Manic Pixie Dream Girls : Geet Dhillon in 'Jab We Met'
Aditi Bose
Manic Pixie Dream Girls:
Geet Dhillon in “Jab We Met”
Geet Dhillon. Educated, independent, confident and loves herself. Geet. Sweeps into Aditya Kashyap’s life despite his resistance. Geet. Teaches Aditya to abandon sorrow and live life to the fullest. Geet. Makes us laugh and cry with her. Geet. Can we even imagine ‘Jab We Met’ (Ali, 2007) without Geet?
Yet, this strong, fiery character has very little substance to her. She exists only when Aditya (and the story) needs her, beyond that she is immaterial. Geet, in essence, is an example of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl Trope.
The Manic Pixie Dream Girl Trope, a term coined by Nathan Rubin, refers to a character type that “exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures” (Rabin, 2007) Her primary function is “to lift a gloomy male protagonist out of the doldrums, not to pursue her own happiness” (Bowman, Gillette, Hyden, Murray, Pierce, & Rabin, 2008). She is bubbly yet lacks an inner life and barely ever has a plausible motivation. In essence, she exists only to play out a wish fulfilment fantasy (Bowman, Gillette, Hyden, Murray, Pierce, & Rabin, 2008).
Hollywood is filled with Manic Pixie Dream Girls. Take for instance Claire from ‘Elizabethtown’ (Crowe, 2005), the inspiration for the term Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She appears when Drew has hit rock bottom, helps him through his troubles without really disturbing his life, disappears for a while to allow him to organise his life and then when he is ready for a relationship, he finds her waiting for him at the market. Apart from an initial scene when her occupation as an airhostess introduces her to Drew, little reference is made to her work, her personal life or her family, i.e., classic MPDG.
Among the other movies that use Manic Pixie Dream Girls (aka MPDGs) are ‘(500) Days of Summer’ (Webb, 2009), ‘Sweet
Manic Pixie Dream Girls:
Geet Dhillon in “Jab We Met”
Geet Dhillon. Educated, independent, confident and loves herself. Geet. Sweeps into Aditya Kashyap’s life despite his resistance. Geet. Teaches Aditya to abandon sorrow and live life to the fullest. Geet. Makes us laugh and cry with her. Geet. Can we even imagine ‘Jab We Met’ (Ali, 2007) without Geet?
Yet, this strong, fiery character has very little substance to her. She exists only when Aditya (and the story) needs her, beyond that she is immaterial. Geet, in essence, is an example of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl Trope.
The Manic Pixie Dream Girl Trope, a term coined by Nathan Rubin, refers to a character type that “exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures” (Rabin, 2007) Her primary function is “to lift a gloomy male protagonist out of the doldrums, not to pursue her own happiness” (Bowman, Gillette, Hyden, Murray, Pierce, & Rabin, 2008). She is bubbly yet lacks an inner life and barely ever has a plausible motivation. In essence, she exists only to play out a wish fulfilment fantasy (Bowman, Gillette, Hyden, Murray, Pierce, & Rabin, 2008).
Hollywood is filled with Manic Pixie Dream Girls. Take for instance Claire from ‘Elizabethtown’ (Crowe, 2005), the inspiration for the term Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She appears when Drew has hit rock bottom, helps him through his troubles without really disturbing his life, disappears for a while to allow him to organise his life and then when he is ready for a relationship, he finds her waiting for him at the market. Apart from an initial scene when her occupation as an airhostess introduces her to Drew, little reference is made to her work, her personal life or her family, i.e., classic MPDG.
Among the other movies that use Manic Pixie Dream Girls (aka MPDGs) are ‘(500) Days of Summer’ (Webb, 2009), ‘Sweet
Bibliography: Ali, I. (Director). (2007). Jab We Met [Motion Picture]. Chopra, Y. (Director). (1991). Lamhe [Motion Picture]. Crowe, C. (Director). (2005). Elizabethtown [Motion Picture]. Gondry, M. (Director). (2004). Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [Motion Picture]. Johar, K. (Director). (2001). Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham [Motion Picture]. Mukherjee, H. (Director). (1980). Khubsoorat [Motion Picture]. O 'Connor, P. (Director). (2001). Sweet November [Motion Picture]. Tyrewala, A. (Director). (2008). Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na [Motion Picture]. Webb, M. (Director). (2009). (500) Days of Summer [Motion Picture].