History YMMV / BridgetJones

* MainstreamObscurity: [[http://barbaraspeed.com/2013/12/29/laughing-at-bridget-jones-and-why-you-might-be-laughing-at-yourself/comment-page-1/#comment-35 According to the author of this article]], the perception of Bridget as an overweight and {{w|angst}}hiny loser is incorrect since she starts out working in the competitive field of book publicity, has an attractive and interesting crew, and weighs under the average weight for British women (11 stone (154 lbs) to Bridget's fluctuating 8 stone 9 to- 9 stone 8 (125-138 lbs)) [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre is really harder on herself than warranted and is loved]] by friends and family, for good reason.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The series in its own way drops several.
** The first novel/film: "You have to believe in yourself and not try to focus on being some paragon of perfection, concentrate on being human" along with "You have to know know what you want and not enter a relationship for the sake of being in a relationship." Props also given out that even if you don't match the "ideal" body and aren't posh, you can still find happiness.
** The second novel/film: "It's imperative that you be yourself and let the people you love know how much you love them" and PoorCommunicationKills.
** The third novel: "Just because you reached a certain age/are widowed/have kids doesn't mean that life stops, you have to still live for yourself and step outside your comfort zone."

** Bridget's fears of dying alone as a spinster are this after the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 where the UK is one of the hardest hit countries and where victims of the virus are reported to have died alone away from friends and family (and even it was inadvisable for people to hold gatherings, meaning many people needed to use social media to mourn together).

** The third book revolves around [[spoiler:Bridget raising two children after her husband Mark's death.]] In 2016, [[Series/MarriedWithChildren Kevin]] [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Curran]], father of Helen Fielding's two children and her ex-partner died.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Mark Darcy can come off as this when it comes to his relationships with women imploding, nevermind that much of it is self-inflicted due to his StiffUpperLip style not permitting him to be vulnerable with Bridget, during his and Bridget's engagement he would leave her alone due to his workaholic tendencies and even brought his work colleagues to Bridget's flat with no notice, he abandoned his fiancée Natasha at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, instead of putting the brakes on his relationship with Natasha and telling her he isn't interested he keeps seeing her, and after his relationship with Bridget ended he marries another woman while pining away for his previous fiancee. Given these traits, it's no wonder his first marriage ended the way it did.

* HollywoodPudgy: Even when playing "pudgy" Bridget, Zellweger never really looks as plump as the book character would lead you to believe she is. The third film avoids this entirely by not having Zellweger gain weight, [[HandWave handwaved]] as her finally reaching her dream weight. (Notably, when she got down to her ideal weight in the books, her friends commented that she looked ill and unhealthy)

* HollywoodPudgy: Even when playing "pudgy" Bridget, Zellwegger never really looks as plump as the book character would lead you to believe she is. The third film avoids this entirely by not having Zellwegger gain weight, [[HandWave handwaved]] as her finally reaching her dream weight. (Notably, when she got down to her ideal weight in the books, her friends commented that she looked ill and unhealthy)

* HollywoodHomely: There have been some film reviews regarding Creator/ReneeZellweger's weight gain for the role, assuming that Bridget was meant to be less attractive rather than just a regular person, there was a [[http://www.vulture.com/2015/01/history-of-actors-going-ugly-for-the-role.html particularly egregious article mentioning her and a few questionable examples of stars "getting hideous to play regular people"]] and one ''People'' magazine article about the third book referred to her as "frumpy", of course most viewers and readers would disagree with such an assessment (by Hollywood and Vogue types) that a fuller Renee would have trouble finding someone that likes her. As most British people would call this "total bollocks", it classes as an example of ValuesDissonance.[[note]]a problem for a British-set film dealing with a very British source novel, trying to be true to the source and setting but aware it needs to sell in the USA[[/note]] A meta example being that someone said that Creator/RachelWeisz is too beautiful for the role.

* SheReallyCanAct: Renee Zellweger's accent is pretty much universally-praised, to the point people were shocked that she isn't actually British.

* {{Narm}}: To some, the third film's plot with Bridget finally becoming pregnant can come off as this when Renee Zellweger is 47 years old in it, making her look a tad too old for pregnancy, though Zellweger still played the role so familiarly and endearingly that most viewers and critics could overlook it. She can also pass off as a woman in her earlier forties (as Bridget is in the film), though the film itself doesn't shy away from constantly poking fun at Bridget's age in relation to her pregnancy.

