Bridget Jones isn’t what she used to be. The latest film, Mad About the Boy, features Bridget as a grieving widow with kids. It’s a sad departure from the Bridget of the 1990s, with her festive jumper, short skirts and saucy moments with Daniel Cleaver.
I was 14 and Bridget Jones hit every note I wanted
Mad About the Boy, which came out on Thursday, has already been raved about, slathered over and lauded. It’s certain to make a fortune at the box office. But I’ve always found the films’ success rather puzzling. Bridget will always be text first and foremost – not film – to original true believers who, like me, devoured Helen Fielding’s first instalment on publication in 1996. I was 14 and it hit absolutely every note I wanted: romance, sex, unrequited love, an unbelievable ability to muddle through despite being incompetent, friends, career and the perennial favourite of women young and old: failed diets.
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