Are you there god? It's Me, Bobby

On the weekend that the blockbuster movie "Superman" (by James Gunn) came out that promises to be one of the "hit movies of the summer," I watched a less heralded movie called "Are You there god, it's me, Margaret, based on the novel Judy Blume. Sometimes the movie business gets so caught up in the marketing and the pushing of blockbuster films that the really good movies get lost in the shuffle, the ones that everyone really should be seeing that reflect the cultural zeitgeist and just make us feel good about ourselves but also have cultural relevancy and a deeply compelling story, back to feeling like we did when we were younger. In 2022 I remember that movie being "CODA," the story about a young girl being the daughter of deaf adults, a movie I had no problem sitting through and hanging onto every scene, and laughing the whole way through. "Are You There God" is very much the same and it definitely earned its 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, just the soundtrack itself is full of bangers and Jeopardy worthy material like Dusty Springfield "Son of a preacher Man," The Guess Who's "These Eyes," and "Signed Sealed Delivered" by Stevie Wonder. So why didn't I hear about this movie in 2023 when it first came out? The release date serves as a clue: April 28, 2023, just weeks before the summer movie phenomenon known as "Barbenheimer," when both Barbie and Oppenheimer were released within weeks of each other and everyone had to go see one or the other, leaving no time or attention for movies like "Are You There God." I really appreciate a movie about girls growing up, because as a boy I watched plenty of boys movies like Sandlot, Mighty Ducks movies, Free Willy, etc., that focused on the adolescence and growing-up on boys, so much so I never considered how girls grew up, like it's a totally different world as in Men are from Mars, Girls are from Venus. It's a whole different world of worrying about bra sizes, having crushes on boys, secret societies, making friendships as a girl, what to wear at all times.......all topics brilliantly depicted by the movie and through Margaret's life, portrayed by Abby Ryder Fortson. I specifically remember when I also asked my own conception of "God" similar questions, like helping me through a test, winning my next game of chess, hoping I would get into my dream school. I sympathesized with Abby who struggles with her religious identity of being in a family with a Christian mom and Jewish dad; I never really got into religion at all but had seen so many depictions of God through media and heard good reviews about him, yet I had no relationship with God or any way to contact God, so I came up with my own inner God to guide me. To this day, I still have inner thoughts to a very non-specific "God" (not really thinking about a white guy with a huge beard), more of an amorphous being that transcends the world we live in, maybe more of like karma or some other cosmic force, to just consider blowing the winds of fortune my way, which they already have in many ways throughout my life, but maybe just a little more with some upcoming events in my life. I only wish I could be as pure of thougth as Margaret in the movie wishing for selfless things for her family and for other people, than for myself. Watch the movie! Currently streaming on Peacock, where Poker Face Season 2 is also streaming, and 300+ old episodes of the Weakest Link! I swear the trivia shows of America all use some of the same material, a lot of the questions I see on Jeopardy come up in various forms on other shows like Weakest Link too.