Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Greetings again from the darkness. Is it too good to be true? We often ask that question in life, but when it comes to Fred Rogers of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood", director Morgan Neville's documentary proves the answer is no ... he was good and true. Fred Rogers hosted the children's TV show on PBS for more than 30 years, starting in 1968. The terrific (and surprisingly emotional) film provides the background of the show, and more importantly, profiles a wonderful man.

Director Neville (BEST OF ENEMIES: BUCKLEY VS VIDAL, 2015) has produced numerous biopics on musicians ranging from Keith Richards to Muddy Waters to Johnny Cash to Brian Wilson. His subject this time out was known for his singing the show's familiar opening number, and his lyrical legacy was his substantial impact on many generations of children. Mr. Rogers was an ordained minister and, in the early days of television, recognized that violent cartoons were not appropriate programming for the formative childhood years. Even in the early years, he was an outlier with sincerity and wholesomeness in entertainment. He never shied away from tough topics - not even death - whether it was the assassination of Robert Kennedy or a dead fish in the aquarium on set. He spoke directly to children in a voice and language they understood.

There are interviews with fellow cast members, long timer crew members, and relatives, including his wife Joanne. We hear Francois Clemmons (Officer Clemmons on the show) discuss how Mr. Rogers addressed Clemmons' homosexuality and race, adding poignancy to the shared televised foot bath. Archival footage takes us back to the early years, and we see Lady Aberlin and Daniel Tiger in both black and white and color segments. We learn that the puppet Daniel most resembled the personality of the host himself ... a quiet, patient, compassionate being who cared about others.

We see footage of Fred Rogers testifying in front of a Senate sub-committee to prevent funding for PBS from being eliminated, and we see numerous cardigan sweaters and tennis shoes. Mostly we see the approach of a man who built a legacy on kindness and human decency ... a lifetime pursuit of uniting that led to struggles with depression. His obsession with 143 - both his weight and his code for "I love you" provides some insight into his personality, and mostly we hear others speak of his lasting impact.

Rather than comedy and pranks, Mr. Rogers was intent on making kids feel safe and secure in a scary world. Sure he educated - often subtly - but it was his innate ability to comfort that kept kids coming back. There are naysayers who say he is responsible for generations of entitled kids who grew into entitled adults, but the film addresses this by showing Roger's commencement address where he clearly explains the "special" label. His final show was in 2000 and he died in 2003. His legacy is simple yet powerful. We can each do better. We can each be better. We can each be better neighbors.

My first thought after viewing this film was: How impressive is it that a documentary which presents itself as a story about a life of a man, gets us to think more about ourselves internally than it does make us think of the life of Mr. Rogers. All I could think about was what am I doing to improve the world or improve myself? How can you love your neighbor as honestly or as devotingly as Fred Rogers? Who was it that helped me get where I am today? How do I become the best person I can be? It's these questions that make appreciate "Won't you be my neighbor?" even more every second I think about it. I would consider myself a casual viewer of the original show, only ever seeing the episodes late in its run. But it always struck me as powerful because of the earnestness and genuinity of Fred Rogers and the messages he was trying to get across. Is our world in a better place now than it was before the show? Probably not. But his message of loving yourself and loving your neighbor is something that transcends generations and ideals. I would be hard pressed to find a film that was as emotionally impactful as this in 2018. It's exactly the type of film we need at right now, when our world is at a low. Rogers truly represented the best a man could be and it's time we got back to viewing life the way he did. Love is at the root of everything, love or the lack of it. Wow, if there was ever a quote that could represent an entire population, generation, or world. That may be it.

10/10

Won't you Be My Neighbor? was enthusiastically received at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. The film is a beautiful heartwarming tribute to Fred Rogers and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood - a show which changed children's television forever. The film highlights Rogers' humanity and decency and shows how he could bring his message of decency to children. Rogers was a Christian pastor who brought his values to his work on TV without ever trying to preach his religion. Perhaps the most powerful clip was during the first week of his show in February, 1968 (at the peak of the Vietnam War) when his show starts out encouraging that walls be torn down. His message remains amazingly timely today. It also underscores the importance of PBS - which the films shows Rogers defending successfully at a Congressional hearing. The interviews with his widow and his co-workers capture the essence of the human being. The film is well-written and edited and will remind millions of the impact of a remarkable man. Highly recommended.

