JUDY BLUME FOREVER - Mark Reviews Movies

Judy Blume Forever, Amazon Studios

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Review by Mark Dujsik | April 20, 2023

The name Judy Blume is pretty much synonymous with books for young people, and it has been that way for about 50 years. In addition to being an affectionate biographical documentary about the author, Judy Blume Forever makes a convincing case that generations for the next 50 years—and maybe beyond—will see something in and learn something about themselves within Blume's books. Well, that is as long as the powers-that-be will actually let those kids read the books in the first place.

That's the other striking element of Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok's documentary, which lets us see how history has been constantly repeating itself in relationship to books and media that certain people find "offensive" in some way. It's especially true now—a fact that seems both difficult to believe and, with weekly or even daily news reports of various governments restricting access to the written word, almost impossible to comprehend.

Are we still doing this same old song, in which conservative hacks get people mad about how certain words and phrases and ideas could corrupt the youth, and dance, in which legislatures and public officials ignore the First Amendment to accommodate the loudest and most ignorant and most intentionally misleading? Is this really where we're at in this country?

Those who see through such displays will likely find a lot to appreciate about this film, which serves as a potent reminder of just how much impact the right book read at the right time can have on someone's mind, and Blume herself, who proves that her capacity for empathy goes beyond her ability to connect with young readers across decades through her books. She seems like one of kindest, gentlest, and most open souls one might ever have the great fortune to encounter.

The most endearing part of Pardo and Wolchok's film is that it allows us to experience such an encounter. If one grew up reading all of Blume's books or only knows of her through her cultural impact or has no idea who she is, the chance to listen to her discuss her life, her career, and her thoughts on ideas connected to all of that is its own reward.

Blume is a storyteller, after all—one who, as she humbly says (The woman seems incapable of being anything but sincerely humble), has a talent for "total recall" about her life since around the age of 8. Most of her memories of childhood, growing up in a suburban home in New Jersey, are of a mother who wasn't very communicative about emotions and a father who adored her. As for the other stuff that arises with adolescence, it's pretty much there in her books, and her honesty about feeling different, awkward, and out-of-place, while filled with doubts about one's sense of self and the world, is why those books continue to be as popular as they have been.

The biography here balances those personal details—as Blume heads off to college, only to marry and start a family young during the not-so-idyllic 1950s—and the content of her books, as well as the context of the impact of her writing on individual and cultural levels. For some of the specific power, the filmmakers interview some notable readers of Blume's work, from other authors to folks in other creative fields who grew up reading it, and some fans whose names aren't going to be recognizable.

After Blume started writing because she realized a knack for making up stories for her two kids, the fame took its time. When it arrived, so did the letters from kids across the country looking for answers and support that wasn't coming from their parents, relatives, teachers, or friends. Here, we meet readers with whom Blume carried on years-or-decades-long correspondences. Going through some of those letters among the archive dedicated to her, she can still remember their stories and how much it meant that children entrusted their feelings to her, as well as acknowledging the responsibility of serving that role for so many.

The main reason for that connection is obvious, just from general descriptions of and brief passages from some of Blume's books. In them, she wrote freely of subjects like menstruation, physical development during adolescence, the awakening of sexual curiosity, and bullying—before people even used that word in common parlance. Despite the desire of a concerning number of people to deny the fact, such are matters that kids have experienced, still experience, and will continue to experience, regardless of how many books on the subject local and governments can try to ban.

Blume is very much aware of this modern trend, because she was one of its targets from the 1980s onward, as the so-called "moral majority" took hold of power and influence. There are lessons to be learned from her time as a subject of controversy, particularly in the manner with which she took Pat Buchanan to task on a TV debate program, openly wondering why the adult man seemed so pre-occupied with a single sentence mentioning a euphemism for masturbation within the context of a book about a girl with scoliosis. It's a very good question, and one of a same tenor that should be asked of those being very vocal about allegedly immoral content of books, while ignoring any kind of context and the reality of what it's like to be a kid or a teenager.

With Judy Blume Forever, we gain an appreciation for Blume as an influential writer, a strong advocate, and a very lovely person. Getting to meet and get to know her by way of this film is a most pleasant experience.

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