Teenage girls the world over would be familiar with author, Judy Blume. The Jewish-American writer has published 29 books and sold over 82 million copies. This includes the famous, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, which has recently been adapted for the big screen and winning fans some fifty-plus years since its release.
Blume is like a fairy godmother of adolescence. She wrote books that captured the hearts and minds of young adult readers the world over. Her writing was quite a revelation at the time. When her first book was published in 1969 it was unheard of to have a novel narrated by a young protagonist. And let’s not forget all those frank lessons about masturbation and menstruation!
This documentary plays out like a love letter to Blume by directors, Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok. The story is quite straightforward in its approach. It traces Blume’s anxious childhood and her first marriage, including those fledgling years where she started out as a writer. Blume is interviewed extensively and reads some excerpts from her novels, which are accompanied by animations.
Also among the interviewees are fellow writers and members of Blume’s family. Perhaps the most telling ones are with some of the celebrities interviewed here: including Lena Dunham, Molly Ringwald and Samantha Bee who recount Blume’s influence with reverence. The fact that Blume was so likeably irrelevant and tackles taboo subjects meant that she is both loved and someone who has attracted the ire of America’s more conservative factions.
The fact is Blume never really lived by the rule books. She sought a career at a time when women were expected to play compliant mother and housewife. She wrote books for young people and did so with utmost honesty and candor. These qualities are ones that are still apparent in her personality and her sparkling zest for life.
Judy Blume Forever is a delightful film that is all wrapped up in a warm nostalgia. Any older fans will look back on this with many a smile, as they see themselves in the fans who are also depicted here. This film also serves as a fitting primer to the next generation as her work continues to resonate and capture young hearts forever.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Judy Blume Forever is available to stream now on Prime Video.
