Won't You Be My Neighbor? Review

Before I get into this review, this movie might not be in your theater. Despite coming out nationwide last week, it didn't come to my theater until this past weekend, so grin and bear it if it hasn't and you want to see it. There will be some spoilers, so caution is needed here.

One of Sundance's notable films this year has been Morgan Neville's Won't You Be My Neighbor?, a look at Fred Rogers and his television show, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. It takes a look at life before, during and just after its 33 year run from 1968 until 2001. You wouldn't think of this as being anywhere good, but it's a great documentary and captures the intentions of what Rogers had.

A lot of these interviews come from members of the Rogers family, people that played characters on the show, crew members, people involved in public television. It's amazing how many people they found to do this, especially for ones that are really old. They look at Rogers as a big pioneer and he was. He was a guy that thought being genuine to children was a lot more rewarding than just doing slapstick comedy like other kids shows back then.

One thing also is that Rogers tackled big important issues in his own way that could be related to actual incidents. When the show debuted in 1968, Vietnam was all you heard on the news. PBS over a year away from becoming a thing. The fact that they also immediately tackled assassination following the killing of Robert Kennedy says a lot. He was able to convey that sense of vulnerability that children might not understand and help them learn something very valuable that you will know in the end.

Then there is the testimony Rogers gave to the Senate in 1969 in regards to PBS getting 20 million dollars for funding. Long story short, he was the face of the network, not Sesame Street. And looking at what he was doing, he didn't change a thing and that's why he is one of most beloved figures for public and educational television. Of course, they go into him being the subject of parody like Saturday Night Live, Johnny Carson, and In Living Color. I wonder how much it really bothered him, because he really is an easy target to do for comedy. That didn't stop him from doing he did.

I'm not going to go too much farther into it, but the legacy he left behind should be one that needs to be cherished. They do show certain stuff late in his life of the wrong messages he may have sent and that he ruined kids. That seems to be nothing but hogwash. They also talk briefly about what would Rogers think about today's world. In this age of Trump's mouth, liberals, and everything inbetween the social media landscape, I think it would have been hard for him to show his message. I don't think he would have given up as some of the people interviewed said as well.

There is still some good to be had and I think we can learn a thing or two from Mister Rogers. This is a great documentary. Try and see it in the theater if it has come to your town. It shows us the efforts of his use of television and how it paid off to be a beloved figure and a big alternative to other programs.

Score: 8.5 out of 10