Tina Kakadelis
Mere days before Judy Blume’s beloved novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. makes its big screen debut, Film Obsessive was able to chat with Kelly Fremon Craig, the film’s writer and director. Margaret will be her second feature, a spiritual follow-up to Fremon Craig’s debut, The Edge of Seventeen. Both films feature teenage girls who distinctly do not feel at home in their body. Times are changing, nothing is going the way they envisioned, but somehow they must continue on.
Since Blume published Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. in 1970, movie studios have desperately tried to purchase the rights, but Blume held off. In fact, it wasn’t until Fremon Craig sent Blume an email entirely out of the blue that she decided it was finally time to make a movie out Margaret and her tumultuous tweenage insecurities. Blume was so taken with Fremon Craig’s interpretation of the novel that she raved, “the movie is better than my book and I mean it.”
There’s a magic in Blume’s writing that has allowed for her work to remain relevant fifty years in the future. Even without updating Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. to an era of TikToks and Instagram, the film feels modern. Maybe it’s because times and technology can change, but the terrors and joys of growing up stay fundamentally the same.
Fremon Craig chatted with Film Obsessive assistant editor Tina Kakadelis to discuss her upcoming movie and the intimidation of being entrusted with a book that means so much to so many people, Fremon Craig included. The two discuss the film’s major deviation from the book, how Fremon Criag found her Margaret, the one piece of advice she’d give her tweenage self, and much more.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. arrives in theatres April 28th. Check out the full interview with writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig below:
