Forever de Judy Blume

"I sell banned books" is the sign in her Florida bookstore today.

This story of the arc of the life of a woman who broke the barriers to the topics in children's literature couldn't be more relevant today. Her trajectory from suburban mom, through her success in connecting with kids around the world, is a lovely and genuine story of a butterfly emerging from her cocoon.

Her run-ins with book banning moral panic in the 1980s has crucial parallels with today's same exact drama. And we can learn a lot from her response--nevertheless, she persisted.

Besides her life story, we get to see the impact she had on her readers and her touching responses to them.

Blume is a gem, and has been a quiet force for good for decades. Her timeless books will also be relevant for decades to come.

As "Judy Blume Forever" )2023 release; 98 min) opens, today's Judy Blume is reading an excerpt from her 1973 children's book "Deenie", and we see Judy, now 85, running her "Books & Bools" store in Key West. We then go back in time to Judy's upbringing and youth as a Jewish girl, and her keen interest in imagining fictional characters. At this point we are less than 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this documentary is co-directed (and co-produced) by Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok. Here they assess the life and times of Judy Blume. It's mostly Blume herself talking into the camera and recalling events (such as when she got her first book published and how it changed her life). There are also various talking heads, of which by far the most interesting ones are the women who wrote to Judy Blume to pour out their hearts and their insecurities all these decades ago, and how it affected them (one of them confesses "it literally saved my life". (We learn that Blume was receiving thousands of letter each month.) But this documentary is unintentionally also a very timely reminder that what we are currently witnessing in this country, where MAGA extremists are calling for book bans (among many other things) and defunding of public libraries, is not new. In fact in the early 80s we saw the same thing (and several of Blume's books were banned). What a sad state of affairs that it seems we didn't learn a thing from those events now 40 years later.

"Judy Blume Forever" premiered at this year's Sundance film festival to immediate critical acclaim. There is good reason why this documentary is currently rated 94% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie started streaming on Amazon Prime this past weekend. I had read a positive review in a recent New York Times, and couldn't wait to see it. If you have any interest in Judy Blume or in freedom of speech, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Oh man, a little time capsule of greatness. Watch this! The birth of Young Adult fiction, the importance of writing the way things are rather than the way someone tells you they should be - kids loved her so much. A truth teller. So relevant to today also! Now I need to go on a Judy Blume binge!

This documentary tells the arc of Judy Blume's life and writing. Very good.

Reminded me of the first time I read Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret, and I had to go on a deep house dive to find my old copy. I never knew she dabbled in adult fiction, and now I have "Wifey" on my "to read" list because of that.

I also loved the correspondence with her fans through letters. Fun stories.

If you ever read Judy Blume, this is a must watch. If you never read Judy Blume, you also should watch it so you can grasp the historical greatness of this author.

I loved getting to know the woman who wrote all those incredible books. She literally helped me through puberty and all of high school.

Every book has a wonderful story then at the end you feel better and confident that whatever your going through you will be ok. That's a comfort to someone who as a kid or teenager you didn't see past what was going on in my life. I really appreciate the tribute to this wonderful woman.

Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are the best at whatever they put out whether it's movies or documentaries.

I absolutely recommend this documentary to all ages. You will enjoy it.

As someone who grew up with Judy Blume books, this documentary was very important and very powerful. To hear Judy Blume speak so poignantly about her own life in terms of the messages she wanted to share was amazing.

Granted, as a former avid reader of her books, this documentary was very moving. To the uninitiated, it might come off as abrasive. She is honest and upfront with the challenges her life and family held for her.

At one point she discusses the value of the word fuck. Most parents would argue the word doesn't belong in a book meant for children. She provides not only explanation but honest justification for using the word.

Judy Blume changed the world for many young people when books were all we had.