Why subscribe?
Stories matter. There is always a reason I am drawn to a character or story and I am always interested in those reasons. My writing is about the ways TV, movies, and other pop culture reflect and reshape their audience and our society. I am especially interested in the portrayal of mental illness and healthcare in the mainstream.
About Me
I am an academic, advocate, and mentor. I’ve studied psychology, sociology, adolescence, feminism and gender, and media studies within and outside of universities for more than twenty years. I have a Master’s degree in Social Science and I stay current with research journals and literature.
I am also an avid consumer of pop culture. I use my fandom to express myself and my views, to build and foster community, and to create connections with my audience.
My research interests are in the portrayal of trauma and mental health in mainstream media and the complexities of narrative therapy in practice.
And most importantly, I watch terrible television so you don’t have to.
The term “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” was coined by film critic Nathan Rabin in a review of Elizabethtown to describe the female lead played by Kirsten Dunst (read my review of Elizabethtown here). I encountered the phrase in the wilds of social media and felt it described me particularly.
Tinker Bell is tiny and can’t speak. She cannot physically hold more than one feeling at a time. When she dies Peter Pan forgets she ever existed. In the play, she is portrayed by a light and a bell.
But Disney made her a star and a face of the company. As such, Tinker Bell came to represent magic, wonder, fun, dreams — possibility. And then, the Disney Fairies line gave Tink a voice and made her the protagonist of her own stories.
I love labels. I love labels because I love words. So, I don’t mind being called a “concept” instead of a “character”. Within the context of fiction, the MPDG can be a lazy trope. Within the context of what I personally and particularly prefer to call myself, the MPDG is a wonderful label, full of meaning and power. All it takes is faith (in ME), and trust (in ME), and a little bit of pixie dust (MY power).
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