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Original poster

Bridget Jones - watched it last night, erm it’s aged a bit!

253 replies

Noeuf · 17/10/2021 09:55

Gosh watched with dd as I was up late and it came on. Funny how I remembered it and how we’ve moved on now.
The emails about her skirt - funny/flirty then and now massively inappropriate
Darcy ‘negging’ her - dd couldn’t see why he was meant to be the one we all wanted
Fighting in the street! And no comeback for him as a human rights barrister
91/2 stone - and she was fat??!!! I weigh more than that and don’t think I’m comment worthy!
Just so interesting to see how my views have changed really.

OP posts:
kurtney · 18/10/2021 20:36

@bookworm14 it doesn't work, does it? Although it was a lot better than Joanna Trollope's reworking of Sense & Sensibility. Having a modern day Mrs Dashwood, who can't possibly get a job, just because she doesn't really want to, doesn't work in today's era.

bookworm14 · 18/10/2021 20:56

[quote kurtney]@bookworm14 it doesn't work, does it? Although it was a lot better than Joanna Trollope's reworking of Sense & Sensibility. Having a modern day Mrs Dashwood, who can't possibly get a job, just because she doesn't really want to, doesn't work in today's era. [/quote]
Those modern reworkings of classics rarely work well - times have changed too much. I did enjoy Sarra Manning’s updating of Vanity Fair, though - I think it worked better because Becky Sharp is such a universal type.

BudgeSquare · 18/10/2021 21:50

I loved reading the newspaper columns but I was so angry that they cast an American actress for the lead role.

TatianaBis · 18/10/2021 21:53

I didn’t likely the film but she was very good in it and her English accent was impeccable.

Scottsy100 · 18/10/2021 22:03

Don’t be “that” person, it’s just a film.

AnnieSnap · 18/10/2021 23:18

Of course fighting in the street & trashing a restaurant wouldn’t have been acceptable at the time either @PinkTonic but much of what happens in books and films requires the suspension of disbelief doesn’t it?

As PPs have said the weight thing was about perception. I was a size 12 at the time and felt fat. Also, I’m sure a stick thin model from the New York would have considered me fat. As for the inappropriate sexual harassment in the workplace etc. Sadly, that kind of shit was considered normal at the time by men and women. A woman wouldn’t have been happy about it in someone she didn’t fancy, but most would accept it in someone she was happy to flirt with.

Thankfully, times have changed. Despite my Feminist principles, I still love me a bit of Bridget Jones, accepting as I do that the tale was of its time. In the same way, I suppose, that many still enjoy Charlotte Bronte’s work.

MitfordBlisters · 19/10/2021 06:49

But what narrative arc works if everyone is perfect at the beginning? Successful adaptation or not, the point of this story (like every good story) is that Bridget/Lizzie is flawed (self-obsessed/self-centred) at the start, and Darcy is also flawed (rude, proud) and we see through the actions of the story that they change to become smarter, warmer, more appealing to us and to each other.

Offenseless, perfect characters from minute 1 might be how US dramas are made, but it’s pretty bland and unmemorable stuff.

QueenDanu · 19/10/2021 06:54

They should do a follow up now, itd have a touch of motherland, her kids would be teens though, she'd be a cross between julua and Anne if that's possible and it would show more of her work and wider family.

kurtney · 19/10/2021 07:17

@QueenDanu

They should do a follow up now, itd have a touch of motherland, her kids would be teens though, she'd be a cross between julua and Anne if that's possible and it would show more of her work and wider family.
There was a follow up along those lines. Bridget seems to exist in several different universes and there was a third book where she'd married Mark and had two kids and spoiler he died, leaving her very rich and not having to work or worry about money.

It completely missed the mark. Whereas the first two were quite relatable, the third was not. It should have been like Motherland, but it was instead about a spoilt rich woman who still couldn't manage to get her shit together.

EndoratheWitch · 19/10/2021 07:31

Totally agree with you. To me and my friends, the story was irritating and often pathetic and her aspirations so old fashioned! NO ONE in my circle of friends was bothered about being single/unmarried/childless. We were in our late 20s/early 30s and no one felt any pressure to get settled. We were too busy playing the field having fun.

