"Because the design of the film was really to try and speak to people I don’t necessarily agree with.... [Mr. Rogers is] a rare subject that doesn’t have cultural baggage. Because he connects with us before we have identities, as little kids, he’s a rare figure that kind of transcends so much of the cultural division that we have... I felt like that title [The Radical Mister Rogers] in the context of the era that we’re in, would turn off people who needed to see it."
So said Morgan Neville, the director of the 2018 documentary that was released as "Won’t You Be My Neighbor?" He was talking to the Producers Guild of America in late 2018 and referring to a decision he made just after Donald Trump was elected.
The documentary is available on HBO on Demand (or Amazon). I happened to watch it last night. Highly recommended. It is not political at all. It is very focused on how to talk to children (very slowly and quietly and with great awareness of how strong their feelings are). The only politics I can think of is the mention that Rogers was "a lifelong Republican" and a lovely segment in which he testifies to the Senate Subcommittee on Communications about public TV financing. Here's a clip of that fantastic testimony (from 1969).
Watch the whole thing because it ends with a great punchline from the Senator, John Pastore, who'd been opposed to public TV funding and starts out being kind of mean to Mr. Rogers. I bet nearly everyone watching the documentary assumes Pastore was a Republican. I know I did. The film doesn't tell you, but — I'm seeing it now — he was a Democrat.
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In the still-frame of the video Mr. Rogers has a certain Jimmy Stewart vibe.
Does the Jimmy-Stewart-type still exist in media-America?
I'm trying to think of someone like that, but nothing comes to mind.
Quick mental associations:
• "where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio...?" Except DiMaggio was pretty much an asshole who happened to be a great ballplayer.
• Dana Carvey as Jimmy Stewart on the old SNL Sprockets skit. When an SNL audience would know who Jimmy Stewart was.
• Now that I have thought about my first question more than a minute: does Buttigeig's demeanor and bearing position him as possibly being America's Gay Mr. Rogers?
• What color was Captain Kangaroo's hair? In my memory it seemed kind of orange, but I didn't watch the show when I was young, so my recollection is sketchy.
• the Jimmy-Stewart-type in pop culture has been replaced by the beta boys, perhaps. Not a fair trade.
I am Laslo.
I bet nearly everyone watching the documentary assumes Pastore was a Republican. I know I did. The film doesn't tell you, but — I'm seeing it now — he was a Democrat.
Because all meanies are Republican, right? Oh the basis for bias hides in deep, deep places.
"In the still-frame of the video Mr. Rogers has a certain Jimmy Stewart vibe. Does the Jimmy-Stewart-type still exist in media-America?"
Well, when I was watching the documentary, I kept thinking he looked like Pete Buttigieg. So, I'm going to say, yes, Pete Buttigieg.
@JAORE
Well, I think the assumption is that Republicans are more likely to be against public financing.
"Now that I have thought about my first question more than a minute: does Buttigeig's demeanor and bearing position him as possibly being America's Gay Mr. Rogers?"
I read that after I wrote my comment above.
Maybe he’s the baby, but there is a hell of a lot of fetid bathwater at PBS. “Don’t throw out our partisan weapon to indoctrinate children! We once had a good show!”
Think of Mr McFeely!
Cheech and Chong had a hilarious skit about the neighborhood parents coming to visit Mr. Rogers.
Saw it in the theater and felt there was a subtle or sometimes unsubtle leftward tilt. The Republican part is given almost as a this fellow is so quaint; while the Democrat part is in the hearing and other places. I remember wondering in one scene if I had caught a glimpse of Hillary Clinton in there. I'll never know as I won't be watching it again, but if you look up the production company and the particular people involved in this one, there were several clearly Democrat-leftist partisan people involved. It just got a little sugared over by the subject, who is better than they are.
Yah Democrats are successful portraying themselves as good and Republicans as evil.
BTW that movie is crap. The kid tool Obamas playbook. I I I Me me. Not much Mister Rogers. My childhood friend had better stories about how she’d see him pedaling around Madaket in his old fashioned swim uniform. nice to all except those interlopers on his ‘private’ beach.
How would Mister Rogers- R be treated if he were still avlive?
Because the design of the film was really to try and speak to people I don’t necessarily agree with...
I think she means “speak at people.”
“people who really need to see this!”
There’s a lot of stuff you “really need to see” too, but you won’t, because your bubble is hermetically sealed by populating the gatekeepers with your fellow travelers.
What color was Captain Kangaroo's hair? In my memory it seemed kind of orange, but I didn't watch the show when I was young, so my recollection is sketchy.
I did watch him -- every day before the school bus came.
Never did know the color of his hair, though.
It was in B & W..
Pastore was a Democrat, all right.
Two thoughts:
1. That phrase "a lifelong Republican" has gotten a real workout in these comments over the past few years.
2. Fred Rogers makes a great case for the "education" part of PBS in the media landscape of 1969. It is like he has landed from outer space today. In media terms, he is living "A Wonderful Life" while everyone else is living "The Wire."
I felt like that title [The Radical Mister Rogers] in the context of the era that we’re in, would turn off people who needed to see it."
The turn off to me is a filmmaker who instead of hoping people will want to see his movie, thinks people need to see it.
Fred Rogers's testimony is interesting and effective, but who was recording Congressional hearings in 1969? Note in particular the cuts to Pastore. There was no C-SPAN. Cable television was in its infancy, if it existed at all. The answer must be that PBS was covering itself and its own interests. Nice propaganda move, PBS!
Mr. Rogers was gay, merry and bright, but not transgender. Although, his speech did have a feminine air.
Imagine, just imagine a Republican trying to convince a Democratic senator to spend public money on something other than the military, nuclear power, or the space program. It's surreal. 1969 -- half a century ago -- was a far different era.
Of course, Rogers was a Pennsylvanian, so he was likely an Eastern establishment Republican (think William Scranton, Nelson Rockefeller, even George Romney). More sympathetic to bigger government than Western libertarian Republicans like Goldwater and Reagan.
Coincidentally, or maybe not, Googling "fred rogers" produces the suggested "fred rogers pastore" search phrase. That phrase returns links to the youtube clip of the Senate hearing embedded in the post, and, yes, PBS KIDS is one of the youtube channels which has it.
Watch the whole thing because it ends with a great punchline from the Senator, John Pastore, who'd been opposed to public TV funding and starts out being kind of mean to Mr. Rogers.
"We're cutting your budget!"
(Mr. Rogers talks for a few minutes)
"Here's twenty million dollars!"
Mr. Rogers was apparently that rare thing among public figures -- a man who was who he claimed to be. It's very subversive. Cynicism is the only effective defense mechanism when dealing with celebrities bearing platitudes. Don't let your fine feelings towards Mr. Rogers get in the way of your cynical response to George Clooney's next pronouncement on global warming..
Hated him as a kid, respect him as an adult.
Fred Rogers was a great, great warrior.
It seems much more likely that Senator Pastors always favoured the funding. Has anyone seen any evidence that he actually wanted to cut the funding prior to the hearing? It all feels a bit too theatric.
The evidence seems to suggest Democractic Senator Pastore choreographed an effective hit job on a Republican (Nixon). Are we more cynical now, or were we more gullible then?
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