Bridget Jones: Is the rom-com heroine a 'misogynist role model' or 'inner voice of a generation'?

Since Helen Fielding created hapless, middle-class Bridget in the mid-90s, she's divided opinion. As the fourth film is released, women across different generations discuss her impact.

Fretful hedonist and loyal owner of ungainly knickers, Bridget Jones first appeared in a Nineties newspaper column. Four best-selling books and three record-breaking films later, Helen Fielding's creation can now be seen in a fourth big-screen adventure and, as the figurehead of a seemingly unstoppable British franchise, is routinely compared to James Bond.

Of course, hapless, middle-class Bridget doesn't race around saving the world from evildoers. She's more likely to be found in a London bar, swigging white wine with her garrulous mates. Either that, or lusting after men, traditionally Hugh Grant's Daniel Cleaver or Colin Firth's Mark Darcy, though she hasn't been entirely indifferent to the rest of the globe; in a bid to seem sophisticated and conscience-stricken she once practiced saying the phrase, "Isn't it terrible about Chechnya">window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'alternating-thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article', placement: 'Below Article', target_type: 'mix' });