WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? (2018) - This will make you miss Mr. Rogers

Won't You Be My Neighbor? is a documentary film directed by Morgan Neville and follows the life of Fred Rogers as he created and hosted Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, an American children's television program that aired from 1963 to 2001. The documentary features interviews with several of Fred Rogers' family and friends interspersed with clips from Mister Rogers' and other sources, and ultimately shows us that the quiet, humble, loving man who was a key figure in the early lives of millions of people really was that perfect in real life.

I often find that it's hard to keep your childhood heroes pure. Far too often, the stars of our youth whom we idolize tend to be complete and utter assholes in real life (see Jackie Chan) or they get swallowed by Hollywood celebrity culture and become self-entitled narcissists (see basically every child star that ever was). And I think that really is the central idea behind this documentary. It's so scary to believe that perfect man Mr. Rogers could be anything less than perfect, and yet ironically it's so hard to believe that he really was the great guy we all believe him to be.

That's why all those theories popped up about him being a sniper in Vietnam and how he had a really shady past. That's why there were all these protests (as shown in the documentary) where people rallied against him, claiming he was going to hell for daring to show some kindness to people of color and the LGBT community, even some saying that he single-handedly ruined an entire generation of Americans by *gasp!* daring to tell children that they were special just the way they were. Those goddamn millennials

And yet, as we see in this documentary, Fred Rogers kind of was perfect. He was kind, he was gentle, he was humble, and most of all, he truly loved children. He saw the television medium for its true potential and sought out to create the television show that he would have wanted to show his own children. With an extremely low production value, a middle-aged man as the host, and an entire half hour of just... talking, there seems to be nothing to appeal to children at all. And yet to the surprise of probably everyone except Fred Rogers, the show became a huge hit--all because it was a show that genuinely wanted to teach the new generation rather than simply entertain them.

Throughout the documentary, we get to see how almost ridiculously good of a man he was. We see him actively take a stance for the acceptance of black Americans and we see him teach children about complex concepts such as assassination, death, divorce, the difference between reality and make-belief, and drugs. We even see him famously using one of his own songs to defend his show's funding in a court case. In fact, the only time the documentary shows any sort of less-than-perfect action from Mr. Rogers is when he wasn't quite 100% accepting of one of his gay fellow actors, and even so he eventually came around to fully accepting him all the while the actor never saw Fred Rogers as anything less than the second Christ. This was a man who was truly good in all that he did and an entire generation of Americans have him to thank for shaping their early lives.

And this documentary ultimately leaves me with a very melancholic mood because I don't know if a show like his could ever be aired these days. Children's shows nowadays are filled with exactly the same kind of flashy, shallow entertainment that Fred Rogers despised, and while I'm sure there are several very good educational shows still out there, I don't think--in this age of political correctness and overprotection of children's sensitivities--there could ever be a show that talked about all the same kind of hard concepts that Mr. Rogers felt kids need to learn. I feel sorry that these lessons aren't taught today, because these are the same lessons I still carry twenty years later.

I remember Mr. Rogers teaching me about patience, acceptance, imagination, tobacco, and 9/11. I remember being able to identify with Daniel Striped Tiger's insecurities. I remember King Friday XIII, Queen Sara Saturday, and Lady Elaine Fairchilde. I remember the little neighborhood trolley.

If ever there was to be another show as wholesome as Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the world would be all the better for it. But, as the documentary implies, perhaps something as perfect as Mr. Rogers and his neighborhood really could have only happened in its time.

Final Verdict

If your life has been shaped in any way by Mr. Rogers, you owe it to yourself to see this documentary. Fred Rogers was a very, very good man who always believed everyone should be reminded that he or she is loved just the way they are, a message that is so easily forgotten in this not-so-neighborly world we live in. He may not have been a second Christ, but a lot of people are convinced he is and this documentary does a great job of letting you see why.

Score: B+