Bridget Jones - Jezebel

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Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works

How Bridget Jones Is Destroying British Families
The Single Shall Inherit The Earth
In Vino Veritas
Do Women Want To Be Thin In Order To "Dominate Other, Fatter Women"?
Born-again Bridget.
Oh K.

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Zombie Ms. Skittles
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
I don't care what anyone thinks of me, I will always love the first Bridget Jones' Diary if for nothing else than the scene where Colin Firth and Hugh Grant get into an all out street brawl, crash through a window of a Greek restaurant, and then land in the street moaning and groaning. And also, because when I'm feeling blue I just imagine Mark Darcy saying, "I like you...just as you are."

That puts a big ol' smile on my face. A big ol' horny smile...
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whynotshesaid
07/15/09

@Zombie Ms. Skittles: That fight is my most favorite movie scene ever.
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hippichx sez PEACE PLEASE
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
can i just say that this is in NO WAY like marissa tomei in my cousin vinny? this is a timid and submissive woman, who will likely struggle with the idea of what she wants and how the world will view her for it, so is it worth getting what she wants? she just wants to be loved, after all....on the flipside, i have always loved marissa tomei for her role in my cousin vinny. she had her opinions, she was intelligent, she would fight for what she wanted, and she wanted babies, damn it! just because she was a strong woman, didn't mean she couldn't want babies. she didn't need a husband to take care of her, she needed a father for her children. THAT is a portrayal of a woman that i can get behind. (note, the commenter doesn't want babies, but doesn't think it is anti-feminist for others to...)

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LadyFabulous
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works

I didn't particularly like the book or the movies. I only saw them because of Colin Firth and Hugh Grant.
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BabyJane
07/15/09

@LadyFabulous: That's as good a reason as any!
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kaiwhakamarie
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
I didn't even realize there was a second book! To be such a voracious reader and such a Bridget fan, I can't believe myself. Is it worth reading? I loved the first book very much! I also love the first movie; it's one of my favorite films. I have parts memorized. It's my go-to feel-better movie.

The second film is a flaming pile of crap, but I own it anyway, simply because it's a sequel to the first one, which I adore, and because it has Colin Firth, who will be my boyfriend forever simply because he was in Pride and Prejudice. SWOON. That said, it was completely unbelievable (seriously, we're supposed to believe that Bridget's parents wouldn't write her back while she's in a Thai prison becuase they're busy planning to renew their vows? And that Mark wouldn't tell Bridget that his colleague/friend had a crush on her, and instead just let her keep starting fights about him having an affair?).

As much as I love Bridge Jones, I think a third movie sounds like disaster. First of all, there is no book to base it on, so it will be an original (and likely very dumb) screenplay. The second movie was lame, unfunny and they should've kept the original director. The third one is bound to be even worse. And who is to say that Renee, Colin and (inevitably) Hugh will even be willing to sign on and do a third?
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BlackFrancine
07/15/09

@kaiwhakamarie: I love the second book--as much if not more than the first. I might be in the minority on that--but I'd definitely say it's worth reading. It has almost nothing to do with the second movie, and some of the most illogical things about the second movie that you pointed out are explained (or nonexistent) in the book. Like you said, the second movie was a flaming pile of poo.
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Edited by BlackFrancine at 07/15/09 12:34 PM BlackFrancine was starred BlackFrancine was unstarred

i'vemadeahugemistake
07/15/09

@kaiwhakamarie: I really liked the second book but hated the second movie. So read away!

And the first movie is also my go-to feel better movie! When I'm feeling particularly down, I bust out the DVD and swoon over Colin Firth.
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Talaya
07/15/09

@kaiwhakamarie: I have to say I love the second book. There is a part at the end that makes me laugh so hard that I cry. So it's worth it, if just for that!
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LooseBaggyMonster
07/15/09

@kaiwhakamarie: Also, as the first book loosely follows the plot structure of "Pride and Prejudice," the second Bridge Jones book echoes Austen's "Persuasion."
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femaledwightschrute
07/15/09

@kaiwhakamarie: I really loved the first book, however cheesy and cliched it seems now. It was very new then! It was the pioneer of a trend that now would not die, hehe. It was also released during a time when klutzy was cool (see also: Ally McBeal). That book has a special place in my heart, my growing up years, and in my pack of books for the desert island.
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Eric Northman is mine
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
As someone who hasn’t read the book the movie was based on, I wonder if the author’s description of Bridget was translated onscreen. I mean is she fat or is she someone who thinks she’s fat? In the movie Bridget portrayed by Renee kept carrying on about how fat she was and I was kept thinking really? This is fat? She looks great. After the third joke or so about their thighs/weight I was like STFU! The need to have female protagonists constantly obssess about their weight is starting to become a tired cliche.
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kookoocachaw
07/15/09

@Eric Northman is mine: Honestly, she's someone who thinks she's fat. In the first book especially, she keeps track of her weight in (almost) every entry of her diary and it flucuates between 123-133ish. I'm willing to bet the character is of average height so the implication that this is overweight is supremely annoying, not to mention the media frenzy about Renee Zellweger gaining "so much" weight to play Bridget.
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hippichx sez PEACE PLEASE
07/15/09

