However even worse: Bridget Jones was by no means ground-breaking and good like Ms Bradshaw. She was regressive, problematic and symptomatic of a poisonous, pre-Me Too time – and the damaging and devastating food plan tradition of the noughties.

Because the good Kevin Maher of The Occasions wrote in the present day of the unique 2001 movie’s plot: “Even nonetheless, in 2001, the sexual politics within the film had been past retrograde and jarred wildly with the vodka-and-Chaka-Khan fuelled I’m Each Girl ethos that the film presupposed to champion. Her boss Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), after a few flirtatious work emails, shares an elevator experience with worker Jones (Zellweger) and covertly sexually assaults her from behind. And, as a result of she’s a man-craving semi-alcoholic nitwit who’s horrible at her job, her eyes open extensive and he or she half smiles in triumph.”

Sure, in the event you recall, being groped by your boss within the raise was deemed by Bridget Jones screenwriters Helen Fielding, Richard Curtis and Andrew Davies as romantic and an aspiration of all early noughties profession women, who, didn’t in precise reality give two shits about their jobs. No, no, all they cared about was bagging their man. By no means thoughts that Daniel Cleaver was clearly a incorrect’un, that was okay! As a result of finally our Bridge can be saved from a lifetime of single distress and disgrace by the charming Mr Mark Darcy (Colin Firth).

Sure, the thundering message all through all Bridget Jones incarnations was: it’s essential to get your man, it doesn’t matter what the fee – as a result of being single is to reside life depressing, shamed and finally die alone half-eaten by Alsatians (by no means did I perceive the Alsatians factor). Being single was even worse than spending time in a Thai jail, in line with the second movie, Bridget Jones: The Fringe of Purpose. After which, lest we overlook, the opposite thundering factor of all of this was in fact, Bridget’s thunderous thighs. And I say that deliberately, for that’s how they had been described. She additionally described herself as ‘having a backside the scale of Brazil’.

In one of many precise film posters, the next is listed above an image of Renée posing as Bridget: “Go to the health club 3 times per week. Don’t flirt with boss. Cut back thighs. Study to like thighs. Neglect about thighs. Cease making lists.”

Trying again now, it’s astonishing and harmful that Bridget – arguably not more than a dimension 10/12 – was brazenly described as fats, and that she spent her life a slave to calorie counting (each diary entry famous her calorie consumption of the day). Based on the film, her 9st 7 weight was not acceptable. At one level, Bridget writes in her diary: “9st 4 (terrifying slide into weight problems – why? Why?)”. Her all-consuming weight reduction journey to succeed in her “excellent weight” of 8st 7 was matched solely by her all-consuming want to not be single. Her enemies had been the ‘supermodel’ skinny ladies who she additionally aspired to appear to be.