The FMC Archetypes: The Girl Next Door
I know the millennials reading this (and perhaps those in Gen Z as well since Buzzfeed still seems to be thriving) are no strangers to personality tests. Many we took were sanctioned by our schools or current employers, giving us brief identifiers that summarized our personalities and allowed us to be grouped with like-minded or counter-thinking individuals. I, for instance, am an ENFJ or a 3x2 enneagram type. Others were less official. They consisted of the many "Which character are you?" quizzes found in Tigerbeat, J-14, and Cosmogirl or hosted on websites such as Quizilla, Playbuzz or, later in the game, Buzzfeed, as previously mentioned. Growing up, if I liked a TV show or book, I carved outside validation to prove I was most similar to the character I liked best. In some ways, I still do. But, as an adult, I'm much better at relating my strengths and weaknesses to the fictional women in my life and owning the result, even if it's not entirely complimentary.
For FMCs, I would say there are eight well-known archetypes. Each has subclasses, and the lines can blur since humans are beautifully multifaceted, but below are the most common.
1. The Warrior - Women who must take physical action to complete their journeys. They are powerful, competitive and often headstrong.
2. The Boss - Women who take charge of the environment or characters around them. They are often decisive and confident but can sometimes be inflexible.
3. The Femme Fatale - Women who find their value in their appearance or sexual prowess. They are often made out to be the villain due to their projected confidence, forward-thinking and eye for detail.
4. The Nerd - Women who began their journeys valuing reputation and academic achievement above all else. They are intelligent, introverted and, most times, irrationally independent.
5. The Girl Next Door - Women with can-do attitudes. They are approachable, friendly and optimistic even when this is to their detriment.
6. The Survivor (AKA: The Bitch) - Women who will do what it takes to reach their journey's end. They are charming problem-solvers but are often distrusting.
7. The Damsel - Women who constantly find themselves in need of assistance. They are caring and open-minded but tend to let people decide things for them.
8. The Misfit - Women that start their journeys because of their unique perspective. They are sometimes sporadic and aloof due to their creative and gentle nature but always remain true to their values.
While a quick online search would populate many brief or not-so-brief opportunities for an AI engine to tell you which category you fall into, I would also be willing to bet your gut is already pulling you toward one archetype or another. There is no right or wrong answer. Each choice has pros as well as cons. You'll be in good company regardless of which you identify with most.
Every so often on this website, I will give each leading lady time to shine, speculating on her origin story, highlighting her virtues and faults and providing examples of where she can be found in cinema and literature. Because 'The Girl Next Door' is who I think I am most like, I have decided to kick off the series with her.
Once upon a time, a girl moved into a house next door to a male protagonist. Said boy was immediately smitten with a child-like wonderous kind of crush that grew stronger the longer she was in residence. The girl was well-known in her small town for her natural beauty, pleasant demeanor, positive outlook and winning smile. While she might not keep up to date on the latest fashion trends or be seen at the biggest parties, her allure came from a place of purity, or at least it used to.
The term had its hay day in the 1940s, manifesting in perhaps its most famous example: Betty Cooper from Archie Comics. In her original iteration, Betty was a bright, wholesome, All-American, Tomboy who pined for the titular characters' affections alongside Veronica Lodge. In the 1950s, Doris Day was defined as Hollywood's Girl Next Door when compared to the effervescent Marilyn Monroe. The archetype has continued to evolve over the passing decades, with examples such as Sandy from Grease, Sally Albright from When Harry Meet Sally, Lindsay Weir in Freaks and Geeks and so on, up until 2004 when Elisha Cuthbert helped flip the archetype on its head by staring in Luke Greenfield's The Girl Next Door with Emile Hirsch. The film chronicles the shenanigans that ensue when a teenage boy's new neighbor is a former porn star. Since then, the GND has been less beholden to her traditional values.
The modern Girl Next Door exists not merely as an idyllic representation of the American dream or a means to contrast the more glamorous femme fatale in a notorious love triangle but simply as an open, warm and caring presence. With an understated confidence and sure sense of identity, the GND is driven, friendly and eager to make those around her feel loved. Yes, she still sometimes lives near her love interest, but it is no longer necessary.
Like her virtues, her faults are due in part to her love of people. She's usually too trusting, choosing to see people's strengths instead of their weaknesses, and her welcoming nature sometimes stems from a fear of being an outlier herself. She can be bold and brazen but prefers to stay on more familiar ground if in a large company. She likes it when all of her friends get along and isn't one to perpetuate conflict.
In modern media, an entire street could be filled with the Girls Next Door. A few are Jenny Han’s Lara Jean Covey, Lexi Howard from Euphoria, Bridgerton's Penelope Featherington and Edwina Sharma, and Poppy Wright from Emily Henry's People We Meet On Vacation. A GND's most played artists might include Taylor Swift, Maisie Peters, Sixpence None the Richer, Shania Twain, Maggie Rogers or anyone else who excels at sound wave nostalgia because no matter how she changes, her roots will always be in love.
