As we do our best to muddle through the age of Trump, I can think of no greater antidote to his demagoguery than wondering: what would Mister Rogers do?
This genuinely kind considerate loving man is what this country is in dire need of during these troubled times. Whenever I reach my wits end with the daily viciousness spewing from Trump, I will tune in a vintage Mister Rogers episode and think fondly of him, knowing there are far more people in this crazy mixed-up world like Fred than that mean old sour puss who sits in the White House, a sad, pathetically lonely empty figure who is destined to spend his twilight years in exile, cut off from a world which he so wanted to love him but will now look on him with nothing but scorn.
I do miss you dearly Mister Rogers. May God Bless.
DD
Manhattan
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The real Fred Rogers and the fictional Atticus Finch (to be clear, of To Kill a Mockingbird), have always been two of my aspirational models for adulthood, masculinity, and parenthood.
71
This man soothed and enlightened generations. I finally get a chance to write a positive comment to The Times.
63
Fred Rogers. Mensch.
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"Part of the experience of growing up in his era was rebelling against his influence. . . ."
Shame. Not everywhere. To punks in the late '80's, Mr. Rogers was beloved. He was legit -- 'authentic' in every way before the word became cliche. He was and remains the true counter-example to all the posers that make up the adult world.
71
My daughter, who was bright and sassy for her age, was a Sesame Street fan. My son, who was born with communication deficits (as in, he had no ability to communicate. Period.) had no patience for the Street's fast-paced action. He couldn't follow it; he couldn't understand the language. It didn't speak to him.
Enter Fred Rogers. Mr. Rogers spoke quietly and slowly. There were spaces between his sentences. My son, with his central auditory processing disorder, was able to concentrate on what was happening. Between the CAPD and global dysphasia, it was hard for him to acquire language; Mr. Rogers, however, spoke directly to him, looked right at him, and gave him a chance to absorb. It wasn't a miracle, but it was a chance for him to think someone was actually paying attention to HIM on television. I am forever grateful.
137
I used to watch Mister Rogers when I was a kid, and I was mesmerized by his kindness and wisdom.
It saddened me when so many people mocked Mister Rogers for the qualities that I admired.
I want to watch the documentary, and then some of the old shows so I can re-learn the lessons that he taught his audience.
If everyone did that, we would all be better off.
87
I was in high school and college in Mr. Roger's heyday, and did not think much of him.
But once on a family vacation in Atlantic City, my brothers and I were stuck in a hotel room before cable television. For the only time I can recall, we watched Mr. Rogers out of boredom.
His guest was crusty astronaut Colonel Tom Stafford. Mr. Rogers asked him flat out, "How do you make a BM in outer space?"
I admired his ingenuousness, and journalistic integrity. I mean, Chet, David, or Walter never bothered to ask.
I knew a friend of Michael Keaton's in Pittsburgh. He got his start there with Fred Rogers. I wondered if he was in the documentary.
31
Well, I didn’t make it through the article or the trailer without tearing up so I’m a goner when the movie is out. Going to look for advance tickets now. Thank you for a lovely write up!
48
Mr. Rogers Neighborhood benefitted greatly when Sesame Street came on the air in 1969, a year after Mr. Rogers, followed shortly by The Electric Company. Both of those Children's Television Workshop productions were introduced with a great deal of media coverage and fanfare and became instant hits. So, when PBS stations scheduled Mr. Rogers between Sesame Street and The Electric Company, as they often did, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood started receiving the mass attention that it deserved. Many, many, parents appreciated the calm, slowly paced Fred Rogers in between two frenetically paced tv shows. I was at CTW for several years in the early 70s and could see in my own children the calming influence Fred Rogers had on them. It was like Sesame Street went 100 miles an hour, then Mr. Rogers slowed to 15 miles an hour, then it was back up to 100 mph with The Electric Company. It was the trifecta of worthwhile kids TV.
52
Wow. Yesterday I teared up reading stories about Bobby Kennedy’s assassination. Today, I tear up remembering Mister Rogers. Where have all the good and decent people gone in public life? We need kind people, people who can empathize. We certainly can’t find them in Washington.
87
They are in Parkland, getting shouted at by people fifty years older than them because they have the audacity of being young and speaking up.
