn’t you just get a book yesterday?” and I would have to explain that I stayed up all night reading it. Each book built more and more on the world and characters. To this day, I still consider it to be one of my favorites book series/universes ever!
Reading started as something I was basically forced into. Of course, kids have to learn, so they’re forced to read in class and at home so that they can one day do it on their own. And then in second or third grade, I was required to participate in Accelerated Reading (AR) for school.
AR was basically just reading books and taking quizzes on them to make sure you actually read them. Each book you read had was a certain number of points based on how difficult the book was to read and how long it was. For reference, a Dr. Seuss book is 1 point if you get every question on the AR quiz correct. The first Percy Jackson book is 13 points. Each student had to reach a certain number of points every nine weeks, with everyone’s goal being slightly different depending on how strong of a reader they were. The average class goal was 25 to 40 points per nine weeks
I don’t know why, but I really liked getting points from reading. Most nine weeks, I doubled or even tripled my goal. By the end of AR (eighth grade), my average goal was 100 points or above every nine weeks, and I was still doubling it! I forget my complete point total, but by the time I stopped doing AR, it was over 1000.
Reading was such fun for me. Throughout elementary and middle school, I read hundreds of books. Reading was a huge part of my life. It was my escape.
That’s why it pains me to say that after I wasn’t required to do AR anymore, I stopped reading. Of course, there was the occasional new Percy Jackson spin-off book and class required reading, but I eventually stopped reading for fun all together.
Last year, I only read one book… and I didn’t even finish it. It was frustrating, because what happened to the girl who read the entire Harry Potter series in just three weeks in the 5th grade??
Reading got replaced with other things. The apps and games on my phone, Youtube and Netflix, and hanging out with friends. That fact on its own is fine, but it’s still kind of crazy to me. How could something I loved so much and that defined a lot of my life for a looooong time just disappear completely??
I’ve been trying to get back into reading. I finished a book this month and although it wasn’t very good, I’m still so happy I finished it.
I’m president of MSA’s book club now, so I have to read one book each month now. Hopefully, that will push me to get back to how I used to be able to read. I miss the joy that reading a good book used to give me and since this year has been especially rough, I feel like I’m in need of a little extra joy!
In some capacity, most of the widely recognized holidays hold a special place in my heart. New Year’s Eve has a cute Charlie Brown special and staying up until midnight was always fun to me as a child. Valentine’s Day was just an excuse to get free candy at school. But the holidays that hold the most of my heart are Christmas and Halloween. And as Halloween is only a few days away, I’ve started reflecting on what exactly it means to me. So I present to you, my thoughts on Halloween!
Halloween (to me) will always be the estranged cousin to the rest of the holidays.
Every holiday has a few key things in common:
1) Each has at least a few or more movies, songs, or television specials centered around them.
2) Corporate greed has distanced them so far away from their original meaning that they’re now all about buying things (decorations, outfits, gifts for others).
3) Most of them have happy, celebratory connotations.
Halloween is a little different. It originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, where people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. It has plenty of movies, songs, and of course the tradition of Trick-Or-Treating in costume. Halloween will always have some element of childishness link to it for me, but it will always have a darker, more supernatural feel to it than other holidays. Unlike other holidays, fictional monsters, terrifying horror movies, and haunted house (mazes, hayrides, etc.) will always make Halloween stand out.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve grown to like Halloween a lot more than the other holidays. The mature and supernatural aspects of the season have always interested me, even though I’ve not always partaken in them.
I’ve never been a fan of horror movies. I’d never even watched one all the way through until last year. But for this Halloween season, I’ve watched more in the past month than I have in my entire lifetime. I don’t think I’ve gone and fallen in love with them yet, but I’m having fun exploring the genre.
As far as haunted houses (mazes, hayrides, etc.) go, I’ve only ever been to one good one, and that was just last weekend. Before then, the only one I’d ever been to relyed so heavily on strobe lights that you couldn’t even see how bad the jumpscares were. Last weekend I visited The 13th Gate in Baton Rouge, one of the nation’s best haunted houses (supposedly). I waited for 3 hours JUST TO GET IN LINE and then journeied through a house full of bloody people, clowns, and one gigantic rat that I did not care for. It wasn’t worth the three hours, but the set, animatronics, and actors were so entertaining and incredibly well put together that I still had fun!
These however have not been the main reasons I’ve grown to love Halloween.
I love it because of the atmosphere it creates. I love wearing a costume that other people think I may be too old to wear but that I think I look really cool it. I love hearing about ghosts and witchcraft even when I don’t really subscribe to those beliefs. Halloween is just a time to be weird and enjoy the fall weather, which are already too of my favorite pastimes. It just has something for everyone, especially people like me who appericated a creepy/fall vibe.
