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It’s been 25 years since a goofy singleton called Bridget Jones began expressing her take on life in a column that has grown into a bestselling novel and film series. While Bridget’s klutzy appeal seems timeless, judging by the younger generation of female fans, this quarter-century celebration has a bittersweet, nostalgic feel. Hugh Grant, who played the films’ evil anti-hero, believes it will spark cries of, “Look how they got now!” Look at Hugh’s condition! and he’s not entirely wrong. Colin Firth has thick stubble of gray hair and Renée Zellweger’s eyes seem to have disappeared. The only person who doesn’t seem to have changed much is Bridget’s effervescent designer, Helen Fielding.
Fielding grew up in Morley, Yorkshire (“I’m not really working class”), where one of the first silly things – little Helen dropping a tray of cakes – was recorded by her father on Super 8. She played studied at Oxford and was in the cohort which included Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson. The surprise expressed by its Nordic accent tells you all about the Oxbridge monoculture of the time. She was, Curtis said, “absolutely remarkable and magical. . . doesn’t seem to have read any books. “She also looked very cute playing Marlene Dietrich in a theatrical production.
Bridget’s key, she explains, lies in her 1978 diary, where the famous daily calorie counts (“Viennetta … Steak …) and serious self-exhortations appear for the first time. Andrew Marr seems to be popping up in everything these days, but at least here it’s relevant, as he was the editor who gave the go-ahead for the original column in The Independent. Fielding didn’t want to write like herself, so Bridget became her mask; Best friends Jude and Shazza, based on Tracey MacLeod and Sharon Maguire, also populated the column, while gay friend Tom (who feels very 90s) was a composite of Richard Coles and Daniel Wood. To everyone’s surprise, millions of women immediately associated themselves with Bridget’s fights and comedic falls.
“A Texan? Do you play Bridget? It seemed overdone to me, ”says Grant, the funniest interviewee. He reveals that Zellweger’s attempts at accenting were initially more Princess Margaret than contemporary Londoner. Watching the film again after 15 years, Fielding was taken aback by his portrayal of the ’90s workplace, all while pinching butt and chatting racy. “You really couldn’t make this movie now,” she admits. MP Jess Phillips, despite being a fan, agrees: “[Bridget]is primarily sexually harassed. . . These days you would be directly in court. Bridget’s widespread identification with a man’s quest has caused much angst in feminist circles, and Germaine Greer reads a passage from the novel aloud with scholarly haughtiness. But then she was asked if she had ever felt like Bridget, and the answer was unexpected.
★★★★ ☆
Sure BBC2 December 22 at 9 p.m.
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