JUDY BLUME FOREVER (Sundance FF2023) – Review by Leslie Combemale
From the charming picture of colossally successful and beloved author Judy Blume, smiling into the camera in bright blue glasses, that accompanies all the press info for the new documentary on her life and career, Judy Blume Forever, she looks like everybody’s favorite grandmother or great aunt. She’s holding what is arguably her most famous novel, Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret, looking friendly, playful, and inviting. Only people who know the full story about this pioneer in what has become known as Young Adult literature are aware of how much of a radical trailblazer she was and still is, even well into her 80s. Award winning documentarians and co-writer/producers Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok go back to Blume’s childhood and follow her progression from wanna-be novelist and mom, to divorced, famous, and famously banned author, to feminist storytelling icon. Even in Blume’s worst moments, it’s clear she’s always true to herself, fearless honest, and passionately devoted to a life lived with meaning.
Novels like “-Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret”-, Forever, and Deenie spoke about menstruation, masturbation, disabilities, bullying, and so many other issues, often specific to the female experience, that had never been discussed in a novel. Using one curse word got an entire book banned, as did one two line passage in another book that makes reference to female masturbation. This honesty led to scores of young fans writing her their complicated feelings about incest, suicide, sexuality, and loss in ways they could never reveal to their own parents.
Blume speaks directly to the camera as she shares memories and considers moments of her life as a writer. She does it with the same blunt, insightful, clear-eyed voice generations of readers, especially pre-teen and teenaged female readers, found at once spellbinding and instructive. Added to Blume’s remembrances, there is archival footage of her from various stages of her career, as she was interviewed or made appearances many times onscreen. There are also contributions of famous folks who love her books, like Molly Ringwald and Samantha Bee, as well as feminist and YA historians. Best of all in terms of really speaking to who Blume was to her audience, though, are the references to the many fan letters Blume received over the years, which she turned over to Yale in 2017. She corresponded with a number of her fans, including Lorrie Kim, interviewed in the documentary, who wrote her for many years starting as a 9-year-old. In one letter, Kim wrote Blume had taught her about her period, a subject her own mother had avoided.
The term she-ro is used far too often or too liberally in referencing inspiring women, but as much as Blume herself has regrets and sadness about choices in her own life, she deserves that label, and represents a wonderful example to women and girls of all ages. Pardo and Wolchok’s film shows that the author, who still runs a bookstore with her husband in Key West, has demonstrated a commitment to growth, creativity, and service to others her entire life and career. One historian said of the book Deenie, which is still banned in a number of states because it is “deemed inappropriate for adolescents” though reference to masturbation represents only a fraction of the book, “Come for the female masturbation, stay for the empowerment.” Talking about sex when speaking to teens is still controversial. This author, who dared celebrate female pleasure in a 1973 geared towards teens, is still controversial. She’s also awesome. See Judy Blume Forever to see why we should love and celebrate her as the she-ro she is.
4 out of 5 stars
