Review of Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018) by Sam D — 07 Jun 2018

Few figures in pop culture are as revered as Fred Rogers, the man whose simple, quiet children's television show, with its cardboard sets, scruffy hand puppets, and patient storytelling, was once watched daily by one in twelve American households.

The risk in telling the story of such an cultural icon is that revelations about his personal life might destroy a widely accepted (and preferred) mythology. For some biographers, such a takedown might even become their mission, with a requisite imperative to manufacture drama. Morgan Neville's new documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor thankfully does his subject and his audience a more earnest turn by exploring Rogers with an unblinking eye, and finding that indeed, Mr. Rogers was the nice guy that his television persona depicted. That, in itself, is the unexpectedly powerful revelation of this film: that, then and now, the radical kindness of Mr. Rogers is a fierce rebuttal to every cynical force arrayed against humanity.

The very act of being a genuine, caring human being is an affront to policymakers whose basic supposition is that people are savage. Embedding ethics in the very young through simple morality plays is a refutation to the notion that human interaction is inherently violent and zero-sum. Teaching children that they are loved and can love themselves is anathema to purveyors of advertising disguised as entertainment who see the very young merely as future consumers. ?

The exceptional edit of Won't You Be My Neighbor by Jeff Malmberg and Aaron Wickenden never hits us over the head with these ideas, but like photographic prints in a darkroom, they surely develop organically. This is a film that knows its time: could the unconditional acceptance of a neighbor even though they are "different" or convincing the dictatorial King Friday XIII to not build his wall be any more relevant?

Neville stitches his narrative together from original broadcasts, archival news footage, contemporary interviews, and some rather remarkable home movies. Particularly compelling are sequences of Rogers playing piano and performing the voices of his beloved characters. The documentary's pacing is as relaxed as its subject, unhurriedly moving forward, and with an understanding that some in the audience will be too young to be riding on the nostalgia train. If there's one weakness in the film, it's an over-reliance on cute but disengaging animation to bridge ideas.

Fred Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister who saw his television work as an extension of his personal ministry, and who, without ever mentioning Jesus, reciting Bible verses, or climbing on a soapbox, led millions of children through a daily exercise in civility, compassion, and love. Just as he lived his life as an example, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood continues to shine as an example of the high point children's television could aspire to. Likewise, Morgan Neville's new film doesn't preach, but gently tugs at our better selves to recognize what ought to be.

Won't You Be My Neighbor is a remarkable film for right now: a much-needed dose of sanity in a world profoundly out of balance. You will cry. You might not stop crying. You will, however, be inspired in a way that isn't easily forgotten. Go... and please, please bring your kids, whatever their age.