She is still tumbling her way through life and love – and so are we
AH, Valentine’s Day. That magical time of year when couples force-feed each other some kind of molten chocolate dessert and sip on an overpriced Chardonnay that tastes like paint stripper.
Sorry, Valentine’s Day isn’t for me.
But, for those who don’t celebrate, one of the world’s most famous singletons has returned to our screens.
Yesterday (February 13) marked the release of the fourth and final film about Bridget Jones, the character first introduced by writer Helen Fielding in a 1995 column in the Independent.
In Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, our beloved diary-writing disaster is older, wiser and- brace yourself – a widow. But before we spiral into an existential crisis over the passing of time, let’s take a second to reminisce and appreciate why Bridget’s first on-screen appearance to us in 2001 is still relatable to single women in 2025.
Because here’s the thing, Gen Z loves a mess. Not an actual mess (we are chronically online and allergic to hoarding), but an aesthetic one.
The Brat era that, love it or hate it, we all came to know in summer 2024 when Charli XCX stomped into our lives with an attitude and a kitten heel, is just a reconfiguration of the 2000s Bridget and Carrie Bradshaw of Sex and the City fame.
Think a sassy, self-obsessed, 20-something-year-old who smokes and parties hard with an “I literally don’t care” attitude (but definitely does). Sound familiar, millennials?
After the passing of 30 years, blessing us with the introduction of social media, dating apps, vapes and zero percent alcohol, Bridget would hate 2025 – but nonetheless would have no problem blending in.
And that’s why today’s single girls can relate to the Bridget Jones persona, even though we weren’t even born when Fielding’s first column came out – the chaos is still the same.
Messy, imperfect, but relatable
In 1996, Bridget was a ground-breakingly imperfect woman. Amid the lad-mag culture of 90s UK Brit-Pop, “Ladettes” were women who were encouraged to be stylishly boisterous. The kind who wakes up in a bush after a night out but still looks like Kate Moss.
But then came Bridget, a clumsy, stress-eat ice-cream-in-her-pyjamas, crying-over-a-man kind of girl. And suddenly the non-Kate Mosses of the world had found their person.
But, of course, while we love Bridget, some parts of her original story are slightly out-dated now. Getting groped by her boss in a lift (which was a good thing apparently), and having a bottom “The size of Brazil,” fed into toxic cultures of the early noughties, that we all know wouldn’t slide now.
But let’s not pretend we’ve fully escaped these pressures, because in 2025, where Hollywood’s worst kept secret is Ozempic, what once was Weight Watchers is now a wellness trend on TikTok, and imperfections are tweaked by Botox.
And the dating panic? That’s still here too. The modern singleton might not be forced into humiliating dinner parties with smug couples but, instead, they doom-scroll on Tinder, debating whether a guy who “doesn’t take himself too seriously” is emotionally available. (Spoiler alert: he isn’t)
Bridget may not have been ghosted or gaslit, but the universal dread of modern dating and the gag reflex that is Valentine’s Day? She’d get it.
I think what makes Bridget Jones such an enduring character is Helen Fielding’s ability to capture the messiness of a woman’s 20s and 30s.
And for Gen Z, being a Brat has only amplified this imperfect character.
“You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes. Who feels herself but maybe also has a breakdown. A little bit volatile, but it’s brat. You’re brat,” said Charli XCX.
Bridget Jones has grown up – and so have we
It seems that no matter how much time has passed since the first column, the feeling of navigating love, careers, and yourself, remains the same. Whether it’s drunkenly texting an ex, accidentally flashing your big granny pants, or drinking way too much at the work Christmas do, Bridget’s chaotic stumble through adulthood still resonates.
I think that one of the most interesting aspects of Mad About the Boy, is that Bridget is no longer just the relatable singleton in her 30s – she is 51, a mother, and a widow. And just as she has grown, so have the women who originally related to her when they read the first Bridget Jones’ Diary entry in the newspaper.
See, I told you we would come back to a crisis over time passing, but what better day to reflect on this evolution than Valentine’s Day?
While some will be enjoying candlelit dinners and that chocolate cake we talked about earlier, others, whether in their 20s and suffocatingly single, or in their 40s and … still suffocatingly single, might find some comfort in seeing Bridget once again tumble her way through love and life.
She may be older, possibly not wiser, but she’s still figuring it out, and so are we.
Bridget walked so Gen Z Brats could stumble in their kitten heels. And if that’s not a reason to raise a glass (or three) this Valentine’s Day, I don’t know what is.
