'Won’t You Be My Neighbor?' Is a Heartwarming Documentary About a Venerable TV Icon

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is a documentary film that takes a closer look on the life, motivations, and worldview of Fred Rogers, the creator and host of the popular children’s TV program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which ran for 912 episodes across 31 seasons in a span of more than 33 years.  It’s being regarded by many as the best documentary film of 2018.

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was not a show that became popular in the Philippines (I don’t even think it was aired here in the first place), but I became aware of Mr. Rogers’ status as a beloved icon during my years in the Internet, encountering articles and videos that referenced him and his notable deeds.  Nevertheless, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? essentially serves as my true introduction to him and his show.

To be honest, based on how the documentary painted what Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is about, I don’t think it was a show that I would have gotten attached to.  I did encounter numerous similar shows as a kid, and though I enjoyed them back then, I don’t quite look back at them fondly as an adult.  That’s why I don’t think I would have maintained a lasting love for that particular show.  Nevertheless, by watching this documentary, I did get to admire and appreciate what Mr. Rogers was trying to accomplish through TV, and the manner that he proceeded to do it.  I was able to have some understanding on why he had become well beloved by generations of TV viewers.

First of all, he treated his juvenile audiences with respect and intelligence so that he didn’t come off as patronizing.  He avoid talking down at them.  He recognized that children, though they can’t articulate them properly yet, do have thoughts and feelings.  And based on this presumption, he managed to be successful in effectively communicating with them and earning their trust.

He immediately realized that the television was a powerful tool to influence people – especially children.  And thus, his vision was to use it to spread positivity and morality.  That’s why he didn’t quite approve of programs showing some form of violence – even cartoon slapstick.  For him, children programming should only involve straightforward, unambiguous displays of goodness.

Thus, through his show, he deliberately taught good values and life lessons.  His endgame was always to show the beautiful and benevolent.  Nevertheless, he didn’t shield his young audience from the harsher realities of life.    He discussed complex, sensitive, and tragic issues like racism, divorce, and assassinations, but he did it in a gentle, comforting, your-parents-and-I-will-protect-you manner.

The most interesting detail I learned is that he was apparently an ordained Presbyterian minister.  So in a sense, the children were his mission field, and the TV show was his ministry.  I find this perspective very fascinating.

However, the documentary isn’t as particularly comprehensive in examining Mr. Roger’s faith as I would have wanted to.  In the first place, though he shared inherently Christian values, he wasn’t particularly explicit in sharing the Gospel.  But I understand that he couldn’t really do this in his show even if ever he wanted to since it was in PBS, i.e. government-funded, and thus, he wasn’t allowed to specifically favor a particular religion.

Surely, I would have liked this documentary significantly more if it was bold and thorough in representing Mr. Roger’s faith, so that I might have understood if he had a solid theology – which, if he did, would have deemed him more admirable in my eyes.

Here’s one example which I wish the film stressed on a bit more:

“You are special just as you are” basically sums up Mr. Rogers’ rhetoric.  At one point, the documentary touched upon the criticism that this idea is the reason why so many young adults today are entitled, narcissistic snowflakes.  But it was quick to dismiss it as ridiculous.  It was disappointing because I was really interested of knowing what Mr. Rogers truly meant by that.  The documentary tried to give a definite explanation by citing a speech where he said it meant a child’s dignity is not dependent on doing something sensational.  Now, if this is the case, then this is in adherence to a facet of the Christian worldview that the presumably Christian Mr. Rogers was holding: human beings are created in the image of God, and thus, human life is sacred.  However, is that really the end of it?  Did Mr. Rogers also recognize the equally important facet of the Christian worldview that every man is not “inherently good”, but depraved and fallen, and thus, in need of a Savior?  Or was Mr. Rogers just a believer and preacher of an incomplete or cheap message of grace?  Based on just what the documentary had shown, it seemed to be the latter.  But we can never determine this for sure.  There might be more to it that the filmmakers just thought were not worthwhile to include.

Another example is the part where he was near his death, and he asked: “Am I sheep?”  This, of course, is referring to the moment where Jesus will separate the sheep (i.e. the saved) from the goats (i.e. the damned).  The documentary chose to answer it in accordance to the standard, widely-presumed (but non-Christian) belief about the afterlife – “good” people will go to Heaven, while bad people won’t.  And if there was ever anyone “good”, it was Fred Rogers.  But, again, maybe, just maybe, there were things cut out that would have shown the whole context.  Mr. Rogers might have actually put his full trust on the Shepherd for his salvation after all.  Or was the totality of Mr. Rogers and his family’s theology actually just as what the documentary depicted?  Hmmm.  We would never know.

Moreover, there are also parts where I was reminded that – even though this documentary is brimming with apolitical, uplifting content – it’s still a Hollywood film.  Which means, there are a few, minor attempts to push a liberal agenda.  At one point, it implies that Mr. Rogers, if he were alive today, would strongly disapprove of Trump’s “build the wall” policy, even though the “wall-building” scenario that Mr. Rogers was against is clearly different from Trump’s motivation for building a border wall.  Another is the assertion that – because he showed love, care, and respect for a gay cast member, had gay friends, and was considered by hateful protesters to be “tolerant of gays” – Mr. Rogers was seemingly okay with homosexuality (note: showing love to and being friends with homosexuals is not the same as condoning homosexuality itself), which is not at all plainly validated by his public statements or the information shared in the movie.  However, those snippets of propaganda were just fleeting and weren’t the shove-down-the-audience’s-throat type, so they didn’t really derail the film for me.

In the end, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is a worthwhile watch.  It’s a heartwarming examination of a remarkable man oozing with creativity and kindness who had the admirable desire to promote virtue, sanguinity, and inspiration.  Despite his flaws, Fred Rogers was – is – truly a good role model, and emulating his principles can help us make the world – or, at least, our neighborhood – a much better place.