Bridget Jones's Diary

I watched Bridget Jones's Diary today and I have to say, I wasn't as impressed with it this time around. I had seen it years ago and I remember loving it, but now, there were many things that just really bothered me about the story. First let me share the things that I did quite like about the movie. Above all, Colin Firth is dashing, charming, and all around perfection in this (and every) movie. But then, that's what his character is supposed to be and compared to Bridget Jones (who's set up to be a blithering fool), most other characters look like royalty. My favorite scene of the entire movie is the fight scene. I love when one of the friends goes into the restaurant just to say, "fight! a real fight!". Hilarious! Everything else that seems like it's supposed to be funny actually just makes me sad; sad for Bridget Jones and sad for all the women in the world who watched the movie and felt that they were like Bridget in some way. The last thing that I do actually like about the movie is that I noticed there were several connections between this story and the writings of Jane Austen. The obvious one is that the character of Mark Darcy shares both his name and his role in the story as Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. There is also the confusion surrounding what really happened between Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver, another nod to Pride and Prejudice. I do love Jane Austen's novels, so this was a treat for me to see the connections that were made.

While I did like some aspects of the film, I couldn't get over feeling like the character of Bridget Jones was created to make every average woman in the US and the UK feel bad about herself. I'm sure the intention of the film was to showcase an average woman that women everywhere could relate to, but it seemed that everything that was average about her, was also everything that she hated about herself. First and worst, she supposedly weighed too much. Warning, here comes my soapbox. Women everywhere got to see on the big screen "weight 136 lb" and hear Bridget Jones say, "obviously, will lose 20 lb." I was appalled and just couldn't get over it throughout the entire movie. How could I get over it when they came back to her weight several times!? I don't actually consider myself overweight and I was still offended! I thought, well height matters, they didn't mention anything about how tall she is. So I did some research and found that Renee Zellweger (and so I assume Bridget Jones as well) is 5'4" tall and apparently the average woman in the US is also 5'4" tall. However, I'm just under 5'5" and I always feel like every woman in my life is taller than me. So, basically, all the ladies in the world who are taller than 5'4" and have seen this film have been unnecessarily told that they should be concerned if they weigh 136 pounds. Even saying that someone at 5'4" shouldn't weigh 136 pounds is ridiculous! Okay, second, Bridget is an exaggeration of all the little things women could possibly be self conscious about; she's sloppy, she's awkward, she's inarticulate. I feel like relating to her makes me feel like I'm a total wreck and then I just feel worse about myself than I did before I watched the movie. She's supposed to be lovable because she's a mess but I end up disliking everything about her because she's the things that women fear is true about themselves.

I have to clarify, romantic comedies are my number one favorite type of movie. I'm a hopeless romantic and will cry at the drop of a hat, for better or worse. However, I'm tired of romantic comedies and "chick flicks" making us women either feel bad about ourselves because we're not perfect (and having unattainably beautiful women play characters with average lives) or setting up a world (and our expectations) with perfect men and unrealistic romantic happy endings that our real-life men just can't live up to. That's not fair to men or us! And no more female characters who are only happy with their lives in the end of the movie because they got the man that they were missing in the beginning! Women, we should be happy with ourselves without the acceptance or appreciation of a man. I'm still working on this one myself and it's certainly not easy. And I have a husband! Which just goes to show, it's not the man who will change how you feel about your life, it's you.

Now, I'm going to completely contradict myself because tomorrow's movie is one of my favorite romantic movies and the love stories melt my heart every time. Tomorrow's movie is special because it's what I've just decided is called a "double link". I picked not just one, but two actors from Bridget Jones's Diary, who have major roles in tomorrow's movie. Hint, it's not Bridget Jones's Diary 2.