I know this happens every month, but each time another round of programming gets pulled from everybody's favorite streaming site, I think of it as a personal affront. This month, more than any other, there's one movie that you must watch before it's pulled from Netflix in June, and I won't hear any ifs, ands, or buts. If you have time to watch 100 movies before the month wraps up, then bully for you, you have much more free time than I do, and you don't need to worry. But if you only have time to watch one movie before the dawn of June, please let it be Bridget Jones's Diary . Nestled among a lot of other TV shows and movies whose titles don't ring any bells was one that defined my young adulthood and earned Renee Zellweger a place in my heart forever.
It was one of the first movies that was unapologetic about the... shall we say... unpolished nature of its heroine, and I think it paved the way for a lot of non-cookie cutter actresses who came afterward, from Melissa McCarthy to Kristen Wiig to Amy Schumer. Bridget Jones got us used to the idea that you don't have to have your life together to be a compelling character. In fact, sometimes it's better if you don't!
I feel like men get that kind of leeway all the time, of just being sloppy AF in a movie and somehow strolling off with a supermodel with an amazing job and no character development, who's just about drooling over the fact of his existence. Eff. That. Bridget Jones wouldn't stand for it, and neither should you.
She's all about owning yourself, from top to bottom — or from squishy bum all the way up to terrifying cooking skills, in her case — and that confidence landed her in a position where she had the liberty to choose between Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, which is not too shabby. And since I'm pretty sure the best way of supporting this kind of feminist victory is by watching this cinematic masterpiece before it gets unceremoniously yanked from the Netflix stacks, you should hustle over to the streaming service and do just that.
And not like I haven't given you enough reasons yet, but Bridget Jones's Baby will be hitting theaters on Sept. 16, so you're gonna have to be re-watching anyway to prepare, and this will just put you ahead of the game. It's a win-win scenario.
Image: Lionsgate Pictures; Giphy
