Ryan McNeil
The revolution was televised, and the revolution wore a cardigan.
WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? is the story of a groundbreaking television show that began in Pittsburgh in 1956. The show was Mister Rogers Neighborhood – Mister Rogers given name being Fred. This show had ramshackle sets, its low production value, and a host who looked more like he should be bringing you your mail and not talking to you from your television screen. The show was dedicated to children during a time where “children’s entertainment” was less about teaching and talking to kids than it was keeping them distracted and laughing.
As time went on, Mister Rogers became a national presence thanks to the 1960’s advent of national public broadcasting in America, and he seemingly became more emboldened behind a louder microphone. His kooky world of make-believe and his shabby little puppets found their way into more homes across the country and around the world.
Soon he wasn’t just teaching children about days of the week and colours in the rainbow, but teaching them what death means, or why people of different races shouldn’t be treated any different based on the colour of their skin.
Over time, Mister Rogers would become more than a television show. He would become a phenomenon, an institution, and a constant. He would represent us at our very best, and become an impossibly difficult bar to clear. His public presence would morph and evolve into something more curious, and sometimes more adult, but always every bit as warm and as loving.
He would become something of a shorthand, and to some an eye-rolling punchline, but the reality of his mission and his message would remain throughout his career and his life. He came here to love his neighbour, and to leave the world a better place than he found it. More than anything, he wanted to offer children a way to learn about the world and themselves in an environment free of judgement and fear.
In this life, it’s difficult to understand and articulate our feelings. To remain in-touch with one’s emotions for the better and the worse almost courts pain, heartbreak, fear, and anger. It’s far easier to close ourselves off, and to bury what we don’t understand. That allows us to endure at least, if not necessarily learn and grow. Keep it locked away – perhaps even permanently – and in so doing, one can cope. What Mister Rogers understood was that it wasn’t always enough just to cope – that we all needed to understand what the world could do to us in order to see what we could offer the world.
To that end, what was most admirable in Mister Rogers is a quality so few of us posses: he listened. We’re in an age of unrest and an age of entitlement, but more than anything else, we’re in an age where so many want to be heard. It’s a desire that crosses all boundaries, borders, and demographics. It’s not so much about answers or being in the right as it is that knowing just one person out there cares enough about us to listen to our thoughts and say “Thank you for sharing that with me”. Mister Rogers would say those words to communities that felt oppressed or underrepresented; he would say those words to a child often met with apathy or dismissal.
From the smallest amongst us to the tallest – it’s by listening that we learn. Perhaps Fred Rogers’ talent for listening was what made him such a good teacher, and likewise such an apt pupil. He was a student of the human condition; a fellow of caring, belonging, and nurture. Every time those television cameras turned on, he was handing in his essays and term papers, and showing his work…hoping that we might learn something profound in his findings.
It’s both tempting and easy to dismiss what Fred Rogers did as simplistic or naive. The show was “kids’ stuff”; an uncomplicated offering to an uncomplicated audience. Even today, it’s tempting to believe that the modern notion that we are all deserving of that which we aren’t stems back to Mister Rogers and his teachings that we are all unique. To do any of that betrays the complexity and importance of this mission of love.
The reality is that Rogers wanted us to remember that love – or its absence – was at the root of everything in life. What’s more, he wanted us to understand that our being special and unique doesn’t (as some have suggested) entitle us to anything specific…but it does mean that our very presence holds meaning and holds value. It’s a lesson that so many of us struggle with – that we can be trusted, and that we never have to fear the truth about who we are. That our very being is important to even one other person who will think about us even when we aren’t there.
This lesson is important, and even for many grown-ups it’s even a difficult lesson to fully grasp. We are often too caught up in our own worries, anxieties, and shortcomings that we lose sight of who we are. We become defined by what we own or what we do, and dragged do by details missing in those regards. Mister Rogers wanted us never to forget that these details aren’t what make us important to others, so their absence shouldn’t be fretted.
We are all worthy and capable just as we are, even if it’s only in the eyes of one person…but one person is really all we need.
In an age of cynicism, such teachings of affirmation are radical. In times of anger and unrest, love and understanding become revolutionary acts. This is as true today as it was when Fred Rogers made it the mission of his show. He is as radical and revolutionary now as he was then, and we could truly use a bit more revolution in our lives.
My only legit five star film this year. 2018 needs to step up.
I’m with you. Reviewed it recently and still think about it often. Can’t wait to go through it again. Plus it was a great way to introduce my kids to a man I spent so much time with as a child.