They are quietly kneeling at football games and being called un-patriotic for calling out what they feel is an important issue.
They wear pink hats and use hashtags just to have people believe that the indignities they put up with daily actually happened.
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@Tom Triumph
And kind people are in Churches being yelled at by Joy Behar because having faith is a mental illness.
They are in bakeries being persecuted by the government for practicing their faith.
And they are in soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and other places providing charity while being ignored by the media.
2
Having the kind of “faith” that moves you to want to co-opt the full weight of government to enforce your personal, narrow vision of virtue may not be a mental illness per se, but it is deeply unAmerican and a very real cancer on the body politic.
19
I am wondering if Betty ("Lady") Aberlin appears in the documentary, other than in archival show footage. She was such an important part of the show, especially in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.
As far as I know she's still living, and apparently active on Twitter. But she wasn't mentioned in the review, wasn't interviewed for the recent PBS Mister Rogers retrospective, and doesn't show up in the cast listed for this documentary on IMDB.
I'm just curious, and will be a bit disappointed if she wasn't included.
30
as this reviewer says, the Neighborhood of Make-Believe was "inhabited mainly by Mister Rogers' puppet alter egos." This would come as a surprise to all the humans who "loved the puppets into being". I'm with the unsung: Johnny Costa, Don Francks, Audrey Roth, Bob Trow, Chuck Aber, Zelda Pulliam, Maggie Stewart. Carole Switala, Don Brockett & Len Meledandri. I watch with interest those talents who adorn themselves with the mantle of Fred & Fred's (and our) accomplishments, who write books about him & create documentaries & films about him. His biographer, who went to school with Mueller & Kerry, met him twice. I prefer to be remembered as I was - for 33 years. I am the secretary for the Society of the Very Gifted Babies of the Fred Rogers Production Company Bathwater. I have always been conspicuous by my absence. It was a ministry. I don't do infomercials, no matter how superb. - Lady Aberlin
33
Hear hear.
Given the reach, impact and longevity of Fred Rogers' - or his contemporary and counterpart, Jim Henson's - work, there's no need to unnecessarily embroider such a grand legacy with Great Man theory. Indeed, that thinking runs counter to both men's central teaching: it does indeed take a neighborhood (or a street) to raise both a child and a generation.
Ms. Aberlin, allow me to thank you for adding a clear and questioning, gentle but strong, explicitly female voice to the gospel of my childhood. You remain a fixed star in my moral mythology. I trust and hope your story will have opportunity to be heard as well.
6
thank you for understanding.
I forgot to note a genius tenor/puppeteer. He created & voiced Betty Okanuk Templeton (who played the Starfish in the Grandparents Day opera), James Michael Jones & Old Goat. He's driving a uber taxi. Fred Rogers Productions have about 33 million dollars, and PBS is using the excellence of a program they took off the air to raise money....employing celebrities to wax poetic about MRN. America needs a saint in Trump times evidently.
3
What strikes me most about him is the steely bravery he displayed. He looked gentle, but never could you mistake that for passivity or weakness. His message, his demeanor, the content; all of it was profoundly courageous.
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"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” --Fred Rogers
This quote still helps me get through the day. Bless you, Mister Rogers!
151
Mr. Rogers was my first crush. As a child, I insisted I was going to marry him. Looking back, I had excellent taste.
55
My husband looks like Mr. Rogers, come to think of it. Wow. Never thought of that.
15
I too was misty eyed reading this story. In 1990 when our son was 4 we told him I was pregnant. The next morning I found his little face right next to the television just in time to hear him whisper " Guess what Mr. Rogers? We're going to have a baby!!"
Loved it!!
133
OK. I was fine until this comment. This one brought on the tears. So precious and sweet.
34
The combination of Neighbor Rogers (that's what my daughter and I call him, even now) and Marlo Thomas' "Free to be You and Me" was a powerful statement of life how it is best lived.
37
Mr. Rogers almost caused my parents to divorce.
I was about 4 years old, and my Dad came come with his usual 5 o'clock shadow to give me a kiss. "Daddy, why do you always have such a scratchy face? Mr. Rogers NEVER has a scratchy face!"
