Are most single women obsessed with marriage despite their protests to the contrary? Disappointed in love, do they fall to insecure pieces, taking solace in late-night cartons of ice cream?
Noxious stereotypes, you say, disproved by countless counterexamples. But what to make of a pop culture phenomenon like "Bridget Jones's Diary" — the founding text of chick lit? Is it re-enforcing these stereotypes — or harmlessly supplying a few cathartic laughs, while assuring its audience that you don't have to be Miss Perfect to find Mr. Right?
Whatever you think of "Bridget" and its many imitators, the 2001 film starring Renee Zellweger is a conventional Hollywood rom-com, whose ending (big clinch) is about as predictable as the eventual outcome of Bridget's latest diet (big disappointment).