renee-zellweger

Last week, the second full-length trailer for Bridget Jones’s Baby dropped. I didn’t cover it because A) I didn’t think people would care and B) I found the second trailer even more depressing than the first trailer. While I am excited to see Renee Zellweger return to a celebrated and beloved role, as I see more of the plot, my excitement dies a little bit. I just think baby-daddy hijinks for a woman in her mid-to-late 40s is a bit much, honestly. Out of all the plot lines, they chose that? I understand that they’re basing it off Helen Fielding’s columns, but maybe they shouldn’t have waited so many years to make this one? Here’s the second trailer: So, yes, I have some complaints. At the heart of those complaints is just plain old disappointment though: the first Bridget Jones movie is as close to perfect as possible. It is arguably one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time. Renee was so good in it that she got an Oscar nom! But 15 years later, we’re getting this mess. And when one critic – Variety’s Owen Gleiberman – expressed his disappointment, he got into a world of trouble. Gleiberman wrote a piece called “Renee Zellweger: If She No Longer Looks Like Herself, Has She Become a Different Actress?” You can read the piece here. It’s supposed to be a “think-piece” about how Zellweger has changed her face so drastically that she’s no longer believable as Bridget Jones, and this guy is personally offended by that. He goes on at length about the pressures of society, and how Zellweger used to be pretty in a normal, believable, girl-next-door sort of way but now she doesn’t look like herself because of her very noticeable plastic surgery and he just goes on and on about it. So, obviously, Owen Gleiberman got slammed all over the place for being sexist and ageist. If we’re saying that this dude never would have written a long-winded, body-policing think-piece about how Russell Crowe is no longer believable as a leading man because of how HE looks and how HE is ageing, I can see that point, and I agree with it. That is sexist and ageist if we’re just going to go on and on about only the actresses. But… I also think that Gleiberman had a (albeit minor) point? If actors and actresses want to drastically change their looks through plastic surgery, so be it. Live and let live, and your body, your choice. But of course people are going to comment. And some of us even made similar comments when we first saw the set photos of Renee-as-Bridget, that “she doesn’t even look like Bridget” and “why does she look so different?” Of course none of us wrote long-winded hot-take think-pieces for Variety analyzing all of the many ways in which her face disappoints us personally. Why is it odd for Renée Zellweger to look slightly different than she did 15 years ago, but not odd for Kate Beckinsale to look identical? — Daniel Fienberg (@TheFienPrint) July 2, 2016 @Variety It's called aging, any by the way, everyone is doing it. We aren't helping women become stronger by pointing out their ages… — Trevor Jordan (@VampirePangs) July 1, 2016 Dear @Variety and @OwenGleiberman .. What a load of sexist GARBAGE. Delete your account(s). — Lindazilla (@Lindazilla) July 1, 2016 Photos courtesy of WENN, EW, Fame/Flynet.