MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL SYNDROME, A Micro-Cinematic Experience features the premiere of an experimental short film I wrote, co-directed and starred in called Manic Pixie Dream Girl Syndrome, an adaptation of a comedic monologue of the same name I performed at an all-female group art show in 2023. The 5-minute short will screen at scheduled showtimes in a makeshift microcinema I’ve constructed. Across from the microcinema in the same room, I will also be performing the original monologue in a one-off scheduled performance in between screenings of the film adaptation. This tangential monologue begins with, “You guys ever hear of the expression ‘all beautiful women are crazy’?” The complete installation will revolve around my investigations of the “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” (MPDG) character archetype, as seen in popular romantic films such as Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and 500 Days of Summer with Zooey Deschanel. In cinema, the MPDG is portrayed as an artsy independent woman who often rejects societal expectations of classic womanhood and domesticity. While the MPDG is presumed to be free-spirited and independent, she is still defined by the expectations of a predominantly male protagonist, is mostly restricted within the confines of said male protagonist’s own personal goals and growth, and rarely displays any self-actualization or true personhood. This exhibition aims to recreate my own version of the MPDG, examined from a modern, feminist lens. Through the aesthetics of filmmaking, stand-up comedy and intermedia installation my hope is to show empathy with those who can relate and rouse awareness of the MPDG trope’s negative effects on others.