The MPDG drifts over into the fay-creature territory if she's unknowable as a human person (i.e., all we know about her are her exteriorities and her behavior without any sense of what motivates her, where she comes from, what she wants, etc.). That has problems, but not really gender ones: the problem with this type of character is that for them to maintain mysteriousness and Otherness, we can't really get to know them . . . which means they can't be as complete as other types of characters. They can be observed, but we can't really get inside them--or rather, it takes a real virtuoso performance to get us inside one and *not* sacrifice the wonder.
I think Maude doesn't fall into that category because you have a sense of her with her own life and wants and internal life quite apart from Harold. The [male focused] movie focuses on her catalyzing effect on Harold, but I don't think she's the mere cipher that a lot of MPDGs are.
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Date: 2014-02-17 07:05 pm (UTC)From:I think Maude doesn't fall into that category because you have a sense of her with her own life and wants and internal life quite apart from Harold. The [male focused] movie focuses on her catalyzing effect on Harold, but I don't think she's the mere cipher that a lot of MPDGs are.