A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

[Xprimentyl]

I?m holding out hope for Fred Rogers, though; he could stab my parents to death in front of me, hand me the blood-soaked knife along with a signed confession that he did it, and I?d still need more evidence before I?d believe it.

Hey, I just thought of a great "controversial" twist ending to the movie...

Lol, thank God M. Night Shyamalan has nothing to do with this film.

 

[Seanchaidh]

The movie had better recapitulate this scene:

 

[Xprimentyl]

The movie had better recapitulate this scene:

See, that's the power of Mister Rogers. Who else can flip off children and make them AND adults smile gleefully? No one; that's who.

 

[Nedoras]

For those curious, Fred Rogers hosted a children's program called "Mister Roger's Neigborhood." It was a very simple show hosted from the titular character's home in which he had a trolley that journeyed to a land of make believe, a place inhabited by rudimentary puppets. The show was very sweet,

Yes, that too. Fred would address the screen like he was talking to each and every child individually. He would often have guests visit his home or take field trips to various places throughout the neighborhood. He taught nothing but love, inclusion, encouraged children to use their imaginations and ensured every one of us that we were special in our own way.

One of the most moving things I learned about him: early on in his show (late '60s, early '70s,) he introduced one of (if not the) first black recurring character in a children's program with police officer Clemmons. At a time when racial tensions were overtly high in the US, Officer Clemmons visited Mr. Rogers and they sat in good company with their feet in a wading pool as friends and equals, teaching children of a pre-civil rights and a segregation parents that race meant nothing and that kindness was everything.

And the rub? It was not an act. Fred Rogers was indeed the very man he portrayed on the show, one of the nicest, most honest and decent people to have ever walked the earth. I can't say enough about the guy. I guess he's not as world-renown as I feel he should be, but the impact he had on the lives of so many of us in the US for over 30 years is undeniable. I read the "creepy" comments of some in here, and I get it; it's what we do in this day and age, kill kindness with cynicism, but Fred Rogers would have smiled through that too.

Aw, that's good to hear he made it through untainted while being such an influence for many within an intensely divided culture. I suppose the concept of high-profile children's entertainer over here in this drizzly land of despair has been overall less positive, whether they're accidentally boiling their coked up girlfriend in the bath then later hanging themselves in a train station, Jimmy Saville or just turning into Russel Brand...kinda makes people wary of the pure saintly character. So I can understand trepidation from certain angles. Surely he must have some flaw somewhere though? Like forgetting to put the lid back on toothpaste sometimes? Leaving his toenail clippings in disagreeable places? Refuses to take out the trash on Sundays due to an irrational fear of steam-raccoons?

There would be big money in destroying Fred Rogers' reputation with some dirt. Especially with the documentary and now this movie going. And the man worked in television for decades, leaving plenty of trail to comb over for crumbs.

And yet nobody's ever found any.

They've tried before. There was outrage over him in conservative media for awhile, as they thought his message to children was "evil" n' whatnot. I don't mean random cranks either, it was on the news and they made a narrative out of it. You don't need to find actual dirt, you just have to make people believe that there is some. It didn't work though, and I don't see it ever really working. I can definitely see them trying to do so again though what with this movie being a thing. I can see the headlines now: "Did Fred Rogers create a generation of entitled children?" or "Fred Rogers is responsible for liberal insanity".

I watched the show as a kid every now and then. I didn't see it much as I didn't watch much TV as a kid, and it was never anything special to me. However it was to a lot of people, and I respect the guy for what he was doing.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

I remember being "tickled pink" when I noticed that a cartoon show my nieces were watching had a trolley in it that looked like the Mr. Rogers trolley, only for my sister to tell me that it wasn't a coincidence and that the show 'Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood' is in fact a "spin off" of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Was very happy to see that.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

I always found Mr. Rogers to be really creepy. That overly friendly, soft-spoken manner and the slow deliberate movements...give me the shivers.
Like I know he was a good guy, but also how many children did he eat?

I always found Mr. Rogers to be really creepy. That overly friendly, soft-spoken manner and the slow deliberate movements...give me the shivers.
Like I know he was a good guy, but also how many children did he eat?

You're not alone. He scared me too. I always wondered "how many bodies did he have buried beneath that train set?" He came across to me as the guy in the van asking "You want some candy little girl?" Trying to trick you into getting closer...

I wasn't afraid of clowns or tarantulas but I was scared of Mr. Rogers. Go figure.

Really? I didn't grow up with him, we didn't have his show in Germany but from the clips I've seen on it on the internet he does seem like a genuinely good natured guy.

When on the other hand for example Jimmy Saville seems like a complete sleazeball, even when you don't know he was literally a serial rapist.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I remember being "tickled pink" when I noticed that a cartoon show my nieces were watching had a trolley in it that looked like the Mr. Rogers trolley, only for my sister to tell me that it wasn't a coincidence and that the show 'Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood' is in fact a "spin off" of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Was very happy to see that.

I was chosen to be godfather to my best friend?s new baby girl about a year ago, and the first show that captured her attention several months into her young life was Daniel Tiger. I bought her the stuffed animal and didn?t recognize him at first, but like you, I saw the trolley and everything clicked; I too was ?tickled pink.?

