Bridget Jones' Diary

Last night I watched Bridget Jones' Diary with a few friends. It's one of my top three favorite movies and some of them had never seen it before.

If you've never seen it I would, of course, suggest you watch it. It's a circa 2001 classic of a 32-year-old singleton searching for love in a world full of smug marrieds assuming she's a career girl (she's not really. I mean she has a job but is not career-minded) who just won't "settle down." Perhaps a typical romantic comedy, but it's British, set in London and features a funny, loveable and plump heroine with an internal dialogue, so it was above average for me.

I fell in love with this movie when it came out in 2001. Back then I was only 21, a perpetually single college student with a weight problem who didn't really know what do with her career but thought it might be one where I would"fanny about with press releases." (quote from the movie). I identified with Bridget for these reasons, and it's been my favorite movie ever since.

I hadn't actually watched it in years, but it was still my standard answer to the "What's your favorite movie?" question.  Yesterday, I was really excited to share it with my friends, and I was almost giddy laughing at all the funny parts just slightly before they came funny. I was glad to know that I still love it.

But it got me thinking. What if I hadn't made Bridgette a heroine of mine at 21, would things be different now?  'Cause now I'm 32, just like her, and I'm still in the same place, dating-wise and weight-wise. It's like I was growing up to be her.  (I might be slightly ahead, career-wise).

I don't mean this to be a heavy post.  It just made me wonder about who I choose to be my role models and what kind of influence they have over my thoughts and habits.  I'm not saying Bridget Jones was necessarily a bad role model. She's quite funny and sometimes ridiculous, which are always traits I strive to attain.

Who is your role model?  Do you think a favorite movie can influence your life or thoughts?

PS I've had a remarkable Saturday thus far.  I finished a 2nd great book of the week, got caught up on my television from the week, received a remarkable text from my niece and sucessfully ate breakfast at home for the fifth day in a row!

PPS Someone saw I used the word "meta" in this post and asked me what it meant.  I could not explain it and then began to wonder if I really knew what it meant and if not, had I used it correctly? So I looked it up on Urban Dictionary and here is the definition:

A term, especially in art, used to characterize something that is characteristically self-referential. 

"So I just saw this film about these people making a movie, and the movie they were making was about the film industry..."
"Dude, that's so meta. Stop before my brain explodes."

Then I realized I should never have doubted myself, because I have a resplendent and indefatigable vocabulary.