Movie review
March 29, 2023 · 106 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
This 2023 movie is a straight adaptation of the 1970 Judy Blume book. An 11-year-old girl moves to the suburbs, deals with new friends, gets her period, crushes on boys, and privately asks God for help with it all. The whole thing stays personal and 1970s-style with no modern lectures or agendas thrown in. Casting feels natural for the story and era. Most viewers will just see a classic girl coming-of-age tale.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret..
Woke representation / casting
Director aimed for some diversity in the friend group so more girls could relate, adding light racial variety to a mostly white 1970s story world, but nothing jarring or audience-visible as forced.
Woke political dialogue
No explicit activist or modern political lines; only natural kid questions about God and family faith.
Identity-driven story themes
Story runs on the girl’s everyday puberty experiences, crushes, and private faith search – classic and personal, not activist framing.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Mild look at interfaith parents staying neutral so Margaret can figure out religion herself; no heavy takedown of traditions or institutions.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No meaningful backlash claiming too woke or forced identity politics (only the usual decades-old debates over the book’s honesty on periods).
Creator track record context
Kelly Fremon Craig makes authentic female coming-of-age films but shows no clear history of strong activist or identity-politics projects.
Production
