"Won't You Be My Neighbor?" Review: An Important Reminder About Kindness and Value
The definitively gentle Fred Rogers brought smiles and comfort to countless children and adults.
It isn't often that we see documentaries see theatrical releases and get universal praise in the midst of summer's superhero blockbusters. And yet Morgan Neville's Won't You Be My Neighbor? has managed to triumph and stand out to me. In an era of political uneasiness, hatred, and what at times feels like chaos, Won't You Be My Neighbor? gives us an important reminder of a man that wanted us to realize that neighborly kindness towards others can make the world a significantly better, happier place.
Going into this film, I had a rather uncommon perspective on this documentary's subject matter. I didn't grow up watch Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, nor did I know too much about Fred Rogers. While I did catch infrequent glimpses of the show in passing throughout my early years, I was rarely invested in it enough to consider myself a fan of the show. Nevertheless, I've grown to admire the accomplishments of Mr. Rogers from a distance, specifically his now-iconic speech of when he saved funding for educational content.
Curious to learn more about the man and the legacy he left, I walked into the theater ready to have a greater appreciation for his contributions to educational programming. About 93 minutes later, I exited the theater enamored by Mr. Rogers and the peaceful, positive, and the sometimes difficult messages that he communicated so brilliantly.
Won't You Be My Neighbor? specifically focuses on Fred Rogers' TV career. Occasionally, the documentary also sheds light on some personal information about him, such as his childhood experience with being bullied, and even certain controversies that were thrown toward Mr. Rogers by right-wing media outlets.
While Rogers was criticized by these outlets for convincing audiences that they deserved success in life, Won't You Be My Neighbor? illustrates how, in actuality, Mr. Rogers wanted to create messages that he wished that he had access to when he was younger. Mr. Rogers didn't promise us that we'd be successful - he reminded us of our value as people. He reminded us that we all share the experience of childhood and the troubles that accompany it. He taught emotional literacy to children, and allowed children to acknowledge their feelings in a constructive, healthy way.
Perhaps one of the most striking aspects of Won't You Be My Neighbor? are the occasional animated portions of the film that show Daniel Tiger, one of the most popular characters from the Land of Make Believe. As someone who wasn't too familiar with Rogers' background, these sections' illustrations of Fred Rogers' experience with childhood did a phenomenal job of giving me a greater understanding of what caused Rogers to become the person so many people watched on TV.
Perhaps another thing that helped me attain a greater understanding of who Mr. Rogers was was how he created characters based on the people closest to him, including himself. Joanne, wife of Mr. Rogers, discusses that Daniel Tiger was an extension of Mr. Rogers' own personality during the beginning years of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood's time on the air. Later in the film, she states that Mr. Rogers became more like King Friday XIII as he become more critical against the increasingly frantic landscape of children's programming.
In the face of most children's programming being fast and in-your-face, Mr. Rogers dared to allow his program to take its time and discuss serious topics including divorce and death. All of this was done without looking down upon the intelligence, emotions, and experiences of children. This film phenomenally illustrates that Mr. Rogers wasn't interested in making content like any other. He dared to make content that he felt needed to be made - something that I feel that anyone can admire.
Documentaries, unlike more traditional narrative films, are tricky to give a definitive review for. Unlike narrative films, where we can judge them based on the quality of writing, cinematography, acting, and so on, documentaries can be judged on a variety of different criteria. For me, I judge the quality of documentaries based on the importance of the subject material. I value when documentaries discuss subject matter that has mattered in the past, matters now, and will likely matter in the future.
With that in mind, Won't You Be My Neighbor? is a documentary that I feel should be seen by everyone, whether they grew up visiting the Neighborhood or not. As someone that had nearly no nostalgic bias towards Mr. Rogers and his show, I found myself intellectually and emotionally invested in this documentary. Moreover, I valued Won't You Be My Neighbor's presentation of how Mr. Rogers was quite the radical individual, daring to talk about political subjects such as war and segregation in a way that was civil and progressive. Hearing how a public figure addressed significant issues in times where such issues where seldom talked about in front of large audiences is something that I found particularly fascinating, and I feel that any moviegoers will be intrigued by that as well.
Above all, Won't You Be My Neighbor? is an important reminder to us. It is a reminder that we are all valuable as people. It is also a reminder of the importance of recognizing our feelings and perspective in addition to recognizing important issues in the communities that we're a part of. Both of these reminders are important because they're somehow ones that adults and children can easily forget in the midst of our stressful lives.
Won't You Be My Neighbor? is an essential viewing for anyone curious to see one of the kindest public figures the world has ever seen, and the impact he left on children and adults in an increasingly complex world. Whether you grew up tuning in to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, or have minimal familiarity with Mr. Rogers, Won't You Be My Neighbor? is a film well worth visiting.
Final Grade: A
Thank you for reading! Have you seen Won't You Be My Neighbor? If so, what did you think of it? As always, join the conversation and let me know!
