Narrative Assignment

The other week, we were asked to write about the narrative in one of our favourite films, showing how the main character contributes to the narrative and how they are represented.

Synopsis:
The viewer first sees Bridget sky diving out of a plane for a news report, it goes wrong and she ends up embarrassing herself on Live TV. When she gets back to the studio, she gets a phone call from her boyfriend, Mark Darcy, telling her he cannot make dinner. She then suspects that he is having an affair and travels to his house to try and spy on him, climbing onto his roof and falling off in the meantime, only to discover that he is having a business meeting at his house. Bridget then gets told that she will be going to Thailand for work, along with Daniel Cleaver. While they are out there they Bridget almost cheats on Mark. On the way back, at the airport, Bridget gets caught with drugs that was disguised as a Thai bowl from her friend. She gets put into jail over night, however after a while Mark comes to get her out. Mark somehow found out that his girlfriend almost had an affair and breaks up with her. Mark and Daniel then have a fight outside and end up both in a fountain! Once back in England, Mark proposes to Bridget. The film ends with her parents renewing their vows and Bridget is the “bridesmaid”, then Bridget and Mark stand outside the church in the snow.

Representation of main character:
Bridget is seen as a clumsy, slightly podgy woman who almost cannot decide between two men. She cares a lot about her work and has done things such as slide down a fireman’s pole and sky dived for her career to work. Throughout the film, we see Bridget’s softer side and see her standing up for herself in difficult situations. The viewer realises during the film that she gets embarrassed easily from the things that she does. For example, she turns up to a formal function alongside her boyfriend dressed in a bright gold dress, and as she did her make up in the car, it is a mess and she ends up running to the bathroom. So she is portrayed as an embarrassment and some people can be disappointed in her. A few times in the film Bridget ends up alone and vulnerable, her boyfriend dumps her and she gets put in prison in Thailand for a week. In these difficult times especially, the real Bridget shines through and we see that she reacts very well in upsetting situations. Proving the viewer wrong, as they have been made to believe she is clumsy and embarrassing, she is actually intelligent and independent.

How the main character contributes to the Narrative:
Bridget Jones is the narrator in this film. The narrative is her reading out of her diary in the background of certain events happening. Or she will explain something out of her diary, and then it will happen on screen. Another example is when one of her diary entries is being shown on screen, and then she reads out her thoughts at that specific time, that are in her head and she can’t say out loud. This way the viewer can know exactly how she is feeling at that exact moment and the audience can produce feeling towards Bridget, e.g. sympathy, disappointment, etc.