He stopped, then roared at my mother "WHO THE HELL IS MR ROGERS? WHO IS THIS GUY COMING TO MY HOUSE WHEN I'M NOT HERE, KISSING MY KID?"
Some hasty explanations and evidence from the TV Guide diffused the situation.
118
"Rated PG-13. What? It’s Mister Rogers. What on earth is wrong with you people?"
If Mister Rogers doesn't qualify for a G rating, what does?
46
I understand your sentiment. Yet, Mr. Rogers talked about several sensitive topics in his own special way. He covered race relations, divorce, death, war and a range of other subjects that are part of life. It may be his manner was gentle but others would deem these topics require parental guidance.
31
As someone to listen to growing up, I'll take Bugs Bunny over Mr. Rodgers any day. That sickly effeminate personality speaking to children like they're puppies or kittens turned my stomach, and still does.
4
The cheese stands alone. Limburger?
23
Effeminate? Really? I think you are confusing gentleness with fake femininity. I rather think Jesus also had a gentle manner and an inner hard core of strong love. Loving others is not sickly, and not all men are loud and overly muscular. What a strange comment.
104
How sad, that you think it's an insult to say that a man has feminine qualities. Don't you love any women? Didn't any women take care of you when you were young? Why would you want to deny those good qualities to men?
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How Mr. Rogers shines in the age of Trump!
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@truthiness
And in the age of Samantha Bee!
7
What the filmmakers may not have known is how many children, including my two, wrote to “Mister Rogers” and got letters back. Not form letters, either, but real, personal notes.
In his busy life, this humble man found the time to recognize, guide, encourage his very young viewers.
He remains one of my heroes. We all need to “Be like Mister Rogers.”
179
At this tim, we can all use the lessons, and respite, of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.
29
I'm a Fred Head. Always been, always will be. He provided a good lens through which to see the world.
44
"I like you just the way you are." "Everybody's fancy, Everybody's fine."
I believe those words paved the way for greater respect for all races, all sexes, and all religions. We really need to ramp up our respect for all of our neighbors, including those who disagree with us. "It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood."
63
Love the concept of "emotional literacy." Spot on description, and greatly needed in our current socio-political-economic climate.
39
My husband and I watched Mr. Rogers with our children. I remember when our daughter was three or four and Mr. Rogers was talking about something and she was nodding at the screen and say 'yes'. We loved when he would go visit somewhere in the neighborhood such as the crayola factory or how mushrooms were grown.
32
When Mister Rogers retired in 2001, I wrote to his office, hoping that they would pass on how much he had meant to us. Our toddler underwent three years of chemotherapy for leukemia and so stayed close to home because of the immunosuppression. He and his mom watched the show every day. She treasured the note he sent her in response to her letter explaining what he gave them over those years. I should not have been surprised myself when I too receive a personal letter from Fred Rogers.
110
>“Let’s make the most of this beautiful day,” he would sing at the start of each episode. He made it sound so simple, but also as if he knew just how hard it could be.
It's the ego that generally makes it hard. He was all about turning off the ego.
59
Although I’m in my 70’s I watched Mr. Rogers with my children and loved every minute of every show. A wonderful man as we look back on his career.
27
I was also a toddler when Mister Rogers came out. I loved that show and watched for years. It definitely had a big impact on me. Alas, there are no more Mister Rogers - he was one of a kind.
28
When the local PBS station began broadcasting Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, I was just beyond the range of the target age. But I did like good television, and I appreciated the creative elements in the man's work. I loved Sesame Street for the same reason - I already knew how to spell and count, but the methodology was intriguing and amusing. Fred wasn't Grover. His methods were centered on communicating emotion in a way in which one could be heard without being a deafening bore. I needed that more as a teenager than I realized at the time, and I appreciate it to a greater extent than ever now. Fred Rogers was a great teacher.
48
Fred Rogers was an ordained minister yet he never once mentioned Jesus or God on his show. He didn’t need to. He lived it.
I’m in my 40s and I still watch the show on Amazon Prime. I don’t believe in God-but I believe in Mr Rogers.
WWFRD?
222
I cried all the way through the trailer. My son Tommy loved Mr. Rogers. He had cerebral palsy and was never able to speak; watching Mr. Rogers with him I knew he understood, laughing and attentive the entire hour. Tommy died when he was 4, and our daughter later also loved Mr. Rogers. I will go see the movie with her so she can hand me dry handkerchiefs when I need them.
