Judy Blume Was Told Not To Trust Hollywood Before Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

Judy Blume is one of the most popular and influential authors of children's and young adult fiction in the modern age of literature, but her relationship with the larger media world has been complicated. "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" might just be her most famous work, though it's remarkably taken more than 50 years for a proper screen adaptation — perhaps because of the long, frustrating history of Blume's relationship with Hollywood producers. However, a meeting with producer James L. Brooks and director Kelly Fremon Craig convinced her to finally sell the rights to her beloved coming-of-age novel, even after Brooks warned her of the dangers of the Hollywood system.

Blume frequently covers topics related to sexuality, identity, and all the awkward bodily changes that come with puberty, but the outrage and frequent threats of censorship from conservative critics weren't enough to shatter her best-selling author status. Her popularity, however, has seemingly prevented Hollywood executives from recognizing the deeply personal nature of her work. "Judy, sweetheart," they would call her, she told Entertainment Weekly, explaining that they were only interested in profit and not passion. As far as Blume adaptations go, there was a little-known TV movie based on "Forever" that aired on CBS in 1978, as well as a short-lived series in 1995 called "Fudge" based on "Fudge-a-Mania." Beyond that, though, her works were oft-relegated to obscure sections of TV history. It wasn't until 2012, when Blume's son Lawrence directed the independent feature "Tiger Eyes," that one of the author's works got a theatrical adaptation.

Judy Blume mentioned to The Chronicle that she "got a lot of calls from Hollywood" before she "took 'Margaret' off the table." "I'm never doing this. Not every book has to be a movie," she adamantly stated, expressing that she "just didn't think it would ever be done in the way that [she] would have felt proud of." The author was thus highly aware of the cynical nature of Hollywood when James L. Brooks, producer of sitcoms like "The Simpsons," "Taxi," and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," told her what she probably suspected already.

He and Kelly Fremon Craig traveled down to Blume's home in Key West in the hopes of procuring the film rights to "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret," but he told Variety: "I spent most of our time with Judy warning her about Hollywood and all the things it will do to you — basically, I warned her about folks like me." However, Blume was won over by the pair's previous outing in the Bildungsroman territory, "The Edge of Seventeen." The tender, sympathetic nature of the film, which stars Hailee Steinfeld and Woody Harrelson, seemed to convince the author that Brooks and Craig were, in fact, passionate about the material. Finally, Margaret has made it to Hollywood, where, after looking for half a century, she has finally found a warm home.

"Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" is now playing in theaters.