‘Bridget Jones’ Author Has Found Gen Z Following Amid Body Positivity Movement

deadline.com:

As Bridget Jones prepares to return to the big screen next year, a whole new generation is identifying with the beloved films’ literary source material.

Author Helen Fielding recently opened up about her newfound fanbase at the Cheltenham Literature Festival and how the titular character has become even more relevant to friends of her 18-year-old daughter, amid the age of TikTok and the Body Positivity Movement. “What’s good now is that there’s a new audience for Bridget that’s young, that’s Gen Z,” she said, according to BBC. “I’m really happy when 18-year-olds and 20-year-olds come with their books and talk to me about it and say that they find it comforting to laugh at these things.” Fielding added, “I spent the last two years surrounded by teenage girls, because they all came to my house, and I can see what they’ve got in common with Bridget.

They’re the first generation who have gone through seeing the world fall apart [with the pandemic]. So they’re quite fragile, and they’re quite open about their emotions.

They sort of cry in the bathroom and put it on TikTok.” Inspired by Fielding’s column and books, the Bridget Jones films follow the single 30-something woman (Renée Zellweger) in London as she navigates life, love, sex and a timeless obsession with body image.