172
During the first Gulf War, I recall Fred Rogers doing sensitive TV spots. He said to be aware of children suffering their parents' deployments, plus, a national first, cases of both parents being deployed. He was addressing teachers, relatives, neighbors, whomever was near an affected child. Memory is of him urging adults to tell children, "I'll take good care of you."
Whether or not my memory of those spots is accurate, the responsibility to be confidently reassuring to children remains operative with me.
And from his show, his oft repeated line (approximately), "I like you just the way you are," tugs at me when I'd like to do less. Countless times, Mr. Rogers made me better than I might have been.
Special thanks to my three then-little children who liked his show so well that I too was regularly exposed and positively influenced by Mr. Rogers.
78
Fred Rogers was an ordained minister in the United Presbyterian Church, and his deep faith was beautifully, yet subtly interwoven into his show. Without loud proclamation Rogers showed what Christian values were supposed to look like. For me, the best demonstration of this was the episode where he invited Officer Clemmons - a black man - to share a baby pool to cool his feet, after which Rogers dried Clemmons' feet with a towel. If that does not portray Christ's washing and drying the disciple's feet (now a part of the Maundy Thursday service in many Christian denominations), I don't know what does. I plan to see the movie soon, and I hope that this very significant aspect of Rogers' life will be given the acknowledgement it deserves.
129
While I appreciate your wisdom, please allow me to amend your comment to "...Rogers showed what human values are supposed to look like".
19
They are Christian values, but not exclusively Christian values. Subtle but important distinction.
6
I concur that they are not exclusively Christian values. That would be an absolutist view, which I in no way hold. But insofar as Fred Rogers was a minister in a Christian denomination, it was from that perspective I made my comment. Rogers' humanity was informed by his faith, which he in turn put to work in his show with deep humility and love. The harsh and unforgiving judgmentalism for which Christianity is often criticized (a criticism, which, I would acknowledge, is all too often deserved) was absent in Rogers' interactions with and attitudes toward the variety of people who crossed his path on the show. To the extent that the fundamental and most important message of the Christian faith is love, writ large, Fred Rogers strove to demonstrate that, and succeeded.
9
Mr. Rogers brought calm and consistency to my childhood. For a half hour each day, I felt loved and protected. In his neighborhood, I found reasons to believe that the larger world was populated by kind and decent people. He had something extraordinarily special and I will be forever thankful that he chose to share that with us.
48
I look forward to seeing this, besides remembering Mr. Roger's Neighborhood from my own childhood, I also loved the fact that it was around when my son was growing up. Yep, it was old fashioned, at times almost self parodying, yet in the end you pretty much got what you thought you did, a kind man trying to help children learn about the world. Given what passes for a lot of "children's programming" when my son was growing up, was glad it was there for him, too.
32
In reading this review, my eyes got a little misty. My daughters are now in their fifties and I, well.... Fred Rogers was the kind Dad figure I tried so hard to emulate even as our family was being broken up by divorce. Mr Rogers was the calming voice, the reasonable space that at times went missing in our family, I often say to my neighbors mostly seniors that "it's a beautiful day in our neighborhood" Thank you for making this lovely tribute to a gentle-man who never seemed to have a bad day.
86
I was in high school when the Mr. Rogers show began, so I didn’t really know anything about it until my daughter was watching it in the middle 1980s and beyond. We need so many more shows like that where people search for understanding, where they work at true communication, and where they do not judge. Our current “leaders” could learn so much from Mr. Rogers if only they would open their eyes, ears, and hearts.
Fred Rogers used the simplest of sets and props, but taught us the biggest lessons. He taught us, in the most basic sense, how to be nice to each other. Unfortunately, too many people never paid attention.
Fred Rogers was unique, special in a way we needed in 1968 and special in a way we need even more today.
We miss you, Mr. Rogers.
58
Do they confirm that the stolen car rumor is true or not? That car thieves stole his vehicle and returned it once they found out it belonged to him saying they were sorry. Such a great tale.
29
It is a great story, but sadly, it’s not true.
2
We need Mr. Rogers more than ever right now.
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