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Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018), PG-13, ★★★★


Back then when I was a child, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was one of the few educational children's programs that I was attached to because he had a gentler and kind perspective of life lessons. He had the sweet humanity of maintaining his even strain and simply just giving his perspective of such difficult topics of death, life, assassination, racism, 9/11, divorce, violence on television, the way we look. I wonder, today, because of the divisive nature in our country, what he would say about, for example, bullying, school shootings and family in depth, especially regarding immigration.

I love that director Morgan Neville, who made both the Oscar-winning 20 Feet from Stardom and Best of Enemies, highlighted his positivity and spirituality from his learnings from both music and ministry school that encapsulated a bubble of such influence that there was a time that kindness was spread around the world. Unfortunately, I was not born when it debuted or when the show's popularity spread, but I remember that around the time, in a child's eye, that the world was so much kinder and innocent, it seemed that, at a brief moment, there were no issues regarding politics or social divide.

Throughout Fred Rogers' life and legacy, I like that Neville delved into the more personal issues and build-up to his show, his persona and to brilliant moments like the episode where he meets the disabled child, Jeff Erlanger. His wish was to meet Mr. Rogers and he did. And, years later, he was invited on to the show to discuss his wheelchair and physical handicaps and I did not know that that moment when Mr. Rogers sings to him that Jeff basically got into the song mid-way through. It was unexpected and improvised but it was magical.


Yeah, I will admit I teared up a bit a couple of times because it flashes back to my childhood and also to a simpler time. We need a Mr. Rogers right now because everybody is living in tough times and it seems that the world is angrier. I love that it explores his life in the military, his routine, his persona (yeah, he got bullied but he approached it in his own way), how he loves talking with children, the importance of education and how he accepts people of color and sexual identity (when homosexuality was introduced as it paralleled the times of when the nation was changing. It is an intimate and honest portrait of a man that embraces the good in us. He sees the good nature in all of us. This is the movie that we need right now that both adults and younger audiences will find appealing and therapeutic. This is one of the best movies of 2018 and it will be difficult to bump off my top 10 at the end of the year.

(There are some episodes and clips of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on YouTube and on Amazon Prime.)

****



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