Review of Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
***** out of five stars
Coming to the Celebration! Cinema Grand Rapids on June 28
Currently showing at the Harkins Chandler Fashion 20
by Walter G. Tarrow
A must see for every American, for every one of US.
An authentic and real look at the power of connecting with each one of us through kindness and love. A documentary that gives us, from the heart, a biblically inspired guide for all who really, truly, honestly, want to know the right way, the best way, to Make America Great Again.
Fred Rogers sought, thought of, and found a way to touch all children and the child in all of us. And, for almost fifty years, he warmly welcomed our children and us to his neighborhoods. He helped us all face life, our fears, with true, deep, and yet such simple understanding.
His pulpit was television and his congregation were children. His mission to reach children of all ages with a willingness to listen and an authentic desire to understand others rose out of his concern with consumer driven, loud and in every child’s face corporate manipulation, and pies in the face television that was emerging already in the medium’s infancy.
He believed and preached that our greatest responsibility as parents and adults was to protect our children and the best way to do that was with love, with the belief that God has given all of us the potential to do great things, no matter how small those things may seem.
His “sermons” were life lessons, through song, puppetry and play, that reflected the real life tribulations coming out from the television screens in virtually every American household. Through various characters and stories played out in this, his, neighborhood, he addressed painful and difficult subjects such as war, divorce and death, that came from his unending desire to understand kids from their perspectives. In his iconic, and almost saintly fashion, he was able to touch the souls of children and adults alike.
The film offers generous clips and is constructed in such a fashion that, strumming our heartstrings, it gives us a glimpse into Fred’s raison d’etre, the source of his life’s mission. Through the use of animated sequences, much like Fred’s use of puppets, especially Daniel the Striped Tiger, we are given some insights into a lonely, bullied, child who, in reacting to the trials of his childhood, dedicated his all to saving each and every little one from the despair of a uncaring television reality which limits the smallest of us to no more than soulless consumers of their products.
Two sequences in particular moved me, touched my heart, and brought the tears. When the fledgling Public Broadcasting Service was facing severe federal funding budget cuts, Fred appeared before Congress, and faced the skeptical Senator Pastore, who had made it clear that he was fed up with hearing prepared lengthy testimony. Fred responded, in true Mister Rogers’ fashion, and sang a song, a song he sang to the kids about being mad. After that, even Senator Pastore had to give Fred and PBS their $20 million.
Fred always guided children to face their fears and the challenges of life by seeking out those who help. He had the unshakable conviction, the eternal faith, that, no matter the problem, someone would always be there to provide the solution and that every one of us, even as, especially as, children, has the potential for a special, and not necessarily sensational, greatness. So he would ask, as his mother would ask of him, think of who the helpers are.
At the end of the film, the filmmakers ask that of those interviewed for the film, important people in Fred’s life, like his wife, his sons, his coworkers, even Yo-Yo Ma. And, in silence, we watch each think, and watch the subtle, and profound, changes on their faces, as each realizes their helper, and, as I realized my helper, as my wife came to my mind, so came the tears, and, for a moment, joy replaced the fear.
I can honestly say without any fear of contradiction that Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is THE feel good movie of the year. And, given what’s happening now at our border, and throughout this once great nation of ours, it is the movie we need right now. In Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, warm is good, hot is not. But he never whitewashed reality, just gave us kids the courage to face it. And to find that something inside that makes each one of us special.
So be nice to yourself and the rest of us. Take a break from the endless vitriol of today, get a little kindness and a whole lotta love, and seek out Won’t You Be My Neighbor? If you don’t make it to the theater now, or even if you do, although it doesn’t have the warm-heartedness of Neighbor, watch the documentary Mister Rogers and Me. It’s currently streaming on Amazon Prime and is available on DVD.
Peace and love.
Thank you. I’ll see it; I look forward to it.
Walter, thank you for this glowing review, and thanks for the heads up as to the showing at my local theater. I will be going tomorrow, God willing and the creek don’t rise. I love how you have waxed poetic about this man I so deeply admire, and that you have called it THE feel good movie and a must-see. Peace and love right back at you!
The film about Fred Rogers, the beloved figure of American childhood, has made $4.9 million at the box office since it opened on June 8—more than 20 times the typical haul for a documentary. In interviews, director Morgan Neville paints the documentary’s success as indicative of our times. “We’re in this period in our culture where I feel like nobody wants to be an adult anymore,” Neville recently told Deadline. “A character like Fred takes us back to how we should treat each other.”