Bridget Jones's Diary|Redefining Femininity through a Freudian Lens

It's been over 20 years since the first "Bridget Jones's Diary," and “Bridget Jones's Baby” released, emerged as the number one at the UK box office within its opening week. The enduring popularity of the "Bridget Jones's Diary" series in the UK, despite its significant period, might stem not only from the nostalgia of the first movie but also from the resonance of Renée Zellweger's portrayal of Bridget Jones—a representation of an ordinary woman.

In Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory, the aspects surrounding women's psychology have been the subject of various disputes and gaps. Due to the era's limitations and individual perspectives, much of the early psychoanalytic context regarding women's psychology was more male-centric (e.g., the Oedipus Complex). Although women occupied a place in case analyses, they were more akin to objects than subjects within the theoretical framework, accompanying and influencing men's various stages of life but lacking comprehensive academic development. While numerous successors of Freud emerged with theories of female development, the portrayal of women on screen also underwent a similar process: women appeared more as a tool for men's self-realization, companionship, or even consumable goods. These screen images reaffirm the position of women within a patriarchal culture: that their pleasure derives from passivity.

However, "Bridget Jones's Diary" presents an entirely different context: the protagonist, Bridget Jones, while still struggling within a male-dominated culture, exhibits qualities of resistance, power-seeking, determination, assertiveness, free-spiritedness, and vibrant sensuality—a certain "aggressiveness" within a psychoanalytic context. "Aggressiveness" in psychoanalytic terms is a neutral term. It represents a force essential when humans face separation, decision-making, or creative expression; it signifies a kind of power. Screen female characters possessing this power gain rational audience approval and evoke a sense of "otherness" emotionally. Bridget's portrayal in the film doesn't conform to the traditional aesthetic of patriarchal society. She doesn't work but chooses to ascend in her career, express her desires and confrontations openly, and actively pursue diverse life goals in a male-centric culture.

However, this journey could have been smoother. Bridget's relationship with her body type was a focus from the film's beginning. Like many modern women, she too experiences struggles and insecurities in chapters of weight loss, shapewear, and emotional eating after heartbreak. Interestingly, the "Bridget Jones's Diary" trilogy released in 2001, 2004, and 2016, over 15 years, witnessed societal changes in the aesthetics of women's bodies and consciousness. The significant difference in the third film is that Bridget no longer focuses excessively on altering her physical appearance. Her body is no longer an object for conforming to public aesthetic standards but more about how much control and enjoyment she can exert over her body—enjoying sex, relieving stress through exercise, and choosing pregnancy. Her body integrates with her autonomy; she can consciously acknowledge and respect these experiences and grow as a complete woman within this framework. Female growth also requires the presence of the "mother" as a significant object: she must identify with the differences and similarities between herself and her mother. In this sense, Bridget's mother in the film is also a character in constant growth. Like Bridget, she pursues true love and a career and, to some extent, possesses quirky personality traits. However, Bridget, compared to her mother, is more capable of coping with solitude and more dedicated to exploring her inner world, much like the "diary," a personal realm for self-exploration and realization throughout the movie.

Apart from love, body shape, and diary, the element of "smoking" recurs throughout various scenes and plots. A female character smoking on screen was unimaginable in Freud's era, yet it signifies a psychoanalytic interpretation of the act of smoking.

Raised in a conservative British town, Bridget faced pressure to marry and bear children during the Christmas holidays. In the first movie, she enters a family gathering while smoking, a seemingly aggressive act against societal expectations. Smoking appears as defiance (challenging societal norms) and self-identity. Simultaneously, it represents a form of regression. In 1969, psychoanalyst Eli Marcovitz explored the psychodynamics behind smoking behavior, suggesting that smoke imagery partly resembles "a mother's gauzy skirt from childhood memory." Smokers are likened to "shy children hiding behind their mothers' skirts." Single and owning nothing, Bridget feels powerless when faced with the expectations of the large family, and in that moment, smoking seems to offer a release. Confronted by creepy men in her family circle, Bridget is angry inside, yet smoking appears to provide a means to restrain her conscious and unconscious impulses. Smoking, when viewed from a regressive perspective, is not only the gratification of the oral phase but also, according to some psychoanalysts, a regression to the primitive stages of childbirth trauma: smoking is a defense against "suffocation." It convinces the individual of their ability to breathe, reminiscent of the subconscious journey experienced by a baby during birth. In "Bridget Jones's Baby" (2016), fitness, travel, and self-realization emerge as substitutes for tobacco, fulfilling Bridget's inner needs. Such changes also hint at the internal growth of the character.

Even more interestingly, in "Bridget Jones's Baby," Bridget becomes a mother. Smoking, when understood from a regression perspective, isn't just a satisfaction of the oral phase but also, for some psychoanalysts, a regression to the more primitive stages of birth trauma: smoking is a defense against "suffocation," providing a sense of assurance in one's breathing capacity, similar to the subconscious experience a baby undergoes during birth. Bridget not only quits smoking but also becomes the person creating and bearing the experience of "suffocation." Choosing to be a mother is her freedom and her strength. She is no longer confined to a state resembling a "giant fetus."

Even though women have long had the freedom to smoke or not, most people still unconsciously judge various female choices by established aesthetic standards.Bergman once said, "Film is not merely a record; it is a dream." From this perspective, "Bridget Jones's Diary" is a "dream" for women of the new era.