Mindy Kaling describes types of women in romantic comedies:

The Ethereal Weirdo

“The smart and funny writer Nathan Rabin coined the term Manic Pixie Dream Girl to describe this archetype after seeing Kirsten Dunst in the movie “Elizabethtown.” This girl can’t be pinned down and may or may not show up when you make concrete plans with her. She wears gauzy blouses and braids. She likes to dance in the rain and she weeps uncontrollably if she sees a sign for a missing dog or cat. She might spin a globe, place her finger on a random spot, and decide to move there. The Ethereal Weirdo appears a lot in movies, but nowhere else. If she were from real life, people would think she was a homeless woman and would cross the street to avoid her. But she is essential to the male fantasy that even if a guy is boring he deserves a woman who will find him fascinating and perk up his dreary life by forcing him to go skinny-dipping in a stranger’s pool.”

me: i see nothing wrong with forcing people to go skinny-dipping in a neighbor’s pool. that’s just a good time

smart friend: sure. except when it’s meant to be a clear sign that lonely dude is meant to be with manic pixie girl because she’s just so spontaneous and naked

me: isn’t that how people hook up? i feel confused
  if people didn’t have magical encounters they would never like any people
  i just feel defensive of my eccentric tastes

smart friend: i think it’s more that it’s contrived
  like a meet cute
  like every quirky event in our lives is supposed to have emotional significance

me: again, it isn’t?
  i am clearly insane
 
smart friend: you watch a lot of tv?

me: where are you going with this? you know i do.
 
smart friend: lol
  haha
  i think tv and movies reinforce that idea?
 
me: my whole thing is that i’m always looking for ways to make my life more interesting

smart friend: some people really do have all these little magical connections and events that signify things

me: and if weird shit happens, it’s important

smart friend: it’s probably why i don’t like zooey deschanel and miranda july, and you do. i think sometimes weird shit means stuff. but sometimes super mundane shit is what’s important…

me: but i don’t like the significance and metaphor inherent in sci fi
  i find it to be cloying
  maybe it’s presentation

smart friend: yeah

me: like, obviously that (sci-fi metaphor) means whatever, you dipshit!
   god. take off your stupid spacesuit
 
smart friend: maybe if the cylons wore polka dots and hair ribbons and acoustic folk rock played in the background …
 
me: i would have liked it more
  i confess

smart friend: haha
 to each their own signifiers
 
me: like, i’m supposed to take that show seriously because they’re wearing neutrals and uniforms ?