November 8, 2004
By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
At face value, there is no
reason why women would choose Hugh Grant's character over Colin Firth's
in "Bridget Jones's Diary." Both are good looking, have great jobs and
cute English accents.
But throw in the fact that
Mark Darcy (played by Firth) is a soft-spoken gentleman while Grant's Daniel
Cleaver is a womanizing cad and Grant is the bad boy winner. Never mind
that whatever woman he's dating is destined to be the loser. The fact is,
just as high school girls love the pot-smoking, long-haired dropout, women
love bad boys, too.
"It's definitely not a healthy
thing, but all women seem to go through their bad-boy phase at least once
in their lives," says psychiatrist Sandy Jones, who deals with relationship
issues. "We all know bad boys aren't good for us, but we can't help ourselves.
Women think they will be the ones who can tame the bad boy into a good
boy. Sometimes it happens. But more often than not, they're in for heartache."
It's not just gullible women
who fall into this trap, either. As Heather Graham's character -- a psychiatrist
-- noted on an episode of NBC's "Scrubs": "Show me a well-adjusted, successful
man who wants to settle down and have kids and I'm not interested. But
find me an alcoholic in his mid-30s that still thinks his band might make
it, and just tell me where I can show up and buy him dinner."
Mary Danosi was just 22
when she fell in love with her bad boy. She had just graduated from college
and moved to Chicago. He was a 27-year-old actor-musician who made most
of his income as a bartender.
"I attributed his moodiness
to his being an artist," says Danosi, now 30. "He would cancel dates at
the last minute, he cheated on me and then he would apologize with flowers
and love notes. It was really exciting at first, but then I realized that
what I thought were happy butterflies in my stomach actually were nerves.
I was always nervous that he would cancel on me or be in one of his moods."
Now, happily married to
a man who treats her like a queen, Danosi says she understands why she
found her bad boy exciting: He was good looking and wasn't like anyone
she had dated previously. But she is embarrassed that she dated him for
as long as she did.
"If I could get those two
years back, I would in a heartbeat," Danosi says. "When my friends and
I went to see 'Bridget Jones's Diary,' they were all swooning after Daniel.
I knew right away that Darcy was the way to go. He wasn't as exciting,
but he was real. You can never have a real relationship with bad boys.
They're too self-involved to be there for anyone but themselves."
Whether Bridget will be
able to resist Daniel's bad-boy charms in "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason"
remains to be seen. But here's hoping there's at least one smooth talker
who doesn't get the girl in the end.
When he's good, he's good, when he's bad ...
Hugh Grant is a cad. That's
the least offensive way to describe any man who cheats on Elizabeth Hurley
with a hooker. But the man's got some kind of charm.
Who else could go on "The
Tonight Show" and flutter his way through an almost-believable apology
that left the audience feeling maybe he hadn't done something that bad.
After all, Hurley forgave him. Even after they broke up, the two remained
best of friends. Would you make your cheating ex the godfather of your
only child? Would you even offer him constructive dating advice? Hurley
has.
Why is Grant so hot even
though he's so naughty? Or is he so hot because he's just naughty enough.
The fact is, Grant is just
naughty enough to be intriguing. But not so much that he's in the gossip
pages every day for sleeping with so-and-so's wife. Though there are rumors
that he had something to do with the dissolution of his socialite girlfriend
Jemima Goldsmith Khan's marriage to cricket legend Imran Khan, no one is
actively pointing any finger at him.
"I wouldn't want to date
him in real life, but he's fun to watch on the big screen," says Lori Simanko,
34, of Evanston. "He's good looking and has a little edge to him. That
whole bumbling thing he does makes him come off as cute, even though he
may be a bit of a cad in real life. He's appealing."
