The author of acclaimed chick lit novel-turned film franchise Bridget Jones author has hit back at critics who say the character’s obsession with her weight is out-of-date, arguing that young women of today still battle with body shaming and worry about their bodies.
Novelist Helen Fielding, 66, from London, referred to her 18-year-old daughter Romy, whom she shares with her late husband Kevin Curran who passed away in 2016 after a long illness, saying she sees girls are still ‘obsessed with how they look’.
Throughout the films, and Fielding’s books on which the films were based, there is a strong focus on Bridget’s weight.
The character of Bridget Jones lives in a permanent struggle with her weight and fears she will ‘die fat and alone’ – but as more modern audiences see the focus on her body as dated, it has been claimed producers have decided Bridget’s obsession with weight won’t feature in the newest film.
As Mad About The Boy, the fourth instalment, is in production and fans are hyped up for Bridget’s return, the age-old debate over whether Mark Darcy is based on prime minister Keir Starmer has also reared its head again – however Fielding teased fans with a refusal to comment on the speculation
Bridget Jones author hit back at critics who say the character’s obsession with her weight is out-of-date as she argued ‘body shaming is still bad’
Asked if she thinks Bridget’s obsession with her weight dates her, Helen told The Sunday Times: ‘No, because I live with a teenage girl, and I know that body shaming is still bad, plus the girls have this extra layer about feeling guilty about being obsessed with how they look.’
In the first film Bridget was routinely fat-shamed and clearly took it to heart, constantly tracking her weight in her diary. In the second installment, we saw even more of Bridget’s preoccupation with her weight, which was linked explicitly to her pursuit of a partner.
After hearing love interest Mark Darcy, played by Colin Firth, insulting her to his mother in the second movie, she says of herself: ‘And that was it. Right there. Right there that was the moment.
‘I suddenly realised that unless something changed soon, I was going to live a life where my major relationship was with a bottle of wine and I’d finally die fat and alone and be found three weeks later eaten by Alsatians or I was about to turn into Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction.’
However Fielding revealed that the character was always supposed to be humorously self-deprecating and relatable.
She added: ‘It’s a mark of strength to laugh at your imperfections, not weakness, and laughter is quite an intelligent way to process the world.’
The author added that whenever she sees the discussion of morality crop up about her creation she takes it as ‘a compliment’.
In the second installment, we saw even more of Bridget’s preoccupation with her weight, which was linked explicitly to her pursuit of a partner Mark Darcy
Fielding kept tight lipped on the inspiration behind the hotshot human rights lawyer Mark Darcy, who was rumoured to be modelled on Keir Starmer (Starmer pictured in 2009)
Sir Keir Starmer, 61, was a human rights lawyer working on a series of high profile cases in the 90s at the time of Helen Fielding’s columns in The Independent, which spawned the Bridget Jones’s Diary series
Helen Fielding (left) and Renee Zellweger attend the World Premiere of Bridget Jones’s Baby at Odeon Leicester Square
Elsewhere Fielding kept tight lipped on the inspiration behind the hotshot human rights lawyer Mark Darcy, who was rumoured to be modelled on Keir Starmer.
She said: ‘I can neither confirm nor deny that, but there was a profile of Starmer in The Sunday Times Magazine recently, and there was a photo of him in his wig and he actually did look quite like Mark Darcy.’
Staying guarded, Fielding joked that she found when she used real people in her books the key was to make them ‘really attractive’ so they would be fine with it.
Rumours Colin Firth’s brooding character was based on the Labour leader have refused to go away since emerging in 2014, with the new PM himself saying he doesn’t know if they are true or not.
The writer may have met the politician when she lived in Leeds, while Keir read law at the city’s university, or as his career blossomed while she was a journalist.
While Sir Keir previously suggested he was flattered by the claims, he insisted no one will ever know the truth – except for the writer herself.
Speaking to ITV News, he said: ‘Everybody asks me this question when they should be asking her the question because she knows the answer and I don’t.
Rom com heroine Bridget Jones is set to return to screens next year, with the fourth movie currently in pre-production; it’s hoped the scrutiny over Renee Zellweger’s weight, which plagued the first two films in 2001 and 2004, will no longer be an issue
At the start of the film, Bridget Jones’ Diary, viewers are told she weighs 136 pounds, just over 61 kg, and wears a size 12 dress (Pictured: Zellweger in Bridget Jones’ Diary in 2001)
The actress admitted to struggling to gain the weight for the role and was reported to be on a 4,000-calorie-per-day diet to reach the target quickly (Pictured: Zellweger in Bridget Jones’ Diary in 2001)
‘It’s a rumour that’s been doing the rounds for some years but I honestly don’t know the answer to it.’
When quizzed whether he’d be flattered if it was true, Sir Keir replied: ‘Of course I would, but I honestly don’t know the answer.’
It has also been rumoured that Colin Firth styled his performance on the father of two, with neither the actor, Fielding or Sir Keir publicly denying the claim.
The pairs’ career paths even show similarities, as they both rose to prominence taking on pro-bono cases and as defence lawyers.
The pair also both went to Oxford University, even though they were in different years.
Elsewhere in the interview Fielding revealed she is working on another novel but it’s not another Bridget Jones, however she did admit it could turn into one.
The Edge of Reason we saw more of the same with Bridget’s preoccupation with her weight, which was linked explicitly to her pursuit of a partner
The new film comes eight years after the last instalment, Bridget Jones’s Baby and is to be based on Ms Fielding’s 2013 novel, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy
The latest film Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is currently being filmed near Fielding’s home and she revealed she has dropped onto set a few times.
She revealed she is ‘fond’ of Renée Zellweger, who plays Bridget, saying it was lovely to see all the cast again, however she is not involved in the production.
The new film comes eight years after the last instalment, Bridget Jones’s Baby and is to be based on Fielding’s 2013 novel, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, which saw her raising young children as a single mother while navigating social media and dating apps.
Emma Thompson- who played Doctor Rawlings in 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby is also back, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and White Lotus and One Day star Leo Woodall also set to star, per THR.
To Leslie director Michael Morris will helm the film and it is not known if Mark Darcy actor Colin Firth will appear in any capacity – his character was revealed to have been killed off in the novel.