* FansPreferTheNewHer: Bridget gets humiliated when she turns up to the party dressed as a PlayboyBunny. But it's still Renee Zellweger in a sexy costume with Website/YouTube comments gushing over her added curves being accentuated by the suit.
** On that note, many people have talked about how how lovely Renee looked with the extra weight giving her a larger bustline, hips, and more curves and lamented HollywoodThin standard for having her drop the weight so quickly.

* HarsherInHindsight: In the beginning of the novel, Pam mentions to Bridget about a family friend's daughter Julie having a "super dooper job" at the large [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen Arthur Anderson firm]]; a few years later, it was found guilty of criminal practices involving the auditing of Enron.

* FansPreferTheNewHer: Bridget gets humiliated when she turns up to the party dressed as a PlayboyBunny. But it's still Renee Zellweger in a sexy costume with YouTube comments gushing over her added curves being accentuated by the suit.

* FansPreferTheNewHer: Bridget gets humiliated when she turns up to the party dressed as a PlayboyBunny. But it's still Renee Zellweger in a sexy costume.

* HollywoodHomely: There have been some film reviews regarding Creator/ReneeZellweger's weight gain for the role, assuming that Bridget was meant to be less attractive rather than just a regular person, there was a [[http://www.vulture.com/2015/01/history-of-actors-going-ugly-for-the-role.html particularly egregious article mentioning her and a few questionable examples of stars "getting hideous to play regular people"]] and one ''People'' magazine article about the third book referred to her as "frumpy", of course most viewers and readers would disagree with such an assessment (by Hollywood and Vogue types) that a fuller Renee would have trouble finding someone that likes her. A meta example being that someone said that Creator/RachelWeisz is too beautiful for the role.

* UnknownRival: Bridget and Natasha. Bridget (Lizzy Bennett style) didn't care much for Mark and like [[PrideAndPrejudice Caroline]], Natasha would snub and insult Bridget just to show her up in front of Mark [[note]] who was obviously falling for Bridget by then, Fitzwilliam Darcy style[[/note]]. [[DoubleSubvertedTrope Double-Subverted]] with Bridget and Mark ultimately getting together.

** In the novels, Bridget deals with a woman named [[AlphaBitch Rebecca]] who goes out of her way to poke at Bridget's insecurities about her appearance and possesses coveted shiny hair, and Rebecca would later try and nearly succeed at seducing Mark Darcy away from Bridget. Flash-forward 20 years later and we have Music/{{Beyonce}} making [[Music/{{Lemonade}} a record about her husband's infidelities]] with a "Becky with the good hair".

** The third book revolves around [[spoiler: Bridget raising two children after her husband Mark's death.]] In 2016, [[MarriedWithChildren Kevin]] [[TheSimpsons Curran]], father of Helen Fielding's two children and her ex-partner died.

** In RealLife, the gulf between British and American perceptions as to what constitutes "fat" and "attractive" in terms of female beauty (see Hollywood Homely, above) - British audiences had no problems with Zellweger putting weight on for the film and tended to consider her usual weight as being far too thin for her to be attractive. Americans tended to conclude the opposite [[note]] Not across the board, many Americans esp. those outside of Hollywood, like in Ethnic communities or "white-bread" Middle America would consider her attractive, even a pre-ChristinaHendricks sort of old Hollywood attractiveness [[/note]].

* HollywoodHomely: There have been some film reviews regarding [[ReneeZellweger Renee Zellweger's]] weight gain for the role, assuming that Bridget was meant to be less attractive rather than just a regular person, there was a [[http://www.vulture.com/2015/01/history-of-actors-going-ugly-for-the-role.html particularly egregious article mentioning her and a few questionable examples of stars "getting hideous to play regular people"]] and one People magazine article about the third book referred to her as "frumpy", of course most viewers and readers would disagree with such an assessment (by Hollywood and Vogue types) that a fuller Renee would have trouble finding someone that likes her. A meta example being that someone said that Creator/RachelWeisz is too beautiful for the role.

* AmericansHateTingle: The second film got middling reviews in the U.K. and most of Europe, but still did very well at the box-office. Not so much in the U.S., where it got downright awful reviews and made barely half of what the first film did. To a lesser extent this applied to the third film as well; the reaction from U.S. critics was only slightly less positive than their U.K. counterparts, but American moviegoers simply didn't care about the series any more, and, combined with a tepid marketing campaign, it quickly sank without trace, flopping with only a fraction of the first film's American box office gains.