Won't You Be My Neighbor? Review

“You are special, and I like you just the way you are”.  A paraphrased quote from one of the most iconic media personality to have graced television as well as an ordained Christian minister named Fred Rogers.  He had a passionate and continuous goal to teach kids about growing up and enrich their lives with his long running show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.  Through that show, it would be an outlet and way to help kids deal with the different life challenges and tragedies that occur in our lives.  That is what the filmmaker Morgan Neville explores in this extensive and detailed documentary that explores Rogers life from the moment he creates the show to his untimely death to cancer.  Does this film truly shed light on a prolific figure in a way that is not only respectful and heartwarming or does it falter here and there to really explore his life to the fullest?  Let’s get right into it and explore the subject and the different key themes/events that the film explores in the first ever documentary review.

The main subject of the film is Mister Fred Rogers and the numerous actors/actress, producers, family, and friends that worked and lived with him through the best and worse of times.  The opening footage of Rogers explaining how important it is to understand how a kid feels and how to reach them as a human being, setting up the exploration of his creative approach to teaching and enriching kids’ lives.  As soon as he got his show going, we learn about how he had to approach tough and mature themes/ideas through his setting of Make-Believe, by discussing death from assassination, superhero related injuries and deaths, divorce, and even racism.  All of this was made possible from being on public access station (PBS) as well as the iconic monumental statement made to senators back in the 60’s from Rogers that awarded the company with $20-30 million dollars to update the studios and create episodes to reach out to children everywhere. That’s just the tip of the amazing life that Rogers had and the film explores this with clarity and conviction in what he wanted to convey to children everywhere.

There are also little animated interludes that actually go into how Rogers thought and felt not just as a kid but how he imbued his feelings into his puppets.  This is done with the intention to explore how Rogers thinks and expresses his thoughts and emotions to everyone, which is quite unlike the average person’s ability of expression.  These sections interspersed with the footage of him showcasing how it works with him and the puppet (his favorite at first is Daniel The Tiger, kind and compassionate but he eventually becomes more like King Friday The 13th, afraid of change and always trying to make everything right with the world and people).  This is also intercut with his competition with the flashy, colorful cartoons and shows on TV that he felt was not only shallow but doesn’t quite impart to the kids how to live their life, the best way possible.  This is the way it flows throughout the documentary, the challenges and triumphs with the show along with the continuous struggle to do good in a world that unfortunately keeps moving backwards instead of forward.

There is a pretty compelling section of the film that explores how everyone from Fox News to the harsh and hurtful feelings of the day/month/year are used as an excuse to make Rogers look like a fraud or even trying to force our own flaws onto his ideology and character.  This is done extremely well and adds a unique conflict that is both refreshing to see yet frustrating in how it does affect Rogers emotionally from doing what he loves on TV.  Despite the occasional disagreements, you understand the power of television from both sides of the fence, one using it for positivity and educational purposes, the other is using for entertainment and manipulation in the worse possible way, even if that wasn’t the intentions of the creators/producers of specific shows.  In doing so, you understand Rogers resentment of how people have abused this media form in heartbreaking ways that doesn’t quite provide solutions but it does provide reflections on how we can use it for good instead of greedy intent.

If there is a reoccurring praise to this film, it is absolutely emotionally rewarding and heartbreaking to watch as this truly unique figure does all he can to help everyone and, in the end, it is up to us to remember and impart those lessons to the next generation.  The narrative structure is refreshingly compact and moves briskly throughout his main life as a person and then the iconic father figure of TV.   There are even surprising moments throughout the film, especially when you have a section with a News Anchor just nonchalantly ask Rogers if he was gay and still stunned in disbelief that this person could be inherently good and want to be better someone else’s life.  That sums up the journey the film takes you on, the mere fact that we have a truly good person, doing remarkable things to improve and enrich the lives of children everywhere, but always have to continuously compete with the flash and noise of the 80’s/90’s kids and animated programs is nothing short of extraordinary.

As for the technical aspects, it’s a mix of historical footage, episodes of the show, the televised news/interviews with him, and the talking heads of the people that knew him, worked with him, and help keep his legacy and work alive.  The talking heads could have been jarring to sit through but here, they are used effectively with the archival footage as well as having some truly great subjects that speak about Rogers endearingly and jovial in happiness and sadness at times.  The highlight from those talking heads was François Scarborough Clemmons, one of the reoccurring actors on the show, who also was gay during a time that was very much against it and could have jeopardies the show greatly if it came out about his sexuality.  But Rogers still accepted him for who he was despite the trying times of the 1960’s and Clemmons has a great, emotionally cathartic end to that personal struggle that is worth seeing unfolded.  Everyone else talks about him warmly with funny anecdotes and moments throughout their time with him along with the archive footage of the stuff he tackled head on from Racism to Death to disability and of course, the tragic events that have hurt all of us for decades (Freedom Challenger explosion and 9/11 to name a few).

This is a shorter review than usual, as with a documentary, you can only write so much before you can get to the part where it comes down to recommendation and summarize what makes this film unique from everything else out there.  In this case, it’s the subject himself, Mister Fred Rogers. This is one of the few iconic media figures that has stood the test of time to scrutiny and even the cynicism of today’s culture.  Even when famous comedians and actors made fun of him or parodied his work with love (Eddie Murphy’s spot-on parody of Mister Rogers, genius), there is still a level of respect for him that is rare to see in media personality despite the occasional disagreement or annoyance with certain sketches and impersonators.  This is also a great inspirational story of how one person’s love and care for everyone in the world can truly conquer the fears and nightmares we have to live through every day.

Score ***** out of *****

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is the most inspirational and truly satisfying documentary films to grace 2018 and of the film medium in general.  You rarely get subject matters and stories that are truly uplifting and hopeful in a sea of cynicism and darker, mature themes that has driven the quality of the medium up for at least a decade.  To have a positive documentary as that truly explores Fred Rogers life, philosophy, and beliefs is nothing short of astounding to how it has truly provided a positive impact to the world.  It makes his passing all the more painful as we lack that type of love, kindness, and empathy that this world could use a bit of right now, especially for the people on the internet in general.  As the film asks us to do before we end this review, close your eyes and remember the one person you care about and made happy on that day.  That’s what Mister Rogers would have all of us do, whenever we feel blue or not special in this world.