Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret (2023)

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t give a film like this a second glance. Coming-of-age stories can be interesting, if they’re set in the right time frame. This one is dated 1970. (I also suspect that my girls read it in the 90’s.)

It’s a story about peer pressure and family dynamics. Margaret is 11 when we meet her, and she’s just been uprooted from her New York City life and transplanted in New Jersey. It’s a delicate time for her.

Prompted by her 6th grade teacher, Margaret begins to question her religious beliefs. Her mother’s family are Christian, her father’s Jewish. Her parents vowed that Margaret could choose what she wants to believe when she’s an adult. Margaret wants to belong to ‘something’, but religious services are confusing, especially when they’re in Hebrew. However, she carries on a daily conversation with God, even though it seems He never hears her prayers.

[Judy] Blume said that she felt a connection with the character Margaret, which allowed the story to come “pouring out.” Blume wrote that while the story was not autobiographical, “the character of Margaret, both physically and emotionally, is pretty close to the girl I was.” Growing up, Blume said while her family was very different from the one portrayed in the book, she felt that, “like Margaret, I had a very personal relationship with God that had little to do with organized religion.”

Wikipedia

Viewed from the spiritual perspective, this story demonstrates how everything happens at the right time, even if that seems inopportune from a limited viewpoint. Margaret’s final prayer (after months of silence) was:

“Are you still there, God? It’s me, Margaret. Thanks for everything.”

Gratitude is the best prayer.