‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’ is simply one of the best-ever documentaries
If you didn’t see the Mister Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? in your neighborhood theater – how many documentaries see such a wide theatrical release, by the way? – you absolutely must get the DVD or stream it.
It’s one of the best, most moving documentaries ever.
If only it would move the world.
Oddly, it’s too often difficult to recognize greatness when it’s right in front of you; it’s so much easier to spot in the faraway and long-ago. Though you truly should, you likely don’t expect to encounter majesty in your everyday life, and certainly not in the kind of simplicity and gentility that a 5-year-old can appreciate – the kind exhibited so calmly, lovingly and reassuringly by Fred Rogers.
I confess to having been oblivious to the unassuming grandeur of Fred Rogers, as both a youth and a parent during the PBS children’s show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’s amazing 33-year run ending in 2001. Two influences since then have come along to awaken me to this man’s guileless glory.
The first was Fort Worth journalist Tim Madigan’s 2006 book I’m Proud of You – about the lucky writer’s unexpected, uplifting, ultimately redeeming friendship with, and constant encouragement from, Fred Rogers. Tim, who I’m lucky to call friend, tells me he credits Fred with virtually saving his life.
The second influence was the 2018 documentary about Fred, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – the title of which, of course, is taken from his show’s iconic opening song.
My wife and I were fortunate enough to have seen it on the big screen, which better helped me understand Fred Rogers’ outsized impact on those he came in contact with – which, thanks to PBS, was millions of souls.
One of them was my son Kevin. Now an utterly radiant young man, he recalls being deeply influenced in his most formative years by Fred Rogers’ openness, patience and warmth, and his intense, sincere listening to children – and even his conspicuously primitive puppets. Mister Rogers showed Kevin how to accept everyone, and how to listen to them emphatically and empathetically.
Without fanfare or self-congratulation, Fred Rogers changed the world in ways unseen but certainly felt, merely by loving children and letting them know it in no uncertain terms.
Fred helped my friend Tim put a salve on his marriage and bind and heal his childhood wounds. He won millions in funding for PBS from a curmudgeonly senator during a Capitol Hill hearing. He inspired a 10-year-old quadriplegic named Jeffrey Erlanger – and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better bedside manner than Rogers exhibited when the young Erlanger realized his dream of being on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. They sang a heartwarming duet of Rogers’ famous song above unconditional love.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is right up there with the best documentaries ever, simply because it’s one of the most poignant, meaningful films of any kind you’ll ever see.
More importantly, it’s about one of the best peacemakers and child advocates in the past 2,000 years.
Fred Rogers proved that what we think of as ordinary goodness, when applied steadily and uniformly, is, itself, a bit of majesty.