|
His pretend wedding to Jerry Hall probably broke her heart, but Jagger is one rock star who always gets what he wants -- usually leggy young models. |
From Ava Gardner to Angie Dickinson, Sinatra, um, dated them all. If he sang sweet nothings into their ears, who can blame the actresses for being willingly seduced, except maybe wife Nancy -- the mother of his children -- who left him when his affair with Gardner became public. |
Southern accent and prodigious nose aside, Clinton was rumored to be quite smooth when it came to the ladies. Just ask Monica, Paula and Gennifer. We get the impression it wasn't chivalry that motivated him to try to hide his indiscretions with an impressionable intern. |
John F. Kennedy
Jackie O endured his numerous affairs, including an overt relationship with the likes of Marilyn Monroe. Still, the world didn't turn against him, and JFK remains one of the most beloved American presidents of all time. |
The movie character embodied by Clark Gable refused to cave in to Scarlett O'Hara's demands. No one cared that he swore at Scarlett and manhandled her. He was a man, and we all knew it. A cad among all cads. |
*****
Wine, women and song make up Bridget Jones fest
November 10, 2004
By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
Singletons, take note. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" is just a couple days from opening, and that's reason enough for many of you to celebrate. While all the "smug marrieds" are at home arguing about whose turn it is to pay the bills (or bathe the children), you can kick back with your bitchin' friends, enjoy a cocktail and revel in all things Bridget.
A Bridget Jones-themed party is the perfect soiree to throw for those who have rid themselves of the New Year's resolutions they made almost a year ago. So what if you haven't lost any weight yet? Our Bridget is diet-challenged as well. While smoking may make you a pariah at any other soiree, Ms. Jones and her crew revel in it. [Note: We ourselves don't condone this nasty habit.] And if you're fond of Chardonnay, all the better. You don't have to worry about what drink to serve (or bring) to this year's Bridget party.
We believe there will be enough stress dealing with what to wear to the upcoming holiday parties. It's really quite cruel. First they fatten us up with Thanksgiving, and then they expect us to slim down a month later for Christmas and New Year's Eve parties. It just doesn't make any sense. So for your Bridget Jones party, it's only reasonable to let yourself go a little.
Don't worry about squeezing into those impossibly tight Seven jeans or the little black dress that is much too little to be worn anymore. Invite the girls over to relax in their favorite pajamas. In fact, encourage them to wear their non-sexy granny panties underneath as well. Why worry about panty lines? If men are invited to the party, ask them to wear their most awful holiday sweaters a la Mark Darcy (Colin Firth's character). Having them dress up like snazzy Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) will be too much pressure on everyone. Who wants to run around in PJs and granny panties when a guy's working a couture suit across the room?
We know Bridget is always running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to pull off something seemingly as simple as the promise of homemade soup. Don't you fall for that mistake. Remember that Chardonnay we were talking about earlier? Make sure you have plenty on hand. You also should stock up on some designer water and diet drinks for the wannabe Bridgets. Ice cream always is a good idea. And pizza. Don't you dare make it from scratch. Rather, order it so its delivery will coincide with your guests' arrival.
If you're feeling particularly ambitious, call your favorite caterer to see if they can whip up a turkey and curry buffet for your shindig. Bridget fans may recall her mum was fond of serving the combo at her annual Christmas parties. The menu makes a recurrence in the sequel.
Since Bridget's a compulsive calorie counter, have your guests guesstimate how many calories they've consumed during the night. At the end of the evening, calculate whose actually was the closest to reality. The winner gets a bottle of Chardonnay to take home.
For entertainment, buy or rent a copy of "Bridget Jones's Diary." (If you want to go all out, pre-order tickets for a matinee showing of "The Edge of Reason," which you and your guests can attend the morning after.) Also, have small notebooks so everyone can "journal," as our fair-haired heroine is so fond of doing. Pass the books around and read each other's entries out loud and see if you can guess who said what about whom. Caveat: Depending on how many glasses of wine you've had, this exercise could result in some guests leaving early. Have the number of a good cab company so you can call taxis for your non-sober friends.
Also, if you've got a karaoke machine programmed with "Like a Virgin," dust it off for your party. In "The Edge of Reason," Bridget ends up teaching the song to non-English speaking cell mates in Thailand. (Don't ask -- you have to see it to believe it.) Those of you who are technologically challenged can just stick to leading a sing-along to Madonna's CD.
And finally, consider signing up for a trial membership to an online dating service such as www.matchmaker.com or www. match.com. We're not saying you should be looking for love online. But we guarantee it's much more fun than passing an orange around (via your chins) or playing Truth or Dare.
And who's to say you won't find your own Darcy online? Of course, the flip side of all this is if you're anything like our Ms. Jones, you'll more than likely find a Daniel.
Maybe it's not such fun being a "singleton" after all.
|
|
 |