It is 29 years for the reason that e-book Bridget Jones’s Diary was revealed, however the column itself, which ran within the Unbiased (with out a byline for Helen Fielding, though everybody knew it was her) and the Day by day Telegraph, is 30 years outdated this yr. That’s two years youthful than our heroine when she first seems, a patchwork wreck of singleton-anxiety, skilled catastrophe, chardonnay, Silk Reduce and weighing scales. And possibly being sufficiently old to recollect with readability something from 30 years in the past predisposes you to think about it affectionately. However, really, no: some issues had been higher for girls, higher for younger individuals, higher for everybody, in 1995. And a few issues had been worse. To coincide with the fourth movie, out on Valentine’s Day, right here’s the audit.
The startling factor concerning the comedian creation was how fully she lacked any type of self-discipline – all the time ingesting greater than she meant to, all the time weighing greater than she supposed, all the time decided to not smoke but one way or the other additionally smoking. On the time, this had lengthy been a staple for male self-fashioning: lad-mag tradition was centered (satirically) on birds, however fuelled by benders. When you wakened someplace and couldn’t bear in mind how you bought there, that was social nirvana, the final word night time out. Ladette tradition was in some ways constructed as a mirror to that, although a distorted one, within the sense that you just needed to be off your head however you couldn’t look sloppy or ill-kempt. You had been meant to drink like Johnny Vegas however appear like Kate Moss.
A part of the comedy and originality of Bridget Jones was her trustworthy break with that impossibilism. She was not carefree; she anxious about the whole lot, on a regular basis. Though she performed exhausting, she didn’t work exhausting. She spoke the language of feminine emancipation, nevertheless it wasn’t her mom tongue: she fretted consistently about males, within the romantic sense (why wouldn’t they name her?) and the cultural (what’s a physique picture drawback, if not the tough criticism of the patriarchy, turned in on oneself?).
It wasn’t a lot radical as refreshing, in the best way truthfulness all the time is. However, wanting again, Bridget Jones was an optimistic and nearly comforting creation, in a manner that subsequent, related characters – Fleabag, Charli xcx’s Brat – weren’t. And that was financial: you had been all the time fairly assured that Bridget was going to land on her toes, not simply romantically, but in addition professionally. If she tousled at work, they’d both forgive her or somebody would give her a brand new job. She might all the time make hire. This was barely earlier than the period of Cool Britannia and Issues Can Solely Get Higher because the anthem of politics, however there was already that confidence that the whole lot was going to be OK. (In hindsight, it was constructed on debt and end-of-history fantasies.)
After I have a look at the clear dwelling and self-care for which Gen Z is thought, and evaluate that with the hedonism and recklessness of Bridget, I can’t assist however suppose it’s not that they’re extra threat averse; it’s simply that the dangers are better. In the event that they fall off the carousel, professionally, there’s an opportunity they won’t get again on. Plus, even on the carousel, issues are fairly powerful.
The physique picture stuff, although, sheesh – Bridget Jones, within the column and the e-book, gave herself hell. That is your wild and treasured life, you need to yell at her, and also you’re losing it on the distinction between 9 st 10 and 9 st 12. However when Renée Zellweger was forged to play her within the movie (the primary one was launched in 2001), the commentariat uproar validated each second of hysteria Bridget had ever had: the scrutiny of Zellweger’s physique was exceptional. Might she ever be tubby sufficient to play not simply Bridget Jones, however any British girl in any respect? What on earth would she need to eat, to embody this lovable doughball? Would she ever get her determine again? Was the value too excessive? On this, society has modified for the higher. Few actors in 2025 would take this sort of public policing.
These aren’t affordable trade-offs, are they? You might be no matter form you want, however you additionally need to deal with your physique like a temple, and get used to being precarious. On steadiness – in shock information from a 51-year-old – 30 years in the past, issues had been higher.
Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist
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