Manic Pixie Dream Girl
Read The Reflector x MRU Write Club in our list of writer portfolios or in our print issue |
Bailey Wilson, Guest Writer |
She’s broken,
but in a cute way
Like a girl-shaped jigsaw puzzle
With none of her pieces missing
She’s just been waiting for a man to put her back together
Not like a glass that shattered in the sink
With some of the pieces lost down the drain
And sharp edges ready to cut
She smokes
but in a cool way
Like the flicker of a lighter, she’s dangerous, but only briefly
And if she happens to get burned,
she’ll just wait for a strong man to come kiss her better
Not like she needs the cigarettes to stop her hands from shaking
And the only thing holding her together
are pieces of chewed-up tobacco and gasoline
She’s crazy
but in a fun way
like spontaneous road trips at 2 am
Or an affinity for walking barefoot on concrete
Her insanity is quirky
Not like screaming, crying, and gasping for air
Or psych wards and popping pills like pez
as she holds on to the last shred of sanity
She has problems
But in a fixable way
Like a car with a flat tire
All she needs is a strong hand to guide her
and replace her broken bits with theirs
Not like complex webs that have trapped her
With trauma taking shape of a spider
Slowly creeping forward to consume
Manic pixie dream girl just needs a man
Just needs someone to support and love
Then all her problems will go away
Manic pixie dream girl doesn’t need dreams or hopes
Any goals became irrelevant the minute she met a man
Nothing but a blank slate waiting for someone to belong to
But manic pixie dream girl isn’t real
Manic pixie dream girl is a fraud
a facsimile of the complex filtered through the eyes of misogyny
distorted until she fulfilled the male desire
Because girls don’t break in a cute way
They don’t smoke in a cool way
And they aren’t crazy in a fun way.
Their problems are not solved
The moment a man loves them
Girls are complex and intricate
They’re unique and undefinable
They aren’t a concept created in Hollywood boardrooms
by men who wanted a wife to own.
So we are killing Manic Pixie Dream Girl
one Manic Pixie Dream at a time.
Bailey Wilson is a writer and a member of the MRU Write Club 2024-2025
