It’s me, Margaret’s mom
Judy Blume’s gift to the world is her insistence that young people can be trusted as capable moral agents.
Photo by Dana Hawley / Lionsgate
Collapsing back on her twin bed in her overcrowded apartment room in 1970s Manhattan, Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) utters the first prayer of her life, beseeching God to stop the move her parents have just announced. Or failing that, “Don’t let New Jersey be too horrible.” So begins Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (directed by Kelly Fremon Craig), a joyful, insightful movie adaptation of Judy Blume’s beloved young adult novel.
Whether it is New Jersey’s fault or not, the next year of Margaret’s life is filled with rocky transitions that keep her seeking divine intervention. Quickly befriended by her domineering and competitive new neighbor Nancy Wheeler (Elle Graham), she is sucked into the whirlwind of teenage friendship, first crushes, and impending puberty.
Margaret and her best friends both long for and fear the bodily changes of adolescence with the fervor of religious devotees trying to entice and placate a deity they barely understand. They measure their nonexistent bust lines for minuscule changes and buy pads “just for practice.” They steal an anatomy textbook to figure out what a penis really looks like and a copy of Playboy to imagine what their own bodies might turn into. The scientific illustrations do little to inspire desire, and the pornographic illusion ignites frantic despair.