@Eric Northman is mine: i actually don't think they are trying to say she is REALLY fat... i think they were attempting to portray how normal, good looking women believe they are fat. obsess over it. etc. although, i certainly don't think they did a good job of it, and it can come off as annoying as real life women who obsess over their weight when they are perfectly healthy and look great.
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fulanita
07/15/09

@Eric Northman is mine: In the book she is portrayed as struggling with her weight, but in more of "damn-those-last-10-pounds" kind of way. Not actually "fat", maybe just smushy.
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Breamworthy
07/15/09

@Eric Northman is mine: In the book, she opens each diary entry with her weight, and I think she hovers around 135-140 lbs. So, not fat.
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i'vemadeahugemistake
07/15/09

@Eric Northman is mine: I hated that dig by the American Stick Insect With No Soul: "I thought you said she was thin." Was that really necessary? I think this was the only comment made by someone else about her weight - everything else was her obsessing in her diary - leading me to believe that she was supposed to actually be overweight rather just someone who THINKS they're overweight. At any rate, this one comment infuriates me every time I watch the movie.
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Zombie Ms. Skittles
07/15/09

@i'vemadeahugemistake: I think the point of that dig was less so we'd think "haha she's fat" and more "hissss!! Die you evil, evil woman!"
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shananigans aka angerball
07/15/09

@i'vemadeahugemistake: My friend said a lot of the women in London are very thin and although she's bigger than me basically said I'd feel ridiculously fat and be looked at such over there. I kind of wanted to claw her eyes out since she was talking about moving there. But whatevs.

Ever since I heard that the English think the delightful actress from Love Actually is fat, I've thought they must be pretty screwed up about weight.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
07/16/09

@shananigans aka cookie pants!: Ahem. This is your *friend*, you say?
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hellosunshine
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
You guys, I can't lie, I'm so freaking excited. I love the books, love the movies, REALLY love Colin Firth, love the fact that RZ does a passable British accent considering her real accent reaches McConaughey levels of Texanness in some interviews.

HATERS TO THE LEFT.
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hellosunshine
07/15/09

@hellosunshine: (Actually, okay, I'm not really a fan of the second movie, but I still have to watch it every time I watch the first. It's a problem.)
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sassy
07/15/09

@hellosunshine: The song and dance number in the prison makes the second movie worth watching, even though it is so ridiculously terrible.
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pinkhungryhippo
07/15/09

@sassy: Also, the Hugh Grant and Colin Firth fight scene set to "I belive in a thing called love" is pretty amazing. I only watch the fight scene and the prison sing-a-long....
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brendastarlet is on it
07/15/09

@hellosunshine: the second movie is good rainy Sunday afternoon when you've already seen the E! THS episode.

I will go see the third, only because I like all three main characters and Bridget's crazy friends.
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ThereMustBeAPony
07/15/09

@hellosunshine: I'm fairly sure Colin Firth has vowed never to do another BJ movie. Not sure about Hugh Grant but I think he's over it too.

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Miss. Money-Sterling
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
As a lady with some health issues that pretty much govern my weight gain and loss, and make pregnancy at any age extremely unlikely, I find all of these dieting/bio-clock stories fascinating. Like anthropology, but with Colin Firth. Bring it on.
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queenieinmanhattan
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
Bridget Jones was a kind of awesome book. I pull it out every couple of years and re-read it to remind myself of this fact. The movies have completely ruined the glory that was that first, uproarious novel. For shame.
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laureltreedaphne
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
The thing is...I DO worry about my biological clock. And so do a lot of other women, I would bet. Not all women, but a lot of women. I get that Bridget Jones promotes a lot of very tired cliches, but I also don't think it's horrible that we have movies in which women worry about their biological clocks. It's an actual, real thing, that millions of women deal with every day.

And honestly, for women in their 40s trying to have a baby, it can be very painful. So making a comedy about it, with a character they can relate to, that will perhaps help them laugh about what they're facing? I don't think it's the worst thing in the world.
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LaComtesse
07/15/09

@laureltreedaphne: As I said below, I don't have a problem with movies addressing a very real concern many women have: the desire to have babies before it becomes difficult or impossible to do so. I have a problem with those being the ONLY concern of female protagonists on screen.
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dj_chick
07/15/09

@LaComtesse: I'm sure we aren't meant to think that those are her only concerns, but there's a limit to what can be fit into a 90 or 120 minute movie. There has to be a main focus, and this time around, it just happens to be a (very natural) desire to have kids.
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LaComtesse
07/15/09

@dj_chick: It's the ubiquity of this plot point that irks me, though, not the plot point itself. "40 something" women can lead very rich, interesting, compelling, funny lives. That we're only seeing one or two aspects of this life in any given film is a disservice. As long as we keep going to see movies like this, filmmakers will keep making them, perpetuating the idea that all women a) want babies b) SHOULD want babies c) better have babies before they hit 35.
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Yahtzii
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
See, by the fourth movie they'll forgo the script entirely and just string together all the romantic comedy cliches. Bridget and Darcy split up after she sees him talking to a strange woman (Kate Hudson) in a bar, and rather than ask him about it, she goes to her best friend, Matthew McConaunaghey. Together they make a bet that she can win him back within 10 days, or else he has to make her the prom queen. Little does she know, Matthew has already fallen for his wedding planner and proposes to her on the day of the wedding by holding up a boom box outside the church window. Wait, where were we? Oh, Bridget, yeah.

