Reply to Judy Blume finally approved an “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” movie

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was disappointed to see it’s PG-13. Will it be appropriate for a 9 year old?[/quote] yes. I am taking my 10yo. She got her period and had breasts already, plus we read the book. [/quote]

I just read a review that said the movie shows the girls finding Playboy in Dad’s room, has the girls talking about sexual urges, and has some kissing in a closet scene. It feels a little too mature for my 9 year old. We will pass.

[/quote]

I'm a Gen-X mom who memorized the book in the 1980s.  My 11 year old (she'll be 12 next month) and I saw it last night at the early screening.  We loved it!  We read the book together months ago.

With regard to the Playboy scene, it's really not a big deal at all.  They look at the centerfold (nothing is shown) and comment on "how round they are", and Gretchen says that hers look like "little wizard hats."  I don't recall anything about "sexual urges" - they do talk about boys they think are cute, like most pre-teen girls.  The spin the bottle and the kissing in the closet are just pecks, not full-on making out.  In the book, Nancy (an annoying, bossy show-off who acts much more sophisticated than she really is) practices kissing on a pillow, but in the movie, she kisses her bedpost.  Philip pinches Margaret on her birthday and tells her it's a pinch to grow an inch, and "you know where you need that inch." I don't think there is anything in this movie that kids haven't already seen or heard at school or on the bus, but I imagine very conservative parents, ones who might support legislation like Florida House Bill 1069, might still find something objectionable.  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-bill-ban-menstruation-education-elementary-school/

I found this movie to be very well done.  The 1970s music and the period costumes and sets are awesome.  Kathy Bates is fantastic as Grandma Sylvia.  Rachel McAdams is great as the flower child artist mom who doesn't quite fit in with the strait-laced, uptight suburban moms with their beehive hairdos.  It's set in 1970 so there's still some leftover 1960s vibes happening.  The religious scenes run the gamut from the Jewish temple, the African-American Baptist church, the mainline Protestant church, and the Catholic Church.  The tug-of-war between the grandparents on what religion Margaret should be is well done as well.  Margaret says something that resonates in today's political climate and culture wars - she observes that "religion causes people to fight."  Yet, she still has her own relationship with God.

I also loved how inclusive the film is - Janie, Mr. Benedict, and Freddy Barnett are African-American.  In the scene where everyone is getting ready for the fancy dinner party at Norman Fisher's house (in the book he was "that drip" Norman Fishbein, but in the movie he kind of resembles Rowley from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies) they show the girls getting their hair done, and Janie's mom heats up the hot comb to do Janie's hair.  We cracked up at the scene where Margaret and Janie buy Teenage Softies pads at the drugstore so that they're ready for their big day. :lol:

And the Laura Danker angle was well handled too.  Laura is a 6th grader who developed earlier than the other girls and she's the target of teasing because of it, and in her interactions with Laura, Margaret learns an important lesson on how to treat people.

Opening day is Friday, April 28th - go see the movie!  Since we were there for the early screening, we got some free Margaret merch (drinking cups with the movie logo) and a representative from the movie company was there after the screening to collect comments from us - how we rated the movie, our age group, would we rent or buy the movie if it became available and in what format, what was our main reason for seeing the movie, etc.

[/quote]

I think there’s a big difference between ages 9 and 11. I’m not ready to have my 9 year old learn what spin the bottle is, or what Playboy is. We will pass.[/quote]

Raise your hand if you think this is “dumping” on the movie as PP has accused me.[/quote]

It's just very "ME ME ME." There are a lot of TV shows and movies that I don't watch, and I don't normally post 16 times in a thread about them about me deciding not to watch them. It just doesn't contribute much - and sort of derails the whole thing. Also PP is being oddly argumentative. Maybe one post about how she doesn't feel comfortable taking her 9 year old could be relevant - but the same post, over and over and over, does become a strange sort of dumping. Or if not dumping, it's just a bizarre need to be the center of the conversation - [b]when most of us just want to talk about how much we love the movie[/b].[/quote]

When I originally posted once about not taking my kid, I was immediately questioned as to why and then there were like at least 5-6 posts after with why people were going and how bad of a parent I must be.

I think I understand now. I’m only allowed to reply in a thread if I agree with the majority? Lol[/quote]

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