'Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret' director on 'beautiful' spiritual journey, faith at heart of story
The director of the film “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” has revealed she wanted to bring Judy Blume’s bestselling novel to the big screen after being moved by the “beautiful and profound spiritual journey” that is at the heart of the coming-of-age story.
In an interview with The Christian Post, filmmaker Kelly Fremon-Craig revealed Blume’s 1970 novel about a young girl grappling with the uncertainty of adolescence played a “formative” role in her own childhood. But after re-reading it as an adult and mother, she was struck by the deeper themes not instantly apparent to her younger mind.
“What really struck me and made me want to make the film was [Margaret] has such a beautiful and profound spiritual journey that's at the center of it,” Fremon-Craig said. “And I actually don't remember that when I read it as a kid, it only struck me later as an adult. There's just something really beautiful and true about that age when you feel really uncertain about yourself, and there's all this change going on in your life, to reach out for something greater and to have that sort of longing for faith and for a belief in something solid, that you're going to be OK. That was really beautiful to me.”
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Starring Abby Ryder Fortson, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates and Benny Safdie, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” follows 11-year-old Margaret Simon who sees her world upended after her family moves from New York City to the suburbs of New Jersey.
Struggling to fit in and find her own identity, Margaret, who has grown up without religion despite being raised by a Christian mother and Jewish father, begins to pray for some answers. She begins to see God as a friend, someone she can rely on when everything around her seems uncertain.
“God?” she first prays. “Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret Simon. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.”
Though it's not a faith-based film, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” gives an honest look at an adolescent girl's experience with faith, curiosity, doubt and the desire for belonging — something Fremon-Craig said was essential to getting the story “right.”
“Margaret is at the age when you realize your parents aren't God, they're people that are just doing the best they can,” Fremon-Craig said. “It makes you say, ‘If they’re not in charge, then who is in charge? Is anyone in charge?’ I resonate with why this is the age that you start to ask these bigger life questions and begin that search.”
Since it was published in 1970, Blume’s novel has sold over 90 million copies worldwide and garnered a devoted fan base. Over the decades, the book has also been restricted or banned by schools across America due to its subject matter.
And true to the book, the film adaptation of “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” — which Fremon-Craig wrote and Blume helped to produce — does include mature content and themes. It’s rated PG-13 for material involving sexual education and some suggestive material; it doesn't sanitize the awkwardness that comes with adolescence.
But in an age where what it means to “be a woman” is increasingly under attack and social media places unrealistic expectations on, or sexualizes, young girls, the story highlights the uniqueness and beauty of biological womanhood.
“Part of what I really think is so beautiful about Margaret's journey is that it's really a journey of self-exploration and self-acceptance, realizing who she is, really, and who she wants to be, who she wants to hang out with,” Fremon-Craig said. “I think those are really big questions, particularly at that age.”
A mother herself, Fremon-Craig said she took special care with Margaret’s mother, Barbara, a working mother who is struggling to fit in with the PTA mothers she finds herself surrounded with.
The director said she resonated with Barbara’s struggles — “I’ve spent a lot of my life as a mom beating myself up that I'm not the kind of mom who cuts food up and puts together these like wonderful little playdates,” she said — and wanted to empower other mothers to feel less alone.
“I was really struck by Margaret's mom, who I had been oblivious to when I read [the book] as a kid,” the director said. “But when I came back to it, as a mom myself, there were seeds of her character that I found really interesting. I wanted to flesh them out, I wanted to expand her story and her journey, and in particular, I was interested in the journey of trying to strike that balance between being the type of great, present mom … and following a career that you love. Both of those things require a lot of time and attention and sometimes they can feel at odds with one another.”
“I’m trying to say, maybe being a mom who's passionate about her work and her kid is good, and it's OK,” she added.
Fremon-Craig said she felt “enormous pressure” bringing a book so beloved by millions to the big screen, adding: “I love the book, and it's important to me to represent it well. The thing I kept saying to myself is, ‘If I can make a film that makes me feel the way the book made me feel, which is understood and less alone and normal, then that'll have done right by the book.’”
The director said she wants that those who watch the film to leave with a sense of belonging and hope, encouraged to share their own journey to adulthood with those around them.
“I want them to feel uplifted, that it's life-affirming,” she said. “And I want them to go tell their own stories about growing up. I want them to say all the things that for some reason, I think a lot of us don't say because it's kind of embarrassing to just share and bond and connect over these experiences.”
“And what's exciting is that's what we see happen in the theaters, women turn to each other and start to tell their own stories. And that's exciting.”
"Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" hits theaters on April 28.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