She and Darcy get back together after she finds out that the strange girl was actually going to perform a singing telegram as part of a Very Special Anniversary present.

Oh, she had a baby? Well, let's just say the baby can talk and we'll get John Travolta to do the voice.

Done. PAYCHECK, PLZ?
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Edited by Yahtzii at 07/15/09 11:26 AM Yahtzii was starred Yahtzii was unstarred

BabyJane
07/15/09

@Yahtzii: I think that you need to pack your bags and head to Hollywood ASAP!
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Yahtzii
07/15/09

@BabyJane: How do you know I'm not already part of a major movie studio? Ever heard of a little thing called Over Her Dead Body or From Justin to Kelly ?
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sassy
07/15/09

@Yahtzii: I would see this at a midnight showing, possibly in costume as John Travolta.
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BabyJane
07/15/09

@Yahtzii: Ha! Well if that's true, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to pack your bags and leave Hollywood.
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Edited by BabyJane at 07/15/09 12:15 PM BabyJane was starred BabyJane was unstarred

Fridge Hussy : Is finally heading back to uni!
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
Really? I mean, REALLY? the second movie was a remake, not a sequel. The 2nd book seemed to lack so much of the charm of the first - she thanked Working Title in the foreword, and that says a lot, I think.
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Edited by Fridge Hussy : Is finally heading back to uni! at 07/15/09 11:19 AM

BlondeGoddess
07/15/09

@Fridge Hussy : Is finally heading back to uni!: Agreed, I didn't like the second novel either, it missed the charm and cheek of the first one.
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VPea
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
I have no beef with Zellweger but would it have just made way too much sense to have cast a woman of average (Or whatever the book Bridget;s size is) proportions to play Bridget to begin with?

Also everyone needs to pay the bills but these chicks that keep acting in these tired old female cliche chick flicks should be ashamed of themselves.
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Edited by VPea at 07/15/09 11:19 AM VPea was starred VPea was unstarred

brendastarlet is on it
07/15/09

@VPea: name a bankable woman of average size in Hollywood. Besides Meryl Streep.
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Vivi21
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
They should have left it at the first movie. It was hilarious and Bridget was extremely endearing and relatable. I've watched that movie several times and it never fails to make me laugh. The second was "meh" and this third one? Let's say I won't go to see it.
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adoranora
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
Oh lighten up Dodai. I thought Bridget Jones was meant to be funny. And some women DO rush to have children at 40 because of their "biological clock". And its GOOD that Zellweger is packing on the pounds, if anything, it shows that she is not considered a normal enough weight to play Bridget, a pretty "normal" sized girl...
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EkaterinaBallerina
07/15/09

@adoranora: I never read the books, but saw both films, and there was a lot of emphasis on Bridget's size and weight. I always thought she was meant to be slightly frumpy and overweight. So really, it's just another Hollywood actress piling on the pounds to play and fat single girl.
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VPea
07/15/09

@adoranora: I dont think she should lighten up. This shit is tired. But women keep watching this crap so I guess it isnt going anywhere soon.
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Dodai
07/15/09

@VPea: Thanks! Agreed.
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PilgrimSoul
07/15/09

@adoranora: Free advice: even if your point is valid, people get a leetle bit peeved when you internet-anonymously tell them to lighten-up.

It's the fetishizing of Zellweger packing on the pounds (and then melting them off! unlike mere mortals! omg!) that Dodai's objecting to. So Dodai has a point.
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hortense
07/15/09

@adoranora:But that's the problem. They should just hire an actress who is "normal" sized then, instead of making a big deal out of an actress who has to gain weight for a role. It's not like there aren't excellent actresses out there who don't fit the Hollywood mold that couldn't play this part just as well.
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ArtfulSlinger
07/15/09

@adoranora: PS Fatten up in Renee's terms was to a crazy 135 POUNDS!!!!!!! That was fattening up.
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ArtfulSlinger
07/15/09

@PilgrimSoul: All 20 lbs of it. I hated that during every interview she was like "I got to eat donuts". And Ive seen Renee in real life and there is nothing normal sized about her.
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DinaRonson : Elizabeth Cady Stanton
07/15/09

In reply to Third Cliché-Filled Bridget Jones Flick In The Works
Lose.

This is wrong.

Make it stop.

I snarked about this the other day, and now wish I hadn't.

http://jezebel.com/5310051/she-cant-think-of-anything-more-exhilara...#c14110330

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