‘Sexism was v.v. bad in film versions of Bridget Jones’
BRIDGET Jones author Helen Fielding says she was shocked to see the sexism depicted when she rewatched the movie version made in 2001.
Fielding, 62, co-wrote screenplays for the film and two sequels as well as Bridget Jones’s Diary novels, published in 1996 and 1999.
But she tells Radio Four’s Desert Island Discs today: “I took my kids to see a screening of the movie... and I was staggered. You couldn’t write that now. The level of sexism that Bridget was dealing with, the hand on the bum in so many of the scenes. Richard Finch (Bridget’s boss)... ‘Let’s have a shot of the boobs’.”
“It was quite shocking for me to see how things have changed.”
She also refuted rumours that Bridget’s love interest Mark Darcy was based on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – like
Darcy, a reserved lawyer.