{"id":2801,"date":"2018-06-06T16:05:41","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T22:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/?p=2801"},"modified":"2018-06-06T16:05:41","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T22:05:41","slug":"seven-reasons-why-we-need-mister-rogers-more-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2018\/06\/seven-reasons-why-we-need-mister-rogers-more-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Reasons Why We Need Mister Rogers More Than Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Fred Rogers on the set of his show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood from the film, WON\u2019T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, a Focus Features release. Credit: Jim Judkis <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

On Feb. 2, 1968\u2014Groundhog Day\u2014Simon & Garfunkel recorded the final version of their classic song \u201cMrs. Robinson\u201d for their album Bookends<\/em>. It includes one of the most poignant lines in all of pop music:<\/p>\n

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought of him as an American hero and that genuine heroes were in short supply,\u201d Paul Simon later told The New York Times<\/a><\/em>. And indeed, in early 1968, they were. The country was mired in the Vietnam War. Protests raged at home. The country had never felt so divided, so angry. After the heroics of World War II and the unbridled American self-confidence of the 1950s, the United States must\u2019ve felt like a stick bent to its breaking point, ready to splinter.<\/p>\n

The country needed a hero.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 19, 1968, just 17 days after Simon & Garfunkel put Mrs. Robinson in Bookends<\/em>, it got one.<\/p>\n

Most folks didn\u2019t know it yet, of course. Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood<\/em>, featuring a rather un-telegenic, soft-spoken minister as its host, director, singer, writer and puppeteer, was meant for kids too young to tie their shoes, much less write think-pieces for The New Yorker<\/em>. But as Focus Features\u2019 new, wonderful documentary Won\u2019t You Be My Neighbor<\/em> (out in theaters beginning this weekend) illustrates, he was a good hero for those turbulent times. And, I think, the sort of hero we need more than ever.<\/p>\n

Fred Rogers wasn\u2019t a television novice when he launched Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood<\/em> on NET (the forerunner to PBS) in 1968. He\u2019d worked on a show called The Children\u2019s Corner <\/em>for Pittsburgh\u2019s WQED years before, introducing Daniel Tiger when (according to the movie) one of the live show\u2019s ancient film clips broke.<\/p>\n

But if Daniel\u2019s introduction to the world of television was a spontaneous thing, Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood <\/em>was anything but. As Neighbor<\/em> unpacks for us, Rogers carefully thought through every word and lyric, almost every moment<\/em>, crafting a show that would never talk down<\/em> to its young viewers but wrap an arm around them and talk to<\/em> them. Rogers called the space between his cameras and his viewers\u2019 televisions \u201choly ground,\u201d and indeed something sacrosanct took place there.<\/p>\n

When you contrast what Mister Rogers did back then with our own frenetic entertainment culture\u2014heck, with our entire national climate\u2014it\u2019s striking to see the difference, and feel just what we\u2019re lacking. Consider:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
David Newell (left) and Fred Rogers (right) from the show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood in the film, WON\u2019T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, a Focus Features release. Credit: Lynn Johnson <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He was quiet.<\/strong> \u201cFor Fred, silence was his delight,\u201d we\u2019re told in Neighbor<\/em>. We\u2019re treated to a montage of some of the many times that he stopped talking and just let his audience \u2026 listen.<\/p>\n

Most folks would call that \u201cdead air,\u201d back then as they would now. Today, to sit in silence is practically a cultural sin. We bring our phones and devices of distraction with us wherever we go, even into the toilet stall. I do, too. It\u2019s like we can\u2019t stand to be alone with ourselves. To grow quiet. To think. Rogers reminds us that when we lose silence, we lose much more. We lose, maybe, a bit of ourselves.<\/p>\n

He listened.<\/strong> This might be one of the most remarkable things I was struck with watching Neighbor<\/em>: How well he listened to those around him\u2014no matter how young they were, no matter what they said. Children might tell him something funny. Or tragic. Or profound. He treated each missive as a gift\u2014an almost sacred message, from one child of God to another.<\/p>\n

I used to think of myself as a good listener. I\u2019m not so sure anymore. I \u201ctalk\u201d for a living, here and elsewhere. And sometimes, even when I\u2019m listening even to the people most precious in my life, I feel my attention wander. I can feel my eyes darting, looking for the next distraction; search the conversation for another opportunity to let folks know what I<\/em> think. How many times have I lost an opportunity to listen and learn? How many moments have I lost to create a greater connection? More broadly, how many of our societal ills and angsts could be treated and even healed through just \u2026 listening? I think we\u2019d be surprised.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Fred Rogers (left) with Francois Scarborough Clemmons (right) from his show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood in the film, WON\u2019T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, a Focus Features release. Credit: John Beale <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He was gentle, but strong.<\/strong> In Neighbor<\/em>, we see scenes aplenty when Rogers\u2019 famous gentleness was mocked and lampooned. And indeed, his ultra-sincere persona and curious, almost lyrical-sounding voice can foster a very Rogers-esque stereotype of a milquetoast man. Truth is, he was anything but. He stood for things and, once he found his footing, never wavered from them. He stared down congress. He fought for racial equality. The very first week Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood <\/em>was on the air, according to Neighbor<\/em>, Rogers tackled the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n