So in conclusion, Halloween is the superior holiday. And I hope whoever is reading this has a happy one!
After rereading Bri’s “hair tips from a redhead” from last year and reading Emma’s “My curly hair journey” from last week, I’ve been inspired to also talk about my hair!
When I was younger and my curls were still completely unruly, older women would always come up to me and ask if they could have it.
“Oh, I wish I could have your hair!”
“Would you just give me some of your hair? You have enough for both of us!”
“I wish I had hair like yours!”
As a child, I used to think they meant it literally. So when they asked, I just stood there awkwardly and said thank you, even though on the inside I was trying to figure out how to tell them that I was too young to be bald.
Even still, I absolutely hated my hair.
The girls in my class started spending hours styling their hair before school as young as the second grade! Of course, some would sleep in rollers to curl their’s the night before an important day, but I always seemed to focus on the other curly/wavy haired girls that would could to school with their hair straighten.
My sister and I are the only ones in our family with curly/wavy hair. Everyone else’s is straight as a board, so there was no one to teach us how to take care of our hair properly. That’s probably why it’s taken until this year for me to really understand what it takes to have curly hair.
I used to try and straighten it, brush it out, and cake on products after products just to get it to lay down flat. My hair was fizzy and crunchy and just overall awful, which didn’t help my feelings toward it. Now I know that I was going about it all wrong.
The first thing I stopped doing was washing my hair every other night. I learned that when I shampooed my hair daily, it hurt it more than help it. From what I could gather, shampoo dries out curls and rids the hair of the natural oils that hold the curls together! So while I do still shower daily and condition every other day, no more shampoo!
I’ve also started cutting my own hair. The woman who used to cut my hair would straighten it first, then cut it, which didn’t look good curled. I’ve learned that my hair needs more layers to look good and while I still have a lot to learn, I’m enjoying the outcome so far! And I’m saving money, so that’s always a plus!
I’ve also cut down on the number of products I use on my hair. I use one conditioner in the shower, wash it out, put in leave-in conditioner (along with some oil I don’t know the name of) while it’s still wet, and then brush it out. I then wrap it in a t-shirt and usually just go to bed with it like that (I’m just lazy). In the mornings I use some sort of mousse (or gel/cream stuff) to make everything look okay and then I go on with my day.
I understand that could have been a little confusing to read, considering that I don’t know exactly what any of the products I use are called, but I do hope it was somewhat helpful.
I found Bri’s and Emma’s blogs helpful and reassuring, so I just thought I’d give my two cents! Of course, I’m still learning. But I think that with every new thing I learn about my hair and how to take care of it, I grow to love it even more!
Of course, I still have bad hair days. Even as I write this I’m not too happy with how it looks. But even still, I love it. It’s beautiful and it’s something that I should love and take care of because’s it’s apart of me! And if another curly-haired person is reading this, just know your hair is also worth the time, effort, and love!
Before coming to MSA, I used to go to a very small private school. I attended this school from Pre-k 3 to sophomore year, making that a full 14 years with relatively the same 40 classmates. I jumped around to a few different friends groups over the years and eventually stuck with my current one in middle school.
Each of our lives were deeply complicated from a young age, due to one thing or another. When certain, intensely emotional things happen in life, the natural thing you’d want to do is talk about it with someone! However, it’s difficult to talk about it with your friends when they’ll interrupt you saying sometime like “Well, that’s not as bad as what I’ve been through!”
I have also been guilty of this. While in middle school, I somehow came up with the idea that if my life was more tragic, then that would have me better than everyone else. So I embellished my own hardships as way to invalidate other people’s.
Now at this current point in time, my friends and I are in much better places. So I’m not here to bash them or bash myself for acting this way in the past. This is just a warning to those who may be acting this way now.
Don’t. Compare. You’re. Hardships. To. Other. People’s.
This is such toxic behavior. Because my feelings were always being belittled by others that didn’t take them seriously, it took me a long time to realize that my feelings actually mattered and that I shouldn’t feel guilty about them. I know that someone will always have it worse than I will, but that should never invalidate how I feel about my own problems.
Things like grief and sadness affect people differently! And different events can trigger different emotions and reactions from different people! So everyone’s feelings are okay, because they should be allowed to feel however they’re feelings.
I have since learned how to be a better listener, friend, and just person in general. Sure, my life may be waaaay harder than whoever is talking to me about their problems. And it may not be! It’s irrelevant! What’s important is that I listen to them and encourage them to work through how their feeling, because in the end, that’s what’s going to be better for both of us!
Every now and then, I am sad. I’m sure this is something that most, if not all, of you reading this can relate too.
