I’m quite a fan of Helen Fielding’s beloved thirty-something singleton Bridget Jones. When I was trying to figure out the direction of my first blog, I tried out a bit of Bridget-esque writing after reading the original columns, then the books and seeing the first movie. I absolutely adored “Bridget Jones’s Diary”, and read that book over and over, and even bought the little “handbook” called “Bridget Jones’s Guide To Life” because I couldn’t get enough. I fell madly in love with the movie, particularly because they were able to cast Colin Firth as Mark Darcy, who we all know played Fitzwilliam Darcy in the British mini-series “Pride and Prejudice”, for which “Bridget Jones’s Diary” was loosely based on. Although I liked the book “Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason”, I felt the movie left much to be desired. The first Bridget movie was not exactly like the book, but I still felt that the spirit of Bridget remained intact. Bridget in the movie version of “Edge of Reason” was weaker than I would have liked her to be, and I didn’t care for the direction in which they took the antagonist, Rebecca.
Last year, I’ve been hearing rumours about a new Bridget Jones movie. It would be based on the continuing story of Bridget, Daniel and Mark, taken from the columns that came after the novels where Bridget is now in a bind regarding a baby. On IMDB, it’s tentatively titled “Bridget Jones’s Baby” with a release date of 2013, and some people on the IMDB message boards are up in arms about the direction of the planned story line: Bridget and Mark split up because they can’t have a child, so Bridget turns to Daniel (oh no!). I haven’t heard much else about the new movie, and I’m secretly hoping that they won’t go through with it (I think I can’t take yet another “fight scene” between Daniel and Mark). The good news that I have read is that there will be a new Bridget Jones novel to be released in November of this year, as reported by The New York Times Art Beats blog (post here). The post states from the publisher that new book “represents a totally new phase in Bridget’s life”. I was single when I first read the books and met my husband a year after the second movie, so I’m quite anxious to see if Bridget moves on to being a “smug married couple” with Mark, Daniel or someone new or if she is destined to be a singleton for life.
(The photo is my personal collection of Bridget Jones’ books and movies)
