Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
As with Morgan Neville’s last film, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” came at the exact right time for me. A film that shines light on a genuine good in a world that feels scary and dark, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” gives us a look into the person of Fred Rogers, and what a startling accomplishment his show, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” was in terms of quality television for children, and for the world, entirely. Though I certainly remembered watching the iteration of the program that Fred started to run in the 1980s, I had put it out of mind for some time because, well, my early experiences with media- and my memories of them- are more dominated by my love of movies.
One thing that I had forgotten about Fred Rogers was that he was an ordained minister, but if you’re going strictly off of his television shows, that’s something that wouldn’t be in your memory banks because, he didn’t flaunt that on “Neighborhood.” I couldn’t help but wonder how much better the state of religion in America would be if more people of faith followed Fred’s example of using their talents and ideas for the purpose of creating media that enlightened people and raised them up without focusing solely on biblical teachings. Of course, this is part of what made Fred Rogers such a revolutionary individual in the realm of not just religious figures in media, but also pop culture. He was not just following a purpose to bring people the word of God, but rather called to teach people- and children, in particular- how to relate to a world that could be scary and filled with dangerous things and ideas. The way he did it was to not talk down to children, and to treat them with respect. He wasn’t about just entertaining them, but also relating to them on a deeper level, and preparing them for the real world. He was truly doing God’s work with that program.
The promotional material for “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” has centered on Neville’s Oscar-winning documentary, “20 Feet From Stardom,” but a closer spiritual cousin to this film exists in the film he did in between these two, “The Music of Strangers.” That film was about a world music ensemble founded by Yo-Yo Ma- who made one of his first public appearances on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” and it should how music worked as a universal language, and could bring people from different backgrounds, and different experiences, together. That film was an important one to my cinematic experiences two summers ago, and Neville has made another one that reaches me on a personal level here, and not just because I watched Rogers’s show when I was a kid. In a world, and point in our country, where corruption and the worst of people in emphasized day in and day out by the media, Fred Rogers’s life stands as one of absolute good, and hearing about the experiences of him from his wife, his sons, and his collaborators on the different iterations of his show, it makes me appreciate greater what he had to offer the world, and why he was someone to be looked up to not just for his message, but how he lived his life.
Near the end of Neville’s film, we see a montage of modern television commentators and articles questioning Rogers’s approach to children, drawing conclusions that Fred’s message of “every child is unique and special” turned generations of children into selfish and lazy and thinking they didn’t have to work for anything, which is- quite honestly- an absurd argument even before you hear the rebuttal Fred gives during a commencement address. We also see quick glimpses of protesters (I’m guessing the Westboro church; while never called by name, their signs make me think it is Westboro) across from Rogers’s memorial service, and how people there saw the children in the crowd, and how unhappy they looked to be holding up the signs they were holding, and thought of how Fred would approach them. It’s a testament to the legacy of Fred Rogers, both the television personality and man, that his life stands up to the scrutiny of more cynical voices, and is still fondly remembered for what it provided for not just the people who grew up with it, but the people who made it along with him.