I always found Mr. Rogers to be really creepy. That overly friendly, soft-spoken manner and the slow deliberate movements...give me the shivers.
Like I know he was a good guy, but also how many children did he eat?

You're not alone. He scared me too. I always wondered "how many bodies did he have buried beneath that train set?"

Really? I didn't grow up with him, we didn't have his show in Germany but from the clips I've seen on it on the internet he does seem like a genuinely good natured guy.

This was some of the cynicism I mentioned earlier in the thread. I DO get it; I?m no stranger to giving ?too good to be true? kindness the side-eye, and if you?re someone who didn?t grow up watching him much or at all, Mister Rogers most certainly does come across as too good to be true. I, however, was fortunate enough to grow up with him, and as an adult I learned that the man and the character were one in the same, and it literally engrained him in my mind as the ideal of humanity, like ObsidionJones said: ?a literal Hero.? I?m not a religious person, but to anyone waiting for the Second Coming of Christ, he might have already come and gone, dying again in 2003.

From the Personal Life section of his Wikipedia page:

Rogers studied Catholic mysticism, Judaism, Buddhism, and other faiths and cultures. King called him "that unique television star with a real spiritual life", emphasizing the values of patience, reflection, and "silence in a noisy world". King reported that despite Rogers' family's wealth, he cared little about making money, and lived frugally, especially as he and his wife grew older. King reported that Rogers' relationship with his young audience was important to him. For example, since hosting Misterogers in Canada, he answered every letter sent to him by hand. After Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began airing in the U.S., the letters increased in volume and he hired staff member and producer Hedda Sharapan to answer them, but he would read, edit, and sign each one. King stated that Rogers viewed responding to his viewers' letters as "a pastoral duty of sorts".

According to Junod, he did nothing to change his weight from the 143 pounds which he weighed for most of his adult life; by 1998... As Junod stated, Rogers viewed his weight "as a destiny fulfilled", telling Junod, "the number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you'".

The man was too great for this world.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I always found Mr. Rogers to be really creepy. That overly friendly, soft-spoken manner and the slow deliberate movements...give me the shivers.
Like I know he was a good guy, but also how many children did he eat?

I get what you mean. As an undiscerning kid he?s simply a kind-hearted elder; a true humanitarian role model. But to anyone who?s experienced the ?other? side of humanity...


I just really am holding out hope it isn?t one day unearthed that he was a rampant serial pedo or something. Might as well implode the human race at that point.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I always found Mr. Rogers to be really creepy. That overly friendly, soft-spoken manner and the slow deliberate movements...give me the shivers.
Like I know he was a good guy, but also how many children did he eat?

You're not alone. He scared me too. I always wondered "how many bodies did he have buried beneath that train set?" He came across to me as the guy in the van asking "You want some candy little girl?" Trying to trick you into getting closer...

I wasn't afraid of clowns or tarantulas but I was scared of Mr. Rogers. Go figure.

...and unfortunately Fred?s image genuine persona was almost certainly the penultimate to be taken advantage of by countless sickos and creeps which gave people such an impression in the first place, and the world became all the worse for it.

 

[Schadrach]

clowns ... I was scared of Mr. Rogers. Go figure.

Won't you be my neighbor? We're *all* neighbors here...

Worst. crossover. ever.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

Spoiler

I always found Mr. Rogers to be really creepy. That overly friendly, soft-spoken manner and the slow deliberate movements...give me the shivers.
Like I know he was a good guy, but also how many children did he eat?

I always found Mr. Rogers to be really creepy. That overly friendly, soft-spoken manner and the slow deliberate movements...give me the shivers.
Like I know he was a good guy, but also how many children did he eat?

You're not alone. He scared me too. I always wondered "how many bodies did he have buried beneath that train set?" He came across to me as the guy in the van asking "You want some candy little girl?" Trying to trick you into getting closer...

I wasn't afraid of clowns or tarantulas but I was scared of Mr. Rogers. Go figure.

Really? I didn't grow up with him, we didn't have his show in Germany but from the clips I've seen on it on the internet he does seem like a genuinely good natured guy.

When on the other hand for example Jimmy Saville seems like a complete sleazeball, even when you don't know he was literally a serial rapist.

Spoiler

I always found Mr. Rogers to be really creepy. That overly friendly, soft-spoken manner and the slow deliberate movements...give me the shivers.
Like I know he was a good guy, but also how many children did he eat?

I get what you mean. As an undiscerning kid he?s simply a kind-hearted elder; a true humanitarian role model. But to anyone who?s experienced the ?other? side of humanity...


I just really am holding out hope it isn?t one day unearthed that he was a rampant serial pedo or something. Might as well implode the human race at that point.

Spoiler

I always found Mr. Rogers to be really creepy. That overly friendly, soft-spoken manner and the slow deliberate movements...give me the shivers.
Like I know he was a good guy, but also how many children did he eat?

You're not alone. He scared me too. I always wondered "how many bodies did he have buried beneath that train set?" He came across to me as the guy in the van asking "You want some candy little girl?" Trying to trick you into getting closer...

I wasn't afraid of clowns or tarantulas but I was scared