Exclusive: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Team Talks Girlhood Themes
Movies Features Judy Blume
After years of studios and producers trying to get a film adaptation of Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret off the ground, this year finally saw the seminal, groundbreaking coming-of-age novel get the big screen treatment. Kelly Fremon Craig’s touching interpretation of the material does well to get to the tender heart of the book and is adamant about not diluting its frank depictions of the adolescent experience of young girls, which has caused sustained controversy since its release in 1970.
Paste has an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the creators of the film reflecting on the power of the novel’s themes and the importance of truthfully carrying them over to the film. Stars Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates and Aidan Wojtak-Hissong, producer Amy Lorraine Brooks, and Craig and Blume themselves explain the radical nature of the story in a world where talking about periods is still, as McAdams remarks, “this taboo thing.”
Take a look:
As Craig explains, Blume’s biggest fear for Are You There God? is that “somebody would sanitize it,” the last thing she would want after years of defending her work as it was litigated against and banned in various places around the country. However, any potential fallout from the content of the story was never at the forefront of Blume’s mind when writing the book: “I never thought ‘Was this controversial? Was this something that I shouldn’t do? Was I gonna be allowed to do it?’ I just did it.”
That sincerity is what makes the ethos of the story so poignant, and the film conveys it with the same spirited grace. As Paste critic Aurora Amidon writes, “It embraces humor, messiness and pain, and takes each bump in the road as seriously as the last. And, after going through the hellish trials and tribulations of puberty, I dare say it’s the movie that we all deserve.”
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is out on digital and On Demand now, and on Blu-ray and DVD July 11, 2023.
Trace Sauveur is a writer based in Austin, TX, where he primarily contributes to The Austin Chronicle. He loves David Lynch, John Carpenter, the Fast & Furious movies, and all the same bands he listened to in high school. He is @tracesauveur on Twitter where you can allow his thoughts to contaminate your feed.