Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret
The book that was loved by millions of teenage girls in the Seventies has finally come of age on the big screen
Judy Blume’s film adaptation of Are you There God? It’s Me Margaret is coming to cinemas and my middle-aged excitement is palpable; I’ve already planned my (overpriced) popcorn dinner. The book is about an inquisitive 6th grader who grows up with a Christian mother and a Jewish father, raising her without religious affiliation. Brought to the screen by Abby Ryder Fortson, the film stars Benny Safdie (who produced Indie smash Uncut Gems) playing Margaret’s supportive Jewish dad to cuddly perfection, and the brilliantly cast Kathy Bates as Margaret’s grandmother.
Margaret was an extension of my friendship circle, all of us desperate to fit into our training bras and shamelessly performing the ‘bust mantra’ in the school playground. Having seen snippets from the trailer, predictably I’m excited to see this bit played out on screen. As journalist and author Harriet Walker says: “Discovering Judy Blume felt like finding a whole new circle of friends. What Blume did for teenage girls was so clever and so kind, but so brilliantly camouflaged – adult learnings couched in words and ways we thought were our own.”
That’s not to say everyone felt the same way about AYTG. “Whilst I have nothing but utter respect for Judy Blume’s work, Margaret sort of missed the mark for me as nothing really happens in the book,” says journalist Esther Walker. “Growing up an agnostic household, I didn’t find the battle for Margaret’s religious soul very interesting. Judy Blume was a bit earnest. My own daughter prefers to read books that carry more suspense like the Hunger Games.”
Encouraged (read: forced) by me, both of my daughters read the book and liked it, but when I pushed for discussion and was met (via text, naturally) with ‘IDC. Why RU deeping it?’ Translation: ‘I don’t care. Why are you making it into such a big deal?’ Gen Z are of the mindset, ‘Why read it if I can watch it in 90 minutes, inhaling a Netflix show in one sitting, simultaneously ‘snapping’ my friends?’ So, if kids today bypass the book and go straight for the film, is there anything intrinsically wrong with that?
Journalist and author Hadley Freeman says: “I think coming-of-age stories are more universal and timeless than a lot of people assume, because while external details change, internal emotions don’t. Yes, today’s teenagers have TikTok and social media and other things that didn’t exist when I was their age, but they also have anxiety, insecurity, crushes, and self-loathing – all things everyone who’s ever been a teenager will have experienced.”
Author Lorraine Candy says: “That feeling of not being heard, of not being listened to is an age-old issue for adolescents and it is one of the great learnings for parents: that you don’t need to fix anything. When Margaret chats to God, she has a listening ear that is not interrupting or trying to make her feel better. I am excited about the film and I feel as if what we need right now is a warm, funny movie helping parents understand why listening is the biggest skill of all.”
The Jewish element somehow makes it all the more engaging. Louis Sachar’s There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom could be about any school and in Fleishman is in Trouble, Jesse Eisenberg is cast as the protagonist, alongside fellow Jew Adam Brody. Whether we read the book or watch the film, it’s all about relatability because everyone knows a Fleishman or a Margaret.
“Jewish characters and specifically Jewish girls in books was part of the reason Judy Blume’s books jumped out to me and I was shocked and thrilled by how honest and messy Blume’s books were,,” says author Lea Geller. “Like my own, many of the characters parents were divorced which was something I didn’t see a lot of — not only in books, but also around me in the early 1980s.”
Whilst the film’s release is likely to draw the female over-45s (hi…) there will definitely be pockets of men who remember listening at a sister’s bedroom door, any opportunity to find out what all the shrieking was about. Russell Becker, founder of director Cubed Space London says: “I had a younger brother who was no use in these matters so my best friend Rachel gave me the ‘essential information’ that a teenage boy really wanted to know and lent me her copy of Judy Blume’s Forever, even folding down the key reference pages!”
Edgware co-headteacher Rachel Sheer recalls: “I remember going to WHSmith with my friends pretending to browse, but actually heading for the Judy Blume books to find the rude bits. We considered it educational!”
Celebrity stylist Gayle Rinkoff agrees. “My mum didn’t really talk to me about anything growing up so AYTG felt like I had just read the bible to my life! My relationship with my three daughters is very different to the one I had with my mum and they pretty much talk to me about everything. I am swiftly going to order the book for my 11-year-old and may just re-read it before I give it to her.”
Michelle Okin, Rose Okin Tutoring & Mentoring says: “I got my girls the box set of Blume’s work. The pre-tech generation had things drip fed more slowly via ‘age-appropriate’ media, whereas we 40-something mums just want our girls to read something that’s more innocent. The fact that we read perhaps gives us a shared experience with our daughters when little else resembles our own childhoods.”
Whilst the film fell short at the US box office, Prime’s documentary Judy Blume Forever was a huge hit at Sundance, serving us insights into Blume’s life, including comments from celebrity fans such as Molly Ringwald. Whilst I’d love to see the film with my daughters, the reality is that I’ll go with my girlfriends, where we can get over-emotional without being told that we’re ‘so embarrassing’.
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