Like so many in my generation and, well, neighboring ones, I had Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as part of my childhood. I was never more than a casual fan, and I don't remember nearly as much of it as I do of, say, Sesame Street. What little I saw of MRN in later years mainly just struck me as boring. But between the trailer and director Morgan Neville's 20 Feet from Stardom cred, I decided this documentary was my best bet for getting my money's worth on MoviePass this month.
The telling of Fred Rogers' story is not entirely linear, nor is the footage all chronologically presented. It basically starts with him just discovering television as an adult, right before he had planned to go to seminary. Children's programming at that time was less than wholesome, and he sought to change that pattern, among others. Initially, he remained behind the scenes of The Children's Corner, until he felt the need for a more direct approach.
If you hope to get some real dirt on a man who presented himself so innocuously, you're in for disappointment. We learn of few things he said or did that he'd hate for children to know, and only a really priggish adult would feel scandalized by any of them. At worst, he might express appreciation of some slightly off-color humor. Actually, the one thing that annoyed me a little was his lack of appreciation -- for other popular TV shows, including apparently many I liked as a kid. Some weren't even remotely violent, just clownish and unhelpful for instilling values.
You might momentarily resent him for telling François Clemmons not to attend gay bars anymore. Please understand that he wasn't evangelizing; he worried about Clemmons getting fired. It was especially important for the token Black guy to walk a fine line in the days when the two of them dipping their feet in the same wading pool on screen was pretty daring. Rogers later made clear that he felt great affection for Clemmons (who assures us that Rogers was not also gay).
With my inadequate memory, I'm left to wonder whether the '80s episodes I saw were just as likely as previous ones to get into controversial subjects such as war, divorce, and assassination. Rogers may have been big on make-believe, but he always wanted to help kids face the painful truth rather than distract them from it. Only in adulthood do I glean his exceptional import.
Evidently, the biggest objections to the show did not concern those subjects so much as his constant "You are special" message. In addition to the Westboro fringe types who can't tolerate tolerance, quite a few mainstream figures have blamed him for inspiring a sense of entitlement, however unintentionally. I doubt it: The first and probably biggest Rogers fans weren't millennials.
As for Rogers' personal stressors, we get only so many details. He was frequently bedridden in childhood, which honed his skills at improvising entertainment. Peers teased him for being overweight, hard as that is to picture now. In adulthood, his apparent main sorrows pertained to the problems of the world at large, so little of which subscribed to his philosophy.
Segments that are not Rogers footage, interviews with family and friends, or clips from other programs (including parodies) involve animation of his most signature puppet character, Daniel Striped Tiger. No, not in the style of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. This is rather simple and silent, representing Rogers' own (inner) child self, often with a good deal of angst.
In light of the slow pace of MRN, you may wonder about the pace of this movie. It's, eh, typical. Not hectic like some docs I could name, but the 94 minutes don't feel stretched or bloated.
At the end of the credits, viewers in my theater, myself included, applauded. I don't recall any documentary affecting me this deeply with emotions other than bitterness and depression. WYBMN? is just so sweet, cute, and poignant. It made me half-wish to be the next Mister Rogers. (Well, despite the cultural milieu, it might not be too late....)
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