For this week’s Staff Picks, AFF Staff members found ourselves on opposite sides of the Valentine’s spectrum. On the one hand, it’s a great time of year to revisit your favorite films about love, be it the heart wrenching tearjerkers you sob to alone or the romantic comedies you relive over and over with a great group of friends. To kick off our week of top Valentine’s Day movies, each staff member first decided whether they were a subscriber to feelings of love or anti-love and then picked one of their favorites.
Today, Office Manager and 2012 Austin Film Festival Romantic Comedies Panel Moderator Marcie Mayhorn kicks us off with her musings on BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY:
As a staff member, I was asked to pick my favorite “love” or “anti-love” film, and I think I got the best pick: the epitome of both. BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY is about Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger), a single, early-30s career girl who has never had much luck with men. Although she tries desperately, she can never seem to bag a good guy. Falling for the classic tool (sorry, Hugh Grant), she winds up in a series of embarrassing situations and confusing feelings while the guy she should be going for (Colin Firth) doesn’t give her the time of day.
I used to be like Bridget Jones – always trying to find someone who would like me for the superficial things. Valentine’s Day used to terrify me. The idea of going on an intimate date to try and impress someone seemed sad to me, although not as sad as the pep talks all of your non-single friends would give you about maybe finding that special someone – next year. College was filled with my own renditions of chugging vodka and singing “All By Myself” into my hair brush. It wasn’t until I saw this film though that I learned a very important lesson: you have to love yourself first before you can find someone who loves you too. After all, how can someone appreciate you if you don’t know what a great person you are?
I love this film because Bridget ends up being her own hero. Although she gets the good guy in the end, she ends up even more victorious because she has saved herself from making the same mistakes twice. She turns her life around and takes responsibility for her own choices instead of feeling sorry for herself. Above all, she learns and essentially grows up, which is not always easy for people to do.
So although my boozing, single days are behind me, this is still one film that will always ring true to me as a young woman. If you’re in need of a bit of humor (or maybe some vodka) this Valentine’s Day, I definitely recommend giving it a watch.
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