Fred Rogers is one of the best humans to ever walk this Earth. I'm as black hearted and cynical as anyone thats ever walked the Earth. Mr. Rogers always hits in the feels because he is the real deal. He wants nothing from you, only that you be understood and proud of yourself.

This doc is a love letter to Mr. Rogers so it is what you'd expect, no surprises, a few more interviews than I've seen in the past all arranged well.

When we think of radicals and revolutionary figures of the sixties, names like Ché Guevara or Stokely Carmichael might come up, but probably the last person we would think of would be Fred McFeely Rogers, the soft-spoken writer, producer, and star of the long-running children's television program "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" (1968-2001). Yet the theme song that opened each show, "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" with its line, "I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you," was a pretty radical idea to those who did not relish having some folks being their neighbor. Rogers' lifelong devotion to building an alternative community that could serve as a model of inclusion for children and adults to emulate is movingly documented by Oscar winning director Morgan Neville ("20 Feet from Stardom") in Won't You Be My Neighbor?

The film is an inspiring tribute to Rogers, a pacifist and former ordained Presbyterian minister who, over a period of more than thirty years on television, stood for the idea that there is a divine spark in all of us that needs to be nurtured. Looking at Rogers' life and career through the eyes of those who knew him the best, those interviewed include his wife Joanne, his two sons John and James who describe the challenge of having "the second Christ as a father," cast members David Newell (Mr. McFeely), François Clemmons (Officer Clemmons), and Joe Negri ("Handyman"), and guests such as acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo-Ma.

Rogers was originally drawn to educational television as a result of his disdain for the demeaning and violent cartoons that marked children's television programming at the time. While his show was usually lighthearted, he did not shun controversial topics such as death, feeling blue, divorce, and assassination which he talked about with the children after Bobby Kennedy was killed. While Neville does not go into any depth about Rogers' personal or political life, it does single out his stand against the Vietnam War, his bringing an African-American teacher and a group of black students into his home and, after the assassination of Martin Luther King, his invitation to a black police officer (Clemmons) to be on his show during which they sat and talked together with their feet in a wading pool.

Also documented is Rogers' 1969 testimony before the United States Senate requesting a $20 million grant to continue funding PBS after their budget had been cut because of the Vietnam War. At the hearing, he won over the reluctant Rhode Island Senator John Pastore by reciting the lyrics to the song "What Do You Do with the Mad that You Feel?" After listening to the words, Pastore declared, "I think it's wonderful. I think it's wonderful. Looks like you just earned the $20 million." Teased by classmates for being overweight as a boy (they called him "Fat Freddie"), Rogers never forgot the pain of being an outsider and had to deal with his own problems of self-esteem and depression his whole life.

Rogers' wife Joanne tells us that he used his puppets including Daniel Striped Tiger to reflect on his most vulnerable feelings, one of ten voices that he used on the program. One of the most moving sequences is his conversation with Jeff Erlanger, a severely disabled ten-year-old, in which they talk openly about disability and the sadness that often accompanies it. To make sure we know that he was not a saint, Neville recounts how Rogers told Clemmons not to be seen frequenting a gay bar because the show would lose sponsors, but also makes clear that he eventually came around to fully accept him regardless of his sexual preferences.

The centerpiece of Won't You Be My Neighbor? is not politics, however, but Mister Rogers' ability to touch the lives of children and make them feel special, many of whom responded to him with lifelong affection. Accused of promoting a feeling of entitlement in each child, Rogers said, "Only people who take the time to see our work can begin to understand the depth of it." Professor Michael Long, the author of the 2015 book "Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering the Countercultural Mister Rogers," says that he spent his life assuring children that no matter what they look like, no matter who they were, no matter where they came from, deep within them was something that was lovable and capable of loving." Especially today when some children are being used as political pawns, it is inspiring to be reminded of what kindness and love is all about.