Today, we see politicians and pundits bluster and blow like big, bad wolves\u2014huffing and puffing, bellowing and retracting what they just bellowed. Rogers did Theodore Roosevelt one better: He spoke quietly, and instead of carrying a stick, he bore only his convictions. And so often, they were enough.<\/p>\n

He was real.<\/strong> We\u2019ve witnessed a lot of heroes fall lately. TV stars, politicians, even religious leaders have illustrated how wide the gap can be between a public persona and who a person is, deep down.<\/p>\n

We all have inconsistencies to our characters, of course. We sin. We fail. We think or say or do things we should not. All<\/em> of us do. Even, I\u2019m sure, Mister Rogers. But everything I\u2019ve read about him\u2014and what I see in Neighbor<\/em>\u2014suggests that Rogers was as true to, and as honest with, himself, and thus to his audience, as anyone can be. He didn\u2019t just pretend to listen: He listened. He didn\u2019t just pretend to care: He cared. Tom Junod\u2019s 1998 Esquire<\/a><\/em> profile of Rogers illustrates that really well, and it might be one of the best profiles I\u2019ve ever read. (caution, though. It can be profane at times.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Fred Rogers with Daniel Tiger from his show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood in the film, WON\u2019T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, a Focus Features release. Credit: The Fred Rogers Company <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He was vulnerable (in a way).<\/strong> Neighbor<\/em> makes the case that Mr. Rogers\u2019 puppet alter-ego was the watch-wearing Daniel Striped Tiger\u2014sweet, shy and deeply vulnerable. Rogers admits in the movie that it\u2019s far easier to let Daniel express his fears than he, as a grown man, to admit to them. But he, unlike most of us, still admits to them. And through Daniel, he gave the children he spoke to permission to express their own fears and doubts.<\/p>\n

Funny that, in our social media age where we all share so much of ourselves, rarely do we share our vulnerability. We post our smiling vacation pictures and brag about our kids and express our deep political convictions in sometimes strident, shrill terms. But I think that often it\u2019s our vulnerabilities, not our strengths, that make people gravitate toward us and allow them to trust us. I think that that\u2019s part of what Paul meant in 2 Corinthians 12, when he told us that God\u2019s power is made perfect in weakness. Rogers\u2019 knew that, too. Our weaknesses open the door to fellowship. And that\u2019s where strength is found.<\/p>\n

He was devout.<\/strong> Rogers was an ordained minister, and throughout Neighbor we hear how Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood was his pulpit. He preached from his fake television house and told his young viewers that they were loved just as they were\u2014but they still needed to learn and grow, too. And that brings us to, perhaps, Rogers\u2019 most powerful, enduring message.<\/p>\n

He believed in us all.<\/strong> That feels like a strong statement, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a stretch. Rogers believed in us all. He believed that all of us\u2014young and old\u2014were worthy of love. We were lovable.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Fred Rogers meets with a disabled boy in the film WON\u2019T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, a Focus Features release. Credit : Jim Judkis <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cLove is at the root of everything,\u201d he says in the film. \u201cAll learning, all relationships. Love, or the lack of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neighbor<\/em> tells us that some of his critics took Rogers\u2019 message of self-love and self-acceptance as his license to coddle a generation. They equate Rogers\u2019 open-handedness to a baseball game where no one keeps score.<\/p>\n

But Junlei Li, a professor of psychology and human development and co-director of the Fred Rogers Center, says that Rogers was simply expressing\u2014embracing\u2014a cornerstone of Christian belief: \u201cYou are the beloved son or daughter of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

God loves His children unconditionally. He loves them, in Rogers\u2019 own words, just the way we are<\/em>. That doesn\u2019t mean we should stop learning and growing, any more than Rogers\u2019 thought his young viewers would be better off without learning to read or count or tie their shoes. We can always be better. We can, and should, always improve, as much as our skills and gifts allow us to. But it\u2019s not a condition of God\u2019s love. That love is constant\u2014more than the sun or moon or stars.<\/p>\n

Mister Rogers showed us what that love looks like. He shaped countless children who can, and perhaps should, speak into a world that very much needs Rogers-like wisdom.<\/p>\n

Fred Rogers died in 2003. He never knew a world with Facebook or the iPhone, with ISIS or the #MeToo movement or Donald Trump as President.<\/p>\n

But as Won\u2019t You Be My Neighbor<\/em> suggests, Rogers\u2014his wisdom, his heart, his gentle bravery\u2014is very much needed in this world of ours. Our nation turns its lonely eyes to him.<\/p>\n

Even though he\u2019s gone, Rogers gave many of us some powerful, beautiful lessons. And maybe it\u2019s up to us to now be the heroes that he taught us to be.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Feb. 2, 1968\u2014Groundhog Day\u2014Simon & Garfunkel recorded the final version of their classic song \u201cMrs. Robinson\u201d for their album Bookends. It includes one of the most poignant lines in all of pop music: Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you. \u201cI thought of him as an American […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2036,"featured_media":2822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20],"tags":[380,86,26,129,530],"class_list":["post-2801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-television","tag-children","tag-documentary","tag-faith","tag-family","tag-mister-rogers"],"yoast_head":"\nSeven Reasons Why We Need Mister Rogers More Than Ever<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Even though he's gone, Rogers gave many of us some powerful, beautiful lessons. 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