Saturday, April 22, 2023 4:29:34 AM | (Age Not Specified)
Before Judy Blume became one of the best-selling authors in history, she wrote on weekdays during the two hours her children attended pre-school. This practice began as an exercise in creativity. Blume did not feel emotionally invested in the characters from her first two books. It's more about girlhood memories. Without supportive parents or peers, children starting to physically develop may be alone and worrying what will happen. By the late 70s, the book has been translated into 39 languages, selling more than 90 million copies. No matter your race, color or sex, the coming of age aspects of her writing hit home.
An adaptation requires you to make certain changes to deliver the spirit of the book on screen. There's something reassuring about knowing our moms and grandmas and all of the women throughout history have gone through the same thing. We've references to Sofia Coppola’s "The Virgin Suicides". There's a cliché of 70s culture comprising Pop Art colors and ‘Yellow Submarine’ graphics. But that's only one really narrow part of the 70s. Women throughout history have been taught to feel negatively about their bodies and about the processes that their bodies go through. That’s very damaging to a woman’s self-respect. It’s about growing up, standing on our own, being individuals, entering into life with confidence. It's a girl story of puberty or a pre-teen story. It's a story of awkwardness. Sure we're all connected, we’re all changing in our own ways and we just need to be there for each other. (2,5)
Written by Gregory Mann
