The Film Version Of ‘Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret’ is Like A Welcome Hug

I was born in 1975, 5 years after Judy Blume’s seminal classic Are You There God It’s Me Margaret first hit the store shelves. Growing up in the 1980s, I remember seeing it nearly everywhere that books for young readers were sold right next to other popular books at the time like The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary and Matilda by Roald Dahl. I don’t remember talking to anyone about Judy Blume books at the time, like a friend or a teacher or a parent, but I must have read about them in magazines from that time period like Highlights magazine or Ranger Rick. The covers of books at the time whispered to me from their colorful tomes, asking me to absorb their magic and wisdom. It was a time that to me was relatively free of the controversies of today that are talked about constantly online. I was shielded, and I felt safe, and Judy Blume was a part of that safety by telling me that it was okay to feel things and to talk about things in a matter-of-fact way. I know that today is very different for children growing up than the time I grew up in was, but I still think Judy Blume and Are You There God It’s Me Margaret can contain the same magic for children that they held for me.

To have finally released a movie based on the book after all these years is kind of amazing and to do it in the way that they did is a tribute to the power that this book still holds. From what I watched, the film is practically a note for note translation of the book to the screen that keeps all the essential elements intact, even the setting of the book in 1970. There must have been a great temptation to update the book for modern times or change the circumstances in ways to make the lead character, Margaret, more relatable.

So let’s talk about the story presented in the film and why I found it so charming. The film and the book tackle a wide range of issues that play on the fears of both children and adults and present the responses to those issues in honest, and emotionally touching ways.

12-year-old Margaret, played by Abby Ryder Fortson, lives with her parents in New York City and gets the bad news that her dad got a job in New Jersey and that they are going to move there. Margaret is upset as all kids would be because she’s leaving behind her friends, and more importantly, her grandmother, played by national treasure Kathy Bates. The camera pulls us in close to see the hurt and frustration on her face and we can see a million questions going through her young mind because she feels betrayed and wonders why they didn’t talk to her about this before it happened. It makes her feel like they didn’t consider her feelings, and it presents the first of so many moments in the film for parents who watch this film with their children to connect.

Margaret’s father (Bennie Safidie), as we soon discover, is Jewish, and her mother, Rachel McAdams in one of her trademark vulnerable and heart melting roles, is Christian, but they made the decision to not raise Margaret with either religion, instead hoping that she chooses for herself what religion she wants to follow. This becomes one of the central conflicts of the film as both sets of grandparents are openly evangelical about their religion and when they meet, they begin fighting about it in front of her.

Upon moving to the suburbs, Margaret becomes friends with the popular girl at her school who lives next door and invites her to her secret club with the requirement that she not wear socks and has to wear a bra. Margaret doesn’t tell her mom about the club because it’s secret and ignores her advice about wearing socks, winding up with an ankle rash. Childhood itself feels like a secret club that parents don’t get invited to and Margaret keeps these feelings inside, not telling them to her mom. She brings them instead to God, in very earnest scenes where she prays about all her worries and hoping that he is real and wondering which religion she should be.

Much of the film takes place in and around the school and fears of growing up and fitting in are just magnified by Margaret and her friends’ urgent need to have their periods and grow breasts thinking that these things will make them feel cool or popular or grown up. There’s so much uncertainty at this age and “Are You There God” does marvelous work in bringing all these fears to life.

When it comes to the other characters from Margaret’s class, none of them feel like stock or throw away characters, like the class nerd, the handsome boy, and the girl who looks way too big for her age and gets gossiped about and slut shamed. We get significant interaction with each one so we can see a little bit where they are coming from, and how they became the way they are.

And lest you think that Rachel McAdams has nothing to do in the role as a mom, she was trying to fit in also as she throws herself into the PTA signing up for every committee possible before getting overwhelmed with the amount of work and underappreciation that she gets from all the tasks that she’s asked to do.

As a film that sticks so close to the book, any quibbles I have with the film seem to be problems I have with the book. My minor complaints are that the dad is very underdeveloped, and we don’t really understand his motivations other than wanting to take care of his family. He seems loving and devoted, so there’s that. But dumping the responsibility on a child of choosing their own religion seems like a bit of a cheat since the responsibility of a parent is to be a guide and helper, and what kind of help is it if you don’t guide them through something that you’re telling them is very important? I also felt very bad for Rachel’s Christian parents because their story was short and painful. After their daughter married a Jew and moved away, they ostracized her, so they have never met their now 12-year-old granddaughter. We don’t meet them till very late in the film and when they do appear, they don’t apologize for lost time, but instead attempt to evangelize Margaret first instead of getting to know her. I’m not saying they’re unrealistic, it’s just that it felt like they were being set up to have a redemption arc, and instead their only appearance was a disaster.

High praise goes to Kathy Bates who dotes on Margaret and wants her to be by her side at all times, and talk to her on the phone, and show her a life full of fun. All in all, Margaret is lucky to have parents and a grandmother who care so much about her and the film demonstrates that in spite of all that, growing up can still be scary, and we all need someone to hold our hand and tell us that it’s going to be okay.

If ever the point of a film was for parents to have discussions with their kids, this might just be the one. Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret is a warm and inviting safe place to talk about feelings and the importance of families that care about each other. It brought back memories and feelings of being a kid again, and for that I’d give it a hug if I could.

I am compelled to give it 5 stars.