"I was drizzle and she was a hurricane."

I've always been fascinated with Manic Pixie Dream Girls. Before I even realised they were an archetype. An archetype which first received it's almost official name by film critic Nathan Rabin, who went into further detail by describing this particular character;

"that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature 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."

Now let's be honest, if every single role played by Zooey Deschanel didn't immediately pop into your head, there's a problem. Of course the most popular of which, Summer Finn, in the 2009 'indie-flick' (500) Days of Summer completely encapsulates this idea of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

Uninspired and stuck in a rut, Tom Hansen falls hopelessly in love with this free-spirited, doe-eyed, Smiths-loving, (and of course where would generalisation be without the word) ridiculously quirky female. In his eyes she is perfect. During the course of the film we realise this is not the case. She's not his 'soul-mate'. She can't change his life. She is ultimately a pretty young thing with odd tendencies whom Tom loses himself in. Escapism personified.

The MPDG is one I've also come across in literature. In John Green's Looking for Alaska, the novel's namesake Alaska Young is the object of Miles Halter's affections. She's the reckless and unattainable young woman who states that she doesn't smoke to enjoy it, she smokes "to die". She's the perfect example of the barely stable goddess that both poor male protagonists and the reader/audience fall pathetically in love with. Yet inevitably Miles (affectionately nicknamed Pudge) becomes aware that this 'girl of his dreams' was anything but. This realisation that he has been over-glorifying this girl, deluding himself to the point of swearing his love for her, comes crashing down when his friend Chip confronts him on the situation.

"Don't you know who you love, Pudge? You love the girl who makes you laugh and shows you porn and drinks wine with you. You don't love the crazy, sullen bitch."

The list of MPDGs is endless. Even those who don't necessarily fit the criteria are, in my opinion, easily squashed into the type. At the extreme end of the spectrum we have Drusilla from the Buffyverse. The gothic vampiress is blatantly unhinged, and yet despite her lust for blood and violence still manages to captivate viewers with her dream-like trance she is constantly dazed in. The clashing of her child-like singing and her sole responsibility of a high death count ensure she is no ordinary demon.

Similarly, and also from the mind of Joss Whedon, we have River Tam from short-lived sci-fi Firefly.

Wide-eyed and prone to manic fits, her character's skinny frame and wild mind make her a fascinating subject. With no paramour to be found on the show she is not the typical MPDG, yet I feel if the series continued past the one season and film, she would have certainly attracted a male who would be sucked into her erratic world and off-the-cuff statements of "I can kill you with my brain."

This sudden appreciation/analysis of MPDG is not exactly a random 'I've run out of ideas' one, but has been on my mind for some time and has only surfaced due to recently seeing a trailer for what might just be the most clichéd film of it's genre, Ruby Sparks.

However the most intriguing part of the reviews for Ruby so far is the less than subtle hints that writer and Ruby herself Zoe Kazan has taken the MPDG idea and completely turned it on it's head. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this film deals with such an overused and possibly worn out role. Could this be the end of attractive 20-something characters with oversized fringes and a seemingly permanent surprised look plastered on their faces dominating our tumblr dashboards forever? If I'm being perfectly honest, I hope not.

Having had more than my fair share of being described as 'weird' and 'quirky' in my life, perhaps my view of the MPDG is a completely biased one. Okay, it is. But what's wrong in completely adoring this type of female? She's a fleeting presence but one that should be savoured. There are few things worse than the dull and unintriguing folk that inhabit this world, and a breath of fresh air, however hyped as she may be, can brighten it up superbly.