Won't You Be My Neighbor? Look for the Helpers

I've been excited to see the Mr. Rogers documentary, Won't You Be My Neighbor? ever since I saw the trailer months ago. In these trying times, a documentary about a kind and thoughtful man who only wanted to help children and tell everyone that they deserve to be loved is exactly what we all need. And boy, that is exactly what this film delivers.

I won't lie - is this movie a bit of a hagiography? Sure. It highlights everything that made Fred Rogers a man that a generation of adults and children relied on for care and comfort. There are some uncomfortable topics that come up, like when he told Francois Clemmons, who played Officer Clemmons on the show, that he could never let the public find out he was gay as that would ruin the image of the show. But Fred and his wife never shunned Francois, and there's an emotional moment when he talks about how Fred was like a father to him, because no man had ever really told him he loved him before.

And that's the power of Mr. Rogers. He told everyone that he loved them, that they were special, unique, and fully deserving of love from the people around them. He also didn't dismiss childish worries. He understood that children worry about things, and are scared a lot of the time, and rather than just patting them on the head and telling them everything would be OK, he encouraged them to talk about their feelings, acknowledged those feelings, and told them that it was OK to have those feelings. He never pretended those feelings would completely go away, but he sure did convince you that people around you would help you when you were blue.

This movie follows the creation of the show, the purpose of each puppet and storyline, as well as the brilliant Senate testimony Fred Rogers delivered that secured $20 million funding for public television when no one was convinced that the arts was worth a penny. His ethos and philosophy is the central tenet of this movie, and it is moving and uplifting to find a man who managed to bring so much happiness to the world around him with the simple concept of listening to people and validating their concerns.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? is a sweet and powerful film that reminds us to be kind. It's a reminder that we can never hear enough times. The final moments of the movie are particularly moving as the filmmakers ask each person they've interviewed to take a minute to think about someone that helped them in their life. You in the audience will also take a beat to think of a helper in your life, and that will bring you some melancholy joy. When my friend Katie and I walked out of the theater and back into the real world, I turned to her in despair, and said, "Katie, who are the helpers now?" And she replied, "The ACLU?" So yes, we still have helpers, whether it be the ACLU, or just the people in your daily life who make you smile, give you a shoulder to cry on, or tell you that they hear you. Don't forget the helpers, they're around you everyday.