In the beginning of the series 7b of Doctor Who, we find the Doctor hidden away at a monastery—wallowing after the loss of several of his beloved companions and his failed attempts to find the mysterious Clara Oswin Oswald. Of course, we the audience know that this is not how our protagonist is supposed to spend his days. But have no fear, Clara Oswald is near!
Story line sound a little familiar? That’s probably because it is. The Clara Oswald we encounter in the second half of series 7 is the classic “manic pixie dream girl." The manic pixie dream girl is a film and television archetype—a stock character, a trope. She is often defined by her bubbly, perceptive nature and she serves the sole purpose of bringing the brooding protagonist (read: male main character) out of his sulky state. The manic pixie dream girl tends to lack concrete career goals and aspirations, usually substituting them with vague dreams and mantras like a desire to “live a little” or “see the world.” As many quirks as she may have, her real significance to the story is not her own. She exists to teach the male protagonist something and is often also the object of his affections—sometimes playing the “second love” in order to drag the lead out of mourning after losing someone dear to him, the lost woman who drives our protragonist's "chronic man-pain."
So how does Clara Oswald possess these qualities? Well, let’s start with the “bubbly, perceptive” part. Modern Clara is painted as an emotional creature from her debut in The Bells of Saint John where she is depicted as an au pair. This side of her is further emphasized by juxtaposing her with the empath in the ghost story Hide. The character of Emma Grayling very much serves as a mirror for Clara’s qualities in that episode. Again lining up with the idea of the manic pixie dream girl is Clara’s lack of concrete aspirations. She has only the vague goal of seeing the world, one sidelined by the death of a family friend leaving her in her current dead-end job of au pair, as explained in The Rings of Akhaten, which brings up another issue with Clara: She’s always defined by other people and limited to the role of caregiver.
The more significant point about Clara’s character, though, is the fact that she exists solely to drag the Doctor out of his state of melancholic reverie. That is a classic manic pixie dream girl trope. Aside from solving the mystery of why Clara is impossible, what does the audience learn about her character throughout the series? We know where she came from but that’s really about it. We see virtually no character development. The problem with the use of the manic pixie dream girl trope is that it undermines the very personhood of the character the trope applies to. A true manic pixie dream girl exists not for her own self but as a means to propel the plot and lead to development on the part of the main character. Using this harmful stereotype perpetuates the idea that women don’t have goals, dreams, jobs, or lives outside of men and children. These characters teach men that women are meant to complete them and not to be their own person. And that’s not okay!
It’s worth noting that Clara hasn’t been around long and there’s still potential for her to break this stereotype. With some serious character development and exploration, she could turn out to be much more than just a stock character. Unfortunately, so far she seems to have fallen short of being anything but a trope.
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