"manic pixie dream girl"

Just now, for the first time I can remember, I came across the phrase "manic pixie dream girl." I wasn't sure whether the writer had extemporaneously come up with that striking sequence of words, but I googled it, and sure enough, it had already been a negative comment on a genre of fictional characters who are presented less as authentic portrayals of real human beings than as objects used to to inspire and/or gratify male protagonists.

I'm not sure whether I had already thought of Zooey Deschanel, 

 

an actress whose characters tend to be cuter than a basket full of puppies, before I read that definition of "manic pixie dream girl," but as soon as I read it, I googled manic pixie dream girl zooey deschanel, and sure enough, I found an interview in which Ms Deschanel rejected the label of manic pixie dream girl, with the exception of the character she played in 500 Days of Summer, who, she admitted was a manic pixie dream girl. 

Apart from that one performance, Ms Deschanel argued that the characters she had portrayed had been 3-dimensional and authentic, adding that she was a woman, not a girl.

As soon as I read those excerpts from that interview, I thought, "Yeah! That's entirely right! You tell 'em, Ms Deschanel!"

But to be completely honest, I'm not sure whether I'm completely convinced by what Ms Deschanel said, or whether I'm agreeing with her in part because I want her to like me.

I also have to wonder whether, and to what extent, I have been a manic pixie dream boy in the imaginations of others, and whether I may still be such now, as an old man who may be suffering from the onset of arthritis (don't worry, I have excellent medical care, and we're looking into just what exactly these new joint pains are). So perhaps I feel protective toward women who are magic pixie dream girls in the imaginations of others, in part, because I don't want people to treat me as a person without agency simply because I may have inspired thoughts which have little or nothing to do with who I actually am.

Fantasies are okay. Fantasies are a normal, healthy part of life. But it's also good to acknowledge the depth and seriousness which other actual, real people possess. 

Even really, really, really cute people.