I watched the documentary film for Fred Rogers, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” , in the movie theater a couple of weeks ago. It is a touching film that arouses strong emotion and a lot of fruits of thoughts. The TV show of “Mr. Rogers” ran decades and accompanied a whole generation of people in their childhood. His demeanor in the TV series and what he tried to do really demonstrates the Christianity in life.
He said that he wanted the children be able to express their feelings in words. This opens up the communications with other people. He also said that he wanted the children be able to control the external influences and gain self control. His example is when something showing on TV disturbs you, you can turn it off anytime you want. Personally, I think this is very important with respect to all the violence happening in the school these days. It seems that children who are not able to control their emotions could turn to violence (verbal or physical). Of course, Mr. Rogers is promoting the idea of neighborhood. “Do something nice to your neighbor, and do something nice to your friends.” “Won’t you be my neighbor?”
Fred McFeely Rogers was born on March 20, 1928 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. He was an only child until the age of 11 when his parents, James and Nancy, adopted a baby girl (Elaine). The young Fred Rogers spent his free time with his maternal grandfather Fred McFeely, who was interested in music; Rogers began to play the piano when he was five and sang along when his mother played.
Rogers graduated from Latrobe High School in 1946. He studied at Dartmouth College from 1946 till 1948 and then went on at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida to earn a BA in music composition in 1951. At Rollins, he met Oakland, Florida native Sara Joanne Byrd, the two got married on June 9, 1952.
Rogers began working in the television industry in 1951. However, Rogers decided that television’s reliance on advertisement and merchandising kept it from educating young audiences; he left NBC and began working as a puppeteer on the local children’s show THE CHILDREN’S CORNER for Pittsburgh public
Television station WQED in 1954. He worked with host Josie Carey on unscripted live TV for the next seven years to develop the puppets, characters, and music. It was on THE CHILDREN’S CORNER that several regulars of today’s MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBORHOOD made their first appearances
— among them, Daniel Striped Tiger. X the Owl, King Friday XIII, Queen Sara Saturday (named after his wife), Henrietta Pussycat, Lady Elaine Fairchilde, and Larry Horse.
During off-duty hours, Rogers attended both the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Child Development. He graduated from the Seminary and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963 with a charge to continue his work with children and families through the mass media.
“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” helped young viewers process stress incurred during intense periods of cultural upheaval. When it would have been easy to demonize villains, Rogers instead forced viewers to tussle with a question Jesus himself was asked in the gospel of Luke (The Parable of the Good Samaritan): “Who is my neighbor?” While the question felt different depending on the circumstances, Rogers’ answer never wavered.
“His definition of ‘neighbor’ was whomever you happen to be with at the moment, especially if they are in need,” Joey Hollingsworth said. It could also be “those people who have helped you become who you are today.” “They’ve loved you, and encouraged you, and wanted what was best in life for you, they’re right inside yourself.” as he said in his Dartmouth commencement address.
Rogers told kids they mattered, that they were worthy of love, and that emotions were to be embraced, not buried. He told the children: “You are special. I like you just the way you are.” He spoke to children like grown-ups, and helped them tackle topics such as anger, trust, honesty, courage, and sadness. He told kids to ask for help when needed.
“The world is not always a kind place,” Rogers once said. “That’s something all children learn for themselves, whether we want them to or not, but it’s something they really need our help to understand.”
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood began airing in 1968 (February 19, 1969) and ran for 895 episodes. The last set of new episodes was taped in December 2000 and began airing in August 2001. Fred Rogers received numerous awards during his career as an educator. Rogers received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian award of the United States) in 2002.
2018 marks 50 years since Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood first premiered on television. It is timely to release the documentary film. The film captures many anecdotes from the interviews and clips of the shows. It allows me to have a better view of his work and his life. I am glad that we have a follow-on animation series of “Daniel Tiger” that may benefit the next generation of kids. I am honored to have Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) in my life time and influenced by him.
For Further Reading:
Wikipedia Mr. Rogers Neighborhood
You are special
Dartmouth address
Biography Links: Press back button on browser to get back to this site.
https://www.fredrogers.org/media/mister-rogers-neighborhood/
https://www.fredrogers.org/fred-rogers/bio/
http://mentalfloss.com/article/31936/20-gentle-quotations-mister-rogers
https://www.biography.com/people/fred-rogers-9462161
http://time.com/5290424/excerpt-mister-rogers-biography/
Clarifying on Special Olympics
The incident happened at a 1976 track and field event held in Spokane, Washington. A contestant did take a tumble, and one or two of the other athletes turned back to help the fallen one, culminating in their crossing the finish line together, but it was only one or two, not everyone in the event. The others continued to run their race.