Scott Pilgrim is the Villain in His Own Movie

I hadn't heard the term 'manic pixie dream girl' before watching Scott Pilgrim. The first time I saw the movie, I envied Ramona Flowers because she could dye her hair whatever color she wanted. The ever-changing hair color blinded me and didn't realize that Ramona wasn't a fleshed-out character. Now I realize that I probably know more about her seven evil exes than I know about her.

Despite knowing nothing about her, Scott sees Ramona and he is instantly smitten. His friends tell him to leave Ramona alone, hinting that he has a history of this behavior. He decides not to heed his friends' warnings, and instead orders a package from the company that she delivers for. He sits at the door, waiting for a chance to talk to her. He puts in the effort to insert himself into her life, but he never puts in the effort to get to know her.

Ramona is often referred to as a manic pixie dream girl or a quirky girl that only exists to benefit the protagonist. Ramona fits that description, with her colorful hair being used as a personality trait. She even informs us she doesn't remember what her natural hair color is, and that she changes her hair color weekly. The only thing that makes the character unique is her wide array of exes, whom Scott has to fight to date her.

Scott didn't deserve her. He didn't deserve Knives Chau or Kim either. Scott was a problematic character who never got to know any of his girlfriends, and often cheated on them. The film wants us to feel sorry for him when his relationships don't work out. We were supposed to root for him to end up with Ramona, and I did just that.

I found myself annoyed that she didn't end up with Scott (in the alternate ending) after 'everything he'd done for her'. It was the same type of annoyance I'd felt when playing Mario for the first time and finding that my princess was in another castle. With the tone of the movie set to feel like a video game, I can't help but think that might have been the intention.

The worst thing about the movie isn't Ramona Flowers. It's the character of Knives Chau, the high school student that whom Scott Pilgrim is in a relationship. Scott Pilgrim is an adult man in this movie and he's in a relationship with a high school girl. He even waits for her to get out of school so that they can go play Dance Dance Revolution. His friends find the relationship odd, but they only make jokes about it instead of telling him that the age gap is wrong.

The age gap isn't my only issue with the character of Knives. During the movie, Scott doesn't break up with Knives. He simply moves on to Ramona and hopes that the relationship between him and Knives will dissolve on its own. He also begins the relationship with Knives to distract himself from an earlier relationship that also did not work out. This betrayal sends Knives into crazy ex-girlfriend territory.

When Knives sees Scott with Ramona, she tries to change herself to more closely match her personality. She changes her hair and the way she dresses to win Scott back. She goes out of her way to be where he is. She even tries hanging out with his friends to make him jealous.

I was a teenager in the late 90s and early 2000s, which was a problematic time to be a teen girl. Magazines and the media were constantly showing us celebrities that had gained weight and telling us how disgusting it was. We were taught that the worst thing we could be was fat or ugly. We were encouraged to change ourselves, just like Knives did in the movie. The character of Knives serves as an unhealthy reminder of that time.

While I initially thought the movie was a fun nod to video games, I now think it's aged poorly. The video game references that once made the movie fun merely distract from the heavily flawed storyline of the movie. I also believe that this movie highlights everything negative about being a teenage girl and doesn't acknowledge how disturbing it is for a grown man to be in a relationship with a high schooler.

Perhaps a better ending to the movie would have been all the women happily moving on from Scott Pilgrim.