10 Best Bridget Jones’s Diary Moments
5. Working the Room at the Book Launch
With her granny panties secured and one-liners rehearsed, Bridget is ready for the book launch. First, she meets none other than Salman Rushdie (playing himself), but when posed a question she’s unprepared for, she asks where the toilets are. Following that embarrassment, she goes onstage to introduce the book of honour. She tests the microphone, which appears not to be working, and yells ‘Oi!’ to get the room’s attention, much to Daniel’s amusement. She welcomes everyone to the launch of Kafka’s Motorbike, ‘the greatest book of our time,’ except, as she acknowledges, for the novels of Rushdie and Lord Jeffrey Archer. She then awkwardly backtracks, declaring this book as one of the top 30 books of our time, at least. When the next speaker comes up to the stage to relieve her of the humiliation, he makes the crowd chuckle by switching on the microphone.
This is a cringe-worthy moment familiar to anyone who hates public speaking, and we can feel the awkwardness as though we are living it ourselves. But this moment also shows that Bridget is genuinely trying, which makes her clumsy personality all the more endearing. She catches the attention of everyone around her even if she feels like a fool. It shows that our imperfections are often what make us lovable.
4. Mark Likes Bridget ‘Just As She Is’
Bridget attends an uncomfortable dinner party with her couple friends and, as she puts on her coat to leave, Mark chances a moment alone. She launches into a rant about how she doesn’t need him to help her feel like an idiot because she usually feels like one anyway. But then Mark apologizes. He explains that he was ‘unforgivably rude’ at the turkey curry buffet and that, despite her small imperfections and occasional ridiculousness, he likes her very much – ‘just as she is.’
This is a crucial moment in Bridget Jones’s Diary because it reveals Mark’s true feelings for Bridget, despite his sometimes chilly exterior. In fact, it’s reminiscent of the moment in “Pride & Prejudice” when Mr. Darcy declares his love for Elizabeth. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that the “Bridget Jones’s Diary” novel was loosely based on Jane Austen’s story and that screenwriter Andrew Davies also wrote the 1995 BBC miniseries starring Colin Firth.
Furthermore, this moment is massively important for upending the conventions of the typical rom-com. In most cases, one of the characters has to drastically change or undergo a makeover to finally find true love (Pretty Woman, She’s All That, the list goes on). For Bridget, however, Mark likes her ‘just as she is.’ She doesn’t have to change who she already is in order to be loved. She can simply be herself.
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3. Bridget Runs After Mark in the Snow
On a snowy night at the end of the film, Bridget invites Mark up to her flat. Unfortunately, he glimpses her diary and all the nasty things she wrote about him before she fell in love, and then leaves. Bridget, like the rest of us, worries that everything is ruined. In nothing but a camisole and a pair of panties, she slips on a housecoat and trainers and runs out into the snow after him. Finally, she finds him exiting a shop and apologizes for all the horrible things he read. Luckily, however, he had just gone out to buy her a new diary. With flurries circling all around (and elderly ladies looking on in dismay), he wraps his coat around her and they share a kiss.
Throughout this scene, we experience a roller coaster of emotions. We fear that Bridget’s bad luck and outspoken opinions have scared off Mark. We’re kept on the edge of our seats as she chases after him through the snow in a suspenseful, exciting climax, soundtracked by a rousing reprise of ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.’ Finally, we experience relief as the couple finally ends up together.
Though it leans heavily on clichéd rom-com conventions, it’s the perfect ending to a heartwarming film about imperfect people finding love.
