Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret Movie Review

With a rating of 8/10 on IMDB.com and 94% from the audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret is dominating the big screen this April. With stars like Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates and a very talented Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret, this movie was a pleasure to watch (even though it had me enduring puberty all over again). The movie was so true to the book it brought me back to the first, second, and third times I read the book. It was a crash course in the horrors of growing up- bras, periods, and boys- and I think boys need that. They have no idea how hard it is for girls. To be judged for how big you (Laura Danker) or small you are (Margaret). To be mocked for armpit hair (which happened to me at the pool club once). To worry if you’ll get your period in the middle of class (everybody probably).

While I sympathize with Margaret for most of the movie, the character I really identified with was Laura Danker. I had to wear a bra in fourth grade too and I was mortified at the comments the boys made to me and the way the girls whispered about me. Someone defaced my folder with illustrations of big breasts and I had to keep it for the rest of the year. I continued to be bigger than average all through middle school and when I got to eighth grade senior boys would leer at me. I was way over my head. It was a very lonely experience and my “best friend” would make biting comments at the way I “bounced” when we ran laps in gym, like I was doing it on purpose.

As I covered a bit in my Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret book review, I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) which would result in very painful periods. I would throw up or pass out sometimes. It truly was debilitating. I missed a lot of school. PCOS also results in an excess of testosterone which means you can grow hair in unwanted places, like your face. While birth control has mostly taken care of this, I have had to endure my fair share of comments like “You have more facial hair than your boyfriend”. The first time I got my period I thought I was sick because my stomach hurt so badly. Then we realized what it was. As Rachel McAdams (who played Margaret’s mom) would say “Welcome to womanhood”

Of course, a big part of the movie is the aspect of God- whether there is or isn’t one and where can we find him. Margaret was raised areligious in an areligious household (her parents were both burned by religion and they come from separate backgrounds- Christian mother, Jewish father), but she talks to God and though he does not talk back directly, I believe the events he puts in place are his response. We all have our crosses to bear- whether they are small or big boobs, a divorce in the family, or the death of a parent. Some are undoubtedly more serious than others but we cannot know the burdens others have. We only know our own difficulties and we must deal with those in the best way we can.

I was raised Catholic but my mother and brother are atheists. My father is a devout believer however and so is his side of the family. I believe in God quite strongly although I have had moments where my faith has wavered, just as Margaret’s did in the movie in the wake of difficult events. I don’t subscribe to a specific religious doctrine and I think the way people fight over religious beliefs is stupid (which Margaret also mentions in the movie). However, I go to church, I pray and I read religious texts. I even taught religion for a little while and I am both confirmed and a confirmation sponsor of my little cousin (when she asked me was one of the proudest moments of my life). All this helps me handle my own crosses (namely OCD, bipolar disorder, and pretty bad Crohn’s disease). Undoubtedly there will be others as I go through life. But like Margaret, I can find comfort by talking to someone (which I think is also known as praying) even about something as intimate as my changing body.