Bridget Jones, brainchild of Helen Fielding, became a lifeline for the regular Gen X woman in 1995 as the comfy antidote to heroin chic and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s sleek aesthetic that defined the era. Frazzled, awkward, and inept, Jones was funny and endearingly relatable.
The beloved heroine returns next week with Mad About the Boy, with Jones (once again played by Renée Zellweger) falling for 29-year-old Roxster (played by Leo Woodall). With a Gen Z love interest in the mix, it’s tempting to imagine what a twentysomething Bridget would be like today. How would her life look if she were navigating New York City (sorry, London) in 2025? One thing is for certain: when it comes to her New Year’s resolutions—lose 20 pounds, stop smoking, drink less, and find a sensible boyfriend—plus ça change …
| House | Holland Park flat | West Village walk-up |
| Ethos | Spinster and lunatic | Brat |
| Existential fear | Being eaten by dogs following death by spinsterdom | Being cut up and put in a suitcase by Hinge date who’s two inches shorter than the height listed on his profile |
| Nicotine of choice | Silk Cut | Zyn (Citrus) |
| Undergarments of choice | “Scary stomach-holding-in panties, very popular with grannies” | Skims Seamless Sculpt Brief Bodysuit |
| Inevitable dinner-party chat | “How’s your love life?” | “Are you thinking about freezing your eggs?” |
| Family friend | “Uncle” Geoffrey, groper | “Aunt” Una, transphobe |
| Gay best friend | Pop icon who wrote only one record | TikTok creator of a single viral dance |
| Female best friend No. 1 | Journalist | Freelancer |
| Female best friend No. 2 | Investment banker crying in bathroom | Investment banker crying in bathroom |
| First job | Pemberley Press | Skyhorse Publishing |
| Boss’s boss | Mr. Fitz Herbert (“Tits Pervert”) | #MeToo’d in 2017 |
| Way to “ooze intelligence” | “Isn’t it terrible about Chechnya?” | “Isn’t it terrible about Navalny?” |
| On-the-fly description of a best-seller you’re promoting but haven’t read | “Positively Vonnegut-esque” | “Normal People but with sexy faeries” |
| Book-party V.I.P. | Salman Rushdie | Salman Rushdie with an eye patch |
| Office crush | Daniel Cleaver | Danielle Cleaver |
| Sexting method | MSN | Slack |
| Autobiography in a sentence | “Bridget Jones, wanton sex goddess with a very bad man between her thighs” | “Bridget Jones, wanton sex goddess with a very enthusiastically consenting partner between her thighs” |
| Full-blown mini-break holiday-weekend destination | Stoke Park | Wildflower Farms |
| Fashion icon | Grace Kelly | Sofia Richie Grainge |
| Mini-break bad-hair day | Foulard lost to the wind | Slick-bun gone frizzy |
| Missed memo | The Tarts and Vicars party was downgraded to normal attire | The Dictators and Dicktakers party was downgraded to cocktail attire |
| Missed-memo fallout | Show up to party in a Playboy Bunny costume | Show up to party in a Nazi-dominatrix costume |
| Crush’s fake alibi | “The Americans are flying in because they’re thinking of shutting us down, for fuck’s sake!” | “The Chinese are flying me out because they’re thinking of replacing us with DeepSeek, for fuck’s sake!” |
| Kiss-off | “If staying here means working within 10 yards of you, frankly, I’d rather have a job wiping Saddam Hussein’s arse.” | “If staying here means working within 10 yards of you, frankly, I’d rather have a job babysitting R.F.K. Jr.’s brainworm.” |
| Post-breakup soundtrack | “Sad FM easy listening for the over 30s” | “Soul-crushing music picked just for you” Spotify playlist |
| Post-breakup watch | Fatal Attraction | Gone Girl |
| Revenge-body workout | Spin class (until clicking in and out of stationary bike puts swift end to it) | The Class (until accidental scream on the exhale results in Taryn Toomey asking you to leave) |
| Procedure to “look gorgeous” | Shave legs, clip toenails, wax bikini line | Gua sha cheekbones, tape mouth, castor-oil belly button |
| Job-interview snafu | Thinking “El Niño” is the name of a Latin song | Thinking “El Niño” is the name of Bad Bunny’s new album |
| Second job (the only place that will hire you after shagging your boss) | Sit Up Britain | AIR MAIL |
| Mr. Right | Human-rights barrister | Human-rights lawyer. Attends all protests at Washington Square Park |
| Dinner-party snafu | Blue-potato-leek soup | Psychedelic-mushroom-laced Wishbone Kitchen Swamp Soup |
| Crush-on-crush feud | Fistfight | Unfollowing each other on Instagram |
| Outfit for getting him back | Tiger-print underwear, cardigan, sneakers | Balaclava, cropped puffer, platform Uggs |
| Apology | “It’s only a diary. Everyone knows diaries are just … full of crap.” | “It’s only a Substack. Everyone knows I’m just doing this … for the affiliate-links payout.” |
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy hits theaters on Valentine’s Day
Carolina de Armas and Victoria Herman are Associate Editors at Air Mail
