bridget jones narrative and conventions

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Macro analysis

Bridget Jones’s Diary

Bridget Jones’s Diary (Sharon Maguire, 2001) was originally a novel by Helen

Fielding and became an extremely successful film when it was released as a

romantic comedy. The film made around £41 million in the UK alone.

The storyline is funny, romantic and also safe, in that the audience knows that

there will be a happy ending. From pre-release advertising and publicity, audiences

could anticipate that the film would fit their expectations of the romantic comedy

genre. Knowledge of the genre helps people know what to expect from a film and

ensures that they will enjoy a film which they connect with examples of the genre

enjoyed in the past.

In all films the story — the narrative — is important and so the way the story

is told must be effective in its manipulation and presentation of characters and

events. The audience needs to be able to understand the story. The narrative offers

meanings connected to character actions and motivations. I have chosen to

analyse the last 15 minutes of the film, where the two main characters come

together and resolve their differences.

Bridget Jones’s Diary was released with a target audience of women in mind.

A woman is the protagonist and female audiences can relate to her experiences.

Certain actors have strong links with the romantic comedy genre: Hugh Grant

has a lead role and audiences would associate him with romantic comedy from

his parts in Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. (This is an important

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factor for the producer, especially in light of the success of these previous

romantic comedies.) Hugh Grant’s role in this film is slightly different in that he

plays the ‘cad’. However, the genre association is still beneficial for the film’s

producers, as they can tap into his existing romantic comedy fan base. Renée

Zellweger was relatively unknown in a romantic comedy context (apart from

Jerry Maguire), but her inclusion in the cast added an intrigue factor. Could this

up-and-coming American actress play the now iconic English Bridget? Since

Bridget Jones’s Diary had been a successful newspaper column, which became

a ...

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