LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED: a review of "Won't You Be My Neighbor?"

"WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?"
Produced and Directed by Morgan Neville
**** (four stars)
RATED PG 13

I am going to open this latest posting in a slightly unorthodox fashion.

Over the past few days upon social media, a 23 minute video has been making the viral rounds rapidly, eliciting nothing but euphoric responses from viewers. The video in question is the latest installment of "The Late, Late Show" host James Corden's highly popular "Carpool Karaoke" series, this time, featuring none other than world treasure Sir Paul McCartney as the twosome share stories and songs as they take a tour of McCartney's childhood hometown of Liverpool, England, including the home he grew up in and where he wrote songs with John Lennon. The video culminates in a surprise concert performance in a Liverpool pub to the amazement of the patrons, a sequence that concludes with a group sing-a-long of The Beatles' timeless "Hey Jude." 

It was a wonderful segment to say the least, as it was filled with such unabashed joyfulness that I truly believe would cure a bad day instantly. But what spoke to me even more than what I saw were the reactions of those in the comments sections as well as from the people who shared the video among friends. What I read over and again were statement conveying just how moved people were while watching the video. How people were actually moved to tears (a comment I read the absolute most) as they were so affected at regarding not only a living legend making people happy, but the feelings of that aforementioned unabashed joyfulness that permeated between Corden and McCartney, through the pub, and from this video through a myriad of computer screens around the world.

The response was so uniformly enthusiastic, to my perceptions, it felt as if people truly needed to see and feel something like this. People just needed to feel this level of goodness again in our 21st century that is growing more unpredictable, volatile, divided, and unstable seemingly by the hour, if not the day. And if my perceptions are correct, our cultural level of spiritual decay is more dangerously prevalent than ever for we are just aching for something good...a heavy hearted spiritual ache that shows no immediate signs of being healed anytime soon

Dear readers, this afternoon, I returned home from screening what is not only one of the very best films of 2018, it was an experience that surprised me tremendously with its power and relevance to or current state of affairs in our anxiety ridden landscape. Director Morgan Neville's "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" a documentary about the life and mission of Fred Rogers, the creator/writer/producer/star of Public Television's eternal children's classic "Mister Rogers' Neghborhood," was an experience that was nothing less than revelatory, entrancing, sobering and undeniable moving.

Trust me, there was not a dry eye in the house and not through any means of false sentimentality, sense of nostalgia or prefabricated manipulations. Every emotion was felt to seismic degrees by myself, and I woud gather many of my fellow patrons in the theater audience, as what we were witness to was the testament of a quiet revolutionary who devoted his life not only to serving the emotional upbringing of all children, but his desire to try and leave the world a bit better than way he he found it through nothing less than kindness, patience, understanding, listening and being non-judgmental towards any and everyone he encountered.

In fact, Fred Rogers' calm, sensitive demeanor, of course was prime for ridicule and yet throughout this film, I was forced to perform a serious re-evaluation of not only the television show, but crucially, the man, his life's work and how he so tenaciously brought his message to the world. And in doing so, Neville's film made me re-evaluate precisely what it means to be strong, to be brave, and to  have integrity and empathy within a world that seemingly holds no value over such things.

Through interviews with family members, including his wife Joanne Rogers, to the cast and crew members of the iconic television program and additional friends and guests, Morgan Neville's "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" details the guiding philosophy of Fred Rogers, which was the basic truth that each and every one of us deserves not only to be loved, but we are all capable of loving. As as he so explicitly states within one of the film's many archived interview segments, "Love is at the root of everything. Love or the lack of it." 

That very dichotomy is explored extensively through Neville's briskly paced and wholly involving documentary, which also delves into not only the history of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," but the behind the scenes conception and construction of the show, unveiling just how revolutionary, influential and completely unorthodox and profoundly disarming the program actually was. In fact, I would now say that Fred Rogers was downright radical, something I would have never imagined for this ordained minister who was indeed a life long Republican.

