The phrase was first coined in a Vulture article about Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars, but I don’t think he hits the trope at all. Noah from The Notebook and Jack from Titanic have similarly been placed on the list, which I think is just plain wrong. Sure, they are devoted and don’t exist beyond the “leading lady’s life bubble,” but they’re hardly manic. Here are my top 3 actual MPDB’s.
Garrett Heldund as Dean Moriarty from On The Road
Confession: I have never read the book by Jack Kerouac. I watched this movie just because I love Garrett Hedlund.
Post-Watch Confession: Some things seen, cannot be unseen.
Hedlund plays Dean, our MPDB, who is constantly seeking out adventure. He burn, burn, burns* through life, friends, lovers and copious amounts of drugs. Yet, somehow, he’s still dreamy, charismatic and influential on everyone around him. The twist on this tale is that our MPDB isn’t bettering the life of a girl through her transitional journey, but rather another boy. Enter Sal, who has never done an interesting thing until he goes on the road with Dean. Lives are lived, lessons are learned and books are written.
Robert Sheehan as Vincent from The Road Within
This flick is a new release on Netflix this month. I zeroed in on it because of my undying love for Robert Sheehan and BBC’s Misfits. Sheehan plays Vincent, a twenty-something young man diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome that is committed into rehab after his mother dies. After meeting his very own MPDG – yes, in this movie the two clichés meet! – played by Zoë Kravitz of Divergent fame, Vincent steals his counselor’s car, kidnaps his OCD roommate – played by Slumdog Millionaire Dev Patel – and embarks on a road trip to the beach.
Now this one is interesting because the MPDG is our catalyst, but it’s the MPDB who helps himself and the OCD kidnapped roommate in the process. Our MPDG ends up worse off than when she started, though the MPDB and the OCD promise to visit.**
Once you get used to the fact that Vincent’s Tourette’s is way overplayed – they don’t all yell out obscenities, folks – this is a pretty cute movie. It had some laughs and the relationship between Vincent and his roommate is quite adorable by the final act.
Jeremy Sumpter in the 2003 Peter Pan
I don’t know if there is a better example of the MPDB than Peter Pan. Peter is a boy who refuses to grow up, has no family to speak of and spends his days kidnapping children through their bedroom windows and fighting a Crocodyliphobiac pirate. I’m going to hone in on the 2003 version, because it was one of the few Pan’s that played up Wendy’s “attraction” towards Peter, a key ingredient for any MPDB.
At the beginning of the movie, Wendy turns to look back at her childhood bedroom and Peter leans against her to whisper, “Come with me.”
Of course, she goes and begins her transitional journey from naive child to young woman. She and Peter fall in love and at one point dance through the forest, an act that winds up terrifying our little noncommittal MPDB. By the end, even after realizing he will never grow up and she must leave him, Wendy gives Peter her “hidden kiss” to bring him back to life.
That was no thimble.
Shout out some more Manic Pixie Dream Boys in the comments!
* I read the Cliffs notes.
** So many acronyms.