Usually, I have a valid reason to be upset, but every now and then I don’t really have a good reason to be sad. Like, maybe I’m just feeling down for absolutely no reason. When this happens, I tend to revert back to the same few youtube videos to make me feel better. They’re my “comfort” youtube videos if you will, each made by a YouTuber that I really enjoy! So if you ever are feeling sad for no reason, there are some videos that you could check out!
Safiya Nygaard’s “I Got A Tokyo Makeover”
Honestly, any of Safiya’s Japan/Korea travel videos could be put in this slot. I love learning about Japanese street fashion and this video specifically is where it all started. I started watching Safiya a few years ago and I’ve seen “I Got A Tokyo Makeover” the most out of all these videos BY A LOT! In the video, Safiya and her now-husband Tyler travel to Tokyo and consult Japanese fashionistas to put together three outfits inspired by current Japanese street fashion trends!
I don’t know what it is about watching Safiya travel through various Tokyo stores to piece together outfits, but this video always makes me feel better if I’m in a bad mood! And if it doesn’t fix my mood completely, I move on to the rest of her “travel videos” playlist.
bestdressed’s “my favorite tv shows”
This video is almost 30 mins long and boy do I love it! I could listen to Ashley (bestdressed) talk all day long. In “my favorite tv shows (according to a film major)”, Ashley lists her favorite tv shows and television specials of all time. Really, bestdressed is just my comfort youtube channel! I’ve seen all of her recent videos dozens of times! Normally she makes more fashion-centric videos, which is great for my little clothes loving heart!
I am not interested at all in customizing a doll myself, however watching someone else do it is so incredibly satisfying! Katherine (Dollightful) takes old Monster High/Ever After High dolls and transforms them into dragons, Pokemon, and more! This video, however, is a little different. usually, she used expensive tools and art supplies to modify the dolls. For this video, she makes a doll on a budget! She travels outside to find leaves, grass, and even trash to transform a thrifted, damaged doll into something really cool and unique!
Danny Gonzalez’s “This Is The Strangest Low Budget Movie”
Danny Gonzalez is one of my favorite commentary YouTubers. This particular video was the first movie review of his that I ever saw and oh my gosh I have no idea why I like it so much, but I’ve seen it a few times too many. Any of his movie reviews could have made it onto this list, but this one is probably my favorite!
In the video, Danny comments on a low-budget film about a genie that helps a father move past the death of his son and save his marriage. If the movie’s premise wasn’t strange enough, the acting choices and genie lure don’t really help. With Danny’s commentary though, the movie becomes quite entertaining!
Drew Gooden’s “This Movie Has Every Stereotype”
Once again, another commentary/movie review video. If you don’t already know, Drew Gooden and Danny Gonzalez are so similar that they are often confused with each other. This happens so often in fact that it became the entire premise of their 2019 tour “We Are Two Different People”. So it’s no wonder that two similar videos by similar content creators made it onto this list.
Anyway, “This Movie Has Every Stereotype” covers a movie about an Italian family in which every single Italian stereotype is implemented. It’s an insane romcom that I wouldn’t have taken any interest in if Drew hadn’t made this video about it.
So Why Do We Have Comfort Objects?
Comfort objects are used to provide psychological comfort, especially in unusual or new situations. Most of the time, they are associated with the idea of a child having security blankets or toys. But just because you’re not a kid anymore doesn’t mean you don’t need to be comforted by something familiar.
I know that I’m an anxious person. This is why whenever I get upset and can’t figure out why, I go back to the same things over and over again. Maybe it’s YouTube videos, maybe it’s rewatching Brooklyn Nine-Nine for the 12th time. But whatever it may be, I like the idea of having consistent, familiar things to come back to.
So those are my comfort youtube videos! Honorable mentions go to:
Dan Howell’s “Halloween Baking – Creepy Crispy Cakes CONJOINED CHALLENGE”
Thomas Sander’s “BLOOPER REEL!! The Bloop Awakens!”
EroldStory’s “Dumb Things I’ve Done Sleep Deprived”
Just as the title may suggest, I have A LOT of playlists of Spotify. So let’s go on a tour of them together, shall we?
Currently, I have 25 playlists and counting, with over 500 hundred songs and hundreds of hours of music across all of them. However, only 15 are public.
“when you give me the aux” is titled so because it’s a list of songs I deemed worthy effort to play around other people. I very embarrassed about my music taste, so having a playlist for “Oh, you can play something” has been extremely helpful!
This playlist includes several remixed Lin-Manuel Miranda show tunes, as well as songs by Billie Eilish, blackbear, and Taylor Swift. Basically, if I’ve cried while listening to it, it’s on the list.