But radical he was as he had the audacity to not only invent a television program that featured a multi-racial cast and housed a tonality that went completely against the grain of all other television programming designed for children--and that even included his PBS compatriots. Fred Rogers had the audacity to believe, and share his belief, that children were valuable human beings deserving of respect, attention, encouragement, affection and the very best of ourselves in order to assist them in becoming the very best of themselves. And to think, he achieved this very tactic for generations of viewers, especially children, not through sermonizing or any sense of religious based dogma. But through the act of listening, asking questions, being interested in everything, working with clear, direct language to formulate an on-going dialogue with conversations, songs and celebrating the blissful space contained in deliberately slow, quiet moments.

Now, I have to confess to all of you that while I did watch "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" daily as a small child, it was not a show that I remember enjoying terribly much. In fact, I think I watched it as more of a placeholder as I waited for the more stimulating "Sesame Street," "The Electric Company" and "Zoom." While there were aspects that I enjoyed from his daily routine of entering and leaving, the sight of the toy neighborhood, "Picture, Picture," the stoplight, and the feeding of his fish what Fred Rogers created, to my sensibilities, was quiet to the point of being sedate. Not much ever really happened on the show except when that beautiful trolley arrived to take viewers to the Land Of Make Believe, the point in the show when I would always perk up to attention. Otherwise, the whole series felt like nap time.

And yet, as I think about it now, and as witnessed through Neville's film, this specific somnambulant tone was exactly what Fred Rogers wished to deliver and establish to and for children; a quiet space to relax, to be calm, to provide an environment devoid of any sense of over stimulation and was indeed celebratory of silence. In fact, one segment on the show, as depicted in the documentary, Mr. Rogers placed an egg timer on a table and set the timer for one minute, to showcase to the children at home exactly what one minute actually was...and then, the program settled in for that entire one minute without interruption. When I now think about this program where supposedly nothing happened, I realize how wrong I was, for what Fred Rogers was teaching to everyone was that the act of living, breathing, experiencing and loving was the act of "happening" and it was happening every single moment. Just as he sang every day, "It's such a good feeling to know you're alive..." 

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how Neville's film demonstrated Fred Rogers' deliberate approach to the overall purposefulness of his program. It was purposeful that Mister Rogers never once appeared as himself in even one "Land of Make Believe" segment because he wished to always present a clear distinction between fantasy and reality. It was purposeful for him to leave mistakes in the show, like one moment when the zipper on his sweater accidentally broke, for he wanted to demonstrate to children how everyone makes mistakes and how we can try, fail and try again. But what fascinated me tremendously was precisely how, just like my beloved Charles M. Schulz accomplished with his "Peanuts" characters, was the fact that his entire personality and psychology were woven into the entire fabric of the show and its characters, especially the puppet characters. Which "Land Of Make Believe" character was the most like the real Fred Rogers, you ask? You need to see the film to find out and the answer provides the film with several of its most touching, moving, expressive and again...disarming and insightful sequences.

Even more profound to discover was how Fred Rogers directly addressed cultural events, interpersonal and national controversies and tragedies. He spent one entire week on his program talking about death, for instance. Another week dealt with divorce. In one "Land Of Make Believe" segment, which aired after the murder of Robert Kennedy, one character asks another what assassinations actually are. He covertly, yet elegantly, addressed the racial tensions of the 1960's by a now classic sequence where he shared soaking his feet in a wading pool with the character of Officer Clemons (Francois Clemmons)--an African American. And in one particularly and extremely eerie sequence also set within the "Land Of Make Believe," King Friday XIII expressed  his desire to build a wall between his castle and the remainder of the outside world because he was afraid of change and all those who wished for change. Mmmm...hmmm.  Oddly enough, I certainly do not remember any such moments such as those but there they were, and so much more, in this documentary and I was repeatedly stunned.

Delving even further, I was even more amazed with Fred Rogers' quiet yet seemingly unshakable, unbreakable tenacity regarding what was nothing less than his core belief system and his life's work. Neville provides an astounding sequence set in 1969 when Rogers faced down a Senate Subcommittee when funding for Public Broadcasting was threatened. Through his patient yet unmovable resolve, Rogers not only expressed his core values but he also delivered a recitation of his own composition about self control entitled, "What Do You Do With The Mad That You Feel?"  To watch this hearing play out was as remarkable as it was riveting to behold, and clearly showed just how much can actually be achieved when we all take a moment to truly listen, because only then can we even begin to truly understand each other, especially when our differences feel to be worlds apart. 

