Bridget Jones - Contemporary Cultural Icon?

''Ive always thought Marilyn Monroe looked fabulous - but I'd kill myself if I ever got that fat!''

Marilyn Monroe was 5"5 and weighed 135 pounds. The worst part is the 'perfection' women wish to aspire to is growing increasingly and startlingly more un reachable. Twenty years ago the average high fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman, today the figure is 23% less. Staggeringly, supermodels Niki Taylor and Elle Macpherson meet the Body Mass Index criteria for Anorexia.

It could be argued that the media is doing nothing more than reflecting a mirror image of our society and is not an initiator of our cultures obsession with physical perfection. However, it cannot deny and must face up to the fact that it is a great instigator of our fascination with the pursuit of thinness.

However, the problem is improving, the media is now producing a more 3 dimensional view of women. Enter Helen Fielding. Ever since 'Bridget Jones Diary' appeared in a newspaper column in the 90's and led on to be a worldwide best selling novel, the character had enjoyed universal success and liberated woman everywhere. Women around the globe delighted in Bridget's social and romantic entities. Written at a time of hedonism in such a time of gloss and excitement, the 90's - the time when the term supermodel was, not only, born, but was at the peak of its phenomenon. Bridget couldn't have come along of more of a contradiction of this. Here was a character who had faults, showed her flaws and was vulnerable. She was believable, a real woman.

She epitomised the change that was happening at the time. The change from the 'Margaret Thatcher' 1980's. Women were pressured to be concrete successful females with strong opinions and views. By the 90's women were tired and Bridget came along as a breath of fresh air and relief to women. They gained confidence and realised their was no need to pretend. Helen Fielding realised this and was reported as saying

'So many women nowadays have ideas in there subconscious that they are meant to be perfect, thin. Look as though they've been airbrushed - so it's kind of comforting to see Bridget - a disaster - but still likeable!'

Everyone could find something in Bridget that they had in themselves. She was a reflection of the 'real woman'. Women could identify in Bridget's lack of perfection - she took the pressure off and proved that imperfect was acceptable, and in fact - often society prefers average. Bridget isn't a threat - most fictional characters often have extraordinary qualitities. They are often unreachably beautiful. Bridget showed women how this isn't necessary in success. She proves to women that men don't wish to seek perfection in a woman - that Bridget's wit and childlike charm is endearing enough to men alone. They don't want the high maintenance perfection all women search for.

Bridget Jones inspired and continues to inspire women everywhere. She's one of your best friends. She doesn't pretend to be what she's not - she's weak willed, ever so slightly overweight and loveable. A real woman! Who would have seen a ficticous thirty something, chain smoking, chardonnay loving 'singleton' become such a contemporary cultural icon?

But are we forgetting one thing? Bridget Jones is just that. Fiction. It is reported, when making the film version of Bridget Jones Diary Renee Zellweger had to gain over 30 pounds in weight. For each kilo she gained she received $225,000 on top of her initial fee of $15 million. This extra fee suggests Renee was being punished through attaining this and had to be compensated for acquiring such a profusion of weight. Many individuals, including many men, felt Renee turned out looking a far healthier version of her previous shrunken self. Many sources argue how she should have kept her new figure.

If Bridget Jones is the picture of the 'average' woman then this goes to prove how extreme the ideals of Hollywood are. Renee was quoted on saying how she 'loved gaining the weight' she said how she had 'so much respect for the character and what the character represents' and how she 'enjoyed the rounder feeling and being more 'bosomy''. If this is true then why is it that Zellweger, when the film wrapped, spent £2,500 a week in a spa enduring a strenuous daily routine of 12 mile hikes and sleeping in basic rooms with complete strangers. Undergoing an insipid diet of portions of tuna and cold meats accompanied 'lavishly' with an abundance of dressing free salads and raw vegetables. Surely such extremes are ridiculous considering how much she 'loved her new figure'. By going to such extremes Zellweger was criticizing what her character stood for and in effect demolishing any respect she once had for the character. The extremes of her weight loss also put a match to rumours of eating disorders and crash dieting. This sent out the message once again that 'fat was bad'.

So does this prove society is truly weight obsessed? In a culture where a reported 81% of 10year olds fear being overweight. A world where fad diets fill the pages of the endless array of brainless 'celebrity' magazines, in a society where Dr Atkins is not only a household name but for many, a lifestyle -is it really a surprise that 3/4 of women believe they are over weight when in reality only 1/4 are?

If the media continues to hamper upon our societies quest for the body ideal then I see a bleak future. Eating is becoming more of a guilt trip than a practicality or one of lifes pleasures. We need a true Bridget Jones role model to fill the pages of our magazines - a reachable target - realism. Realism over idealism.