Taking into consideration the recent release of Paper Towns, a YA book-turned-film, I thought it an opportune time to take a closer at central character of this story, Margo Roth Spiegelman, and what she says about the representation of women in media – more specifically, if her character is just another iteration of the now-infamous “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” trope.
The story revolves around Margo’s relationship with her neighbor, a boy named Quentin “Q” Jacobsen, and his discoveries about “who she really is” while following clues she apparently left for him to follow after her mysterious disappearance. Elements within the story illustrate the appeal – and fundamental flaws – of the so-called “Manic Pixie Dream Girl,” a term used in reference to beautiful-yet-unattainable female stock characters whose exceedingly bubbly, shallow and ultimately superficial existences serve only to guide young men towards a more meaningful life.
In Paper Towns, Margo comes across as the MPDG type, at least in the context of her relationship with Q, who fully admires her physical beauty while being equally fascinated with her sense of adventure. Each section of the novel reveals more about Margo, but only through the lens of other people in her life. At one point in the book, she looks out over the city with Q and makes an observation on the “paper people” below as they go about their everyday lives. It’s only when Margo disappears, however, that Q discovers that there’s more to her personality than he realized. By the time he finds her, he feels himself conflicted – why is it wrong to love an ideal, perhaps even more than a person? While the theme of this story is different that his last, the idea of the MPDG as protagonist isn’t a new to author John Green. In his other recent book-turned-film, The Fault in Our Stars (which is available to stream if you’ve got HBO GO or FiOS) the main character Hazel also displays many MPDG traits. Whether she’s in books, movies, or books-as-movies, the MPDG remains a mainstay popular media.
The type-cast MPDG exists across a broad spectrum of stories about adolescence. From Tom’s girlfriend “Bessie” (or Becky) in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to the energetic optimism displayed by youthful Julie Andrews in her iconic role as Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, MPDG tropes are a tale as old as time (Kirsten Dunst is another repeat offender). Regardless of the general plotline, it’s a stereotype that can be damaging to both young men and women in the sense that it may prevent them from discovering their own potential or, especially with young girls, discourage them from expanding their horizon beyond the limited roles they’ve seen portrayed for them.
Considered by most to be a sexist term, the MPDG trope slides female characters into the role of a prop. Depicted alongside male counterparts on their own journey self-fulfillment, when the story reaches a penultimate conclusion the female character rarely expands her role beyond being a reliable source of “motivation” or blonde shoulder to cry on. Despite the inherent flaws of such conventions, it sustains as the catalyst for character development and self-realization in stories revolving around young people as they transition from one phase of life to another. As such, it’s doubtful we’ll see the MPDG trope disappear anytime soon.
In Paper Towns, Margo may try to break the MPDG mold – as it is never how she characterizes herself anyway – by asserting her personality via discoveries made by the other characters as they hunt for her. In an interview discussing the book, Green declares his intent to destroy what he calls the “MPDG lie” with this book. Unfortunately, his success in undoing years of systematic stereotyping will take more than a paper-thin YA novel. Ultimately, the media’s fascination and fetishization of certain aspects of the female human existence ensures that our fictional representations of female characters will also continue to crumple.
Paper Towns
Young Adult
Dutton Books
October 16, 2008
305
Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificent Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life—summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. When their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Margo has disappeared. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Embarking on an exhilarating adventure to find her, the closer Q gets, the less he sees the girl he thought he knew.
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