Finally, Are You There God? It's Me Margaret Will be Made Into a Movie!
EntertainmentAre You There God, It’s Me, Margaret is finally getting the movie treatment, nearly 50 years after its publication, which is very exciting news for a generation of women who grew up doing that thing with their elbows while whispering, I must, I must, I must increase my bust like a fucked-up yogic mantra.
Deadline reported on Wednesday that Blume gave the rights to James L. Brooks and Kelly Fremon Craig, both of whom worked on The Edge of Seventeen, a coming of age movie starring Hailee Steinfeld. Fremon Craig, for what it’s worth, understands the gravity of the task before her and will likely do justice to the source:
“It is this right of passage for women and girls,” Fremon Craig told Deadline. “It’s rare for me to run into a woman or girl who hasn’t read it and every time I’ve mentioned it to a woman, they clutch their heart and let out this joyful gasp. There’s something so timely and full of truth and I remember for me that at that age, it felt like a life raft at a time when you’re lost and searching and unsure. This book comes along and tells you you’re not alone. Women remember where they were when they read it. I can’t think of another book you can say that about.”
Fremon Craig and Brooks actually met Blume in Key West, where she lives a beautiful life running a bookstore and a movie theatre with her husband, George. From there, Blume gave the pair her blessing—a fact that makes me feel better because hopefully, these two won’t mess this up.
Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret’s subject matter is tame by 2018 standards—periods, bras, puberty, and maxi pads—but in 1970, just one year before the seminal Our Bodies, Ourselves was published, it was racy enough to be banned. Aside from its subject matter, which is universal, the book itself is also a period piece about the 1970s. Will the adaptation strip that away? I certainly hope not!