Most striking of all, was how Mr. Rogers valued the entire emotional landscape contained within children, and how he knew that childhood was decidedly not all about "clowns and balloons." That children do become angry and how their anger has value, and needs just as much attention as any adult in the world, if not moreso. And finally, how even when a child is angry, so-called negative feelings do not necessitate value judgement of the child in question. No feeling is a mistake and nor is any child for having any feelings, good or bad.  That said, Rogers' sense of tenacity did seem to arrive, albeit partially, from a place of frustration and anger, at the injustices of the world to even his extreme disdain for television itself, especially the television designed for children, exploitative programming that never respected their audience but simply was designed to make children consumers.

Yet,Fred Rogers, for all of his wonder and gifts was not infallible to the unrepentant brutality of the world. Even he had to step back and take pause, unsure of how to face down new horrors, like the  September 11th attacks, and even his own severe doubts of his place in a world I can only imagine that he did not recognize anymore. Frankly, as I watched "Won't You be My Neighbor?" I found myself feeling thankful that Fred Rogers, who passed away in 2003 at the age of 74 from stomach cancer, was no longer within the world to see what has transpired over these last nearly three years. Out of some sense of protection for him, I woud have hated to see him regard our current landscape, which has fallen so far in its discourse and respect for each other, the environment and the planet as a whole. 

But I guess, that may be the greatest takeaway from Morgan Neville's "Won't You be My Neighbor?," the beliefs and actions of a man who was honest and direct in presentation, so much so that even the most hard hearted cynics could find themselves taken in by his specialized brand of wonder, discovery, kindness, tolerance and acceptance. Neville showcases this particular gift over and again and the effect is marvelous. Furthermore, we are also witness to Rogers' sneaky, unpredictable and surprisingly rascally humor, another tactic that allowed all cynicism to melt away as he ingratiated himself so absolutely.

I have to admit to you that found myself in tears often while watching this film. Not necessarily because I was sad. But honestly because I was so unquestionably moved by the experience which showed how all of us are undergoing an existential struggle, Fred Rogers included. Yet, Rogers felt s strongly that if you simply met people with love, and showed how we are all not only deserving of love but how we are all unique and special simply because we are who we are, warts and all. Fred Rogers truly believed that there are no conditions to loving and being loved and perhaps, even when we are feeling our most unlovable, that precisely when we should love even harder. For we are special because there is indeed only one of each of us in the universe and that we are all deserving of love just because we are alive. 

I am going to conclude this posting by giving you another music related story. A couple of months ago, I became entranced by the music of a Texas based trio called Khruangbin. One of their music videos is for a song entitled "Friday Morning" and I do urge for you to watch it on You Tube.at your earliest convenience. The song itself is a languid six minute plus love song that feels like you are slipping into the warmest, most luxurious bath you have ever taken. Yet, the visuals for this song are deceptively simple yet undeniably powerful. What we see are individual moments of each of the three band members sitting within a room listening to messages of love from their family and friends. We are unable to hear any of these messages. All we hear is the music and all we see are the band members' reactions to what they are hearing.

It made me cry.

I cried because it was so quietly beautiful but moreso because it was sadly enlightening. For it made me realize just how little we actually do hear about how much we are loved, so very little that our spirits are acing for some sense of caring, or some validation of our existence, our place in the world in regards to those of every one we know.

Morgan Neville's "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" speaks to that societal existential crisis so explicitly as I do believe our souls are hurting terribly, especially now as the world has never felt so uncertain and completely inside out. The film speaks precisely to all that we have had and all that we have lost as a culture. But is defiantly speaks to what we could regain if we only just tried again to heed the words, wisdom and heart of Mr. Fred Rogers' messages of love, communication, patience, listening, understanding and community--both local and global.

Imagine what we could become if we just adhered to those messages rather than those of anger, fear, recrimination, retribution and revenge--or at least, find the proper balance between them all for all of those emotions have validity, which need to be respected. And  besides, now, more than ever, the children of this world are looking to us and need us, so what kind of  world do we wish to have for them as well as ourselves? 

Morgan Neville's "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" is inspirational, essential viewing and it is also one of 2018's highest cinematic achievements.