Bridget Jones: the edge of neurosis

By Renuka Jeyapalan, Varsity Arts & Culture

"Hurrah! The wilderness years are over. For four weeks and five days now have been in functional relationship with adult male thereby proving am not love pariah as previously feared." 

And so starts Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the fabulous and highly anticipated sequel to the international bestseller Bridget Jones's Diary. 

All you die-hard Bridget fans can relax. Bridget is as funny and charming as ever. She's still that neurotic thirtysomething single gal who can't help but obsess about her weight and exist for the telephone. And for those of you who haven't heard of Bridget Jones, what rock have you been living under? 

In 1996, British writer Helen Fielding tapped into the working girl's zeitgeist, converting her weekly column in The Independent about a calorie-counting, man-seeking Londoner into a modern day Jane Austen novel, written in easy breezy diary prose. It made female Singletons of the Western world sit up and say "Hey! This is me!" and everyone else to comment "This is not me but it's bloody hilarious." 

The first book ended its Pride & Prejudice–like plot with Bridget "hiccuping off into the sunset" with the hunky Mark Darcy. Continuing from where Diary left off, Edge of Reason goes something like this: Girl has boy (Hurrah!). Girl loses boy to annoyingly beautiful, impossibly thin Other Woman (Gaaah!). Girl goes through series of wacky experiences, such as incarceration in Thailand and amusing interview with Colin Firth ("You know in the BBC Pride & Prejudice?"). Girl gains inner poise and becomes woman of substance. Girl gets boy back and lives happily but neurotically ever after (Hurrah!). 

Fielding was smart not to mess with a good thing. Bridget remains just as imperfect and her reactions are just as real: "A swimsuit! Doom. Dooooooooom," or on the realization that she may not know the exact geographic location of Germany, "Honestly. In the modern age it is not necessary to know where countries actually are since all that is required is to purchase a plane ticket to one." 

The author's cast of colourful characters return too. Magda and Jeremy, the Smug Marrieds, are there, as is Bridget's kooky mother, who can't leave a room without saying "Byeee!" And where would our heroine be without her fellow Chardonnay-drinking, Silk Cut-smoking best friends Jude and Shazzer? If they're not giving Bridget Girl Power advice, they're feeding her recycled relationship guidance à la Hollywood. "There is nothing a man finds more attractive than a woman who is in love with him," cautions Jude. "Says who?" asks Shaz. To which Jude responds sheepishly, " The baroness in The Sound of Music." 

Some have accused Bridget of being one of those pop culture creations contributing to the death of feminism, along with Ally McBeal and hiphop music videos. Camille Paglia even called Bridget "a dithery twit." What do I have to say about that remark? Right on, sistah! Of course Bridget is a twit. That's why she's so damn lovable too. How can you not identify with someone who feels that everyone else has got life right except for her? We all feel that insecurity at some point (don't we?). 

Okay, so Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is no Salman Rushdie novel (although he thinks she's brilliant too). Instead, it's a guilty pleasure with a laugh on every page and an unforgettable darling of a heroine. So spread the word: Bridget is back. Hurrah!