“h e a v y” was created in the beginning of quarantine, just as the full realization of what all was happening was finally hitting me. The entire playlist has a let-me-just-lay-here-on-the-floor vibe.
Sometimes I just want to dance around in my room all by myself. Sue me!
This summer, I found myself without anyone to go to the lake with or to swim at the beach with. I spent more time tanning this summer than I ever have, so I made a playlist for it.
Just a playlist of uplifting music for those happy days.
So I went through an emo phase. If you’ve seen some of my more “edgier” outfits around MSA, then you could have probably guessed that. “why can’t it just be a phase” * is just for those times where the emo jumps out again.
* I know it’s misspelled in the screenshot
This sounds dark and edgy, but it’s just songs that I work to that are completely instrumental, so technically.. there are no words are this playlist.
Just some soft, cuddly songs. They are also nice to nap too.
Just the opposite of the last one! “dancy love songs” is basically the dance-party-in-your-room, just with someone else!
The title of this playlist is still in the works, but “a hot shower on a cold afternoon” sums it up nicely I think. This is an extremely calming playlist that not only have I had spa days too but have also fallen asleep listening to.
I don’t know why it smells, it just does. This is just a list of songs that take me back to the early 2000s and my elementary school years.
Last, but not least, is my collaboratory playlist. It’s fairly new but it’s a collection of music that my friends can recommend to me. I’ve always had an issue with listening to the same music over and over again. This way, I always have to need music to listen to.
Thank you for taking this journey with me through my Spotify. If you ever need a music rec, feel free to ask! And I’m open to new music all. the. time. So if you hear something good, let me know!
Stereotypes can be defined as an over-generalized belief about a particular group of people. They can span everything from race to religion. Society has been known to push stereotypes in media, whether it be in television, film, or marketing advertisements. Gender stereotypes and tropes in particular have never been my favorite thing. However, this doesn’t mean there haven’t been some instances of me enjoying seeing them on screen!
In The Princess Diaries (2001), the trope of “nerd girl isn’t pretty until her makeover” is presented at it’s finest. Anne Hathaway (an undoubtedly gorgeous actress) is presented as a less than pretty, shy girl until she receives her iconic makeover. After her makeover of contact lenses and straighten hair, her crush notice her and the world accept her as royalty. I hate this trope with a fiery passion, but that doesn’t stop me from watching this movie at least once a year, without fail!
But this isn’t about nerdy, shy girl makeovers. This is about The Manic Pixie Dream People!
Manic Pixie Dream Girls/Boys
I’m sure you’ve already been beaten over the head with reasons as to why this trope is bad and harmful but just bear with me.
Manic Pixie Dream Girls are usually presented as saviors to their male counterparts in a time of need. They fix their lives, have a brief romantic relationship with them, and then disappear without a trace. They serve only to further a male character’s growth and usually have no significant character arch of their own. A popular MPDG is Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim VS. The World.
For a while, like most, I didn’t consider that there would be another side to the Manic Pixie Dream coin. But alas, there’s more!
If he’s mysterious, charming, pretentious, and “deep”, then he’s definitely a Manic Pixie Dream Boy! The most popular example I can think of is Augustus Waters in The Fault in Our Stars. MPDBs fair sightly better compared to MPDGs, as they usually have a bigger storyline of their own and most likely get the girl in the end. However, in most instances I’ve seen, the MPDB will die by the end of the story. The real kicker is that their love interest most likely will mourn their death for the rest of their lives and never really get over them.
So after all that, you probably have a few characters in mind that fit these descriptions. This brings up an alarming question. If these characters are so harmful, then why are they so popular?
The answer is kind of simple. People want what they can’t have.
I’m not saying this to judge anyone, I promise. I vividly remember times when the thought of a mysterious stranger sweeping me off my feet and making all my problems go away sounded pretty good.
The reality of this is that MPDGs and MPDBs are nowhere near being real people. They set impossibly high standards and incredibly unrealistic expectations for relationships. Real relationships consist of two completely flawed people just trying their best. One should not rely on the other to solve all their problems. And there should always be an equal give and take. And usually, normal relationships don’t last, which is completely okay!
The constant repetition of stories such as the one depicted in The Fault in Our Stars makes me wonder why everything gets turned into a love story, but that may be another blog topic for another day.
So to end this, here are two of my favorite movies that I believe accuratly present romantic relationships! When Harry Met Sally... follows two friends throughout the twists and turns of their life as they slowly fall in love with each other (funny). Marriage Story follows two sides of a divorce as the once marriaged couple tries to figure out what to do next (sad). If you end up watching either of these (I think they’re both on Netflix), I hope you enjoy them and please let me know what you thought!