Barney60 · 19/10/2021 08:22

I love it, saw it again my self the other night, still think its brilliant!

MarshmallowX1983 · 19/10/2021 09:23

Definitely of its time! Think about how much she smokes!! Representation in film and television has changed completely now. There are so many films and tv shows from the 90s and noughties that feel a little uncomfortable now.

ColonelNobbyNobbs · 19/10/2021 10:35

That book was strange Kurtney you’re right. She actually did get fat in that one didn’t she and then lost all the weight after getting hypnosis or going to a clinic or something?!

BikeRunSki · 19/10/2021 10:37

@QueenDanu

They should do a follow up now, itd have a touch of motherland, her kids would be teens though, she'd be a cross between julua and Anne if that's possible and it would show more of her work and wider family.
The third book, Mad About the Boy, takes this track a bit. It is totally different to the third film.
CaptSkippy · 19/10/2021 11:20

@Gwenhwyfar

" He tells Caroline that women's minds always jump to marriage in an instance"

Well, yes, but it was true in those days as women needed to marry more than they do now.

Yes, but he was mocking for the fact that their only descent option for participating in society was to get married and have kids.
CaptSkippy · 19/10/2021 11:23

trying to fit Persuasion to a modern plot just didn’t quite work.

I think that Persuasion could fit very well into a modern version of it, but modern adapations are always tricky. I thought Clueless was reasonably well done.

Gwenhwyfar · 19/10/2021 11:55

"We were in our late 20s/early 30s and no one felt any pressure to get settled. We were too busy playing the field having fun."

None of your friends in their early 30s wanted to have children? I find this hard to believe.

rookiemere · 19/10/2021 12:19

In the book I believe BJ was meant to be early 30s. Quite old enough to be worried about not having DCs or not getting married. In the film she appears younger as played as some sort of hapless bumbling ingenue.

SoniaFouler · 19/10/2021 13:07

Re: The fight, I was watching a BJD documentary around Christmas time and either Hugh or Colin said in the script the fight was meant to be much more serious and choreographed until they pointed out that their characters wouldn’t fight like that so they went down that comedic route instead.

MyrtlethePurpleTurtle · 20/10/2021 00:07

@ChristieMalry

It was possible - just - to own a flat in places like shepherds Bush, inner south London, inner East London etc on a low 'professional' wage at that point. Hers was decorated nicely but obviously not completely modernised or brilliantly well built and designed.

Her modern counterpart would be working for pretty much the same amount of money or even for free on an internship and living in a shared house in zone 4+.

Never in Borough - even at the time, her lush apartment and locati N was always a bit of an eyebrow raise
Original poster
Noeuf · 20/10/2021 08:35

Still going! On the flat front I always assumed she rented it. Must have missed the mortgage but, probably because it was so far removed as a possibility for me at the time. Was renting a bed sit!

OP posts:
RandomDent · 20/10/2021 20:37

There was a bit in the book (maybe the second?) about remortgaging to do some improvements. Not sure about the film.

WheelieBinPrincess · 20/10/2021 20:46

@RandomDent that’s right, she hired a builder who convinced her she could have a second bedroom by decking a hole in the wall, but then just leaves said gaping hole. Then he sends her a bullet in the post, which is what gets her back with mark Darcy.

polkadotpjs · 20/10/2021 21:49

Totally loved a d reread the books a lot and I actually love mad about the boy. It's so sad in parts and when I need to "feel" something it tunes me in. As for reality I can suspend it for the last book. Yes it's a rich woman struggling but she's lost her Mark and has to get on as a widow. Would I let the nanny get kids up while I lay in bed? Maybe not. Maybe so if I was rich and incredibly unhappy.
I enjoyed the writing but the films ? Not so much. And didn't like RZ. Wish it had been a Brit of normal size who didn't make a big deal of getting "fat" for the role

IsabelHerna · 21/10/2021 11:25

WOW I haven't watched it since then... God what were we thinking? The standards have changed. Seems like I have to rewatch old favourite movies... Well I think I found what I'll be doing in my 2weeks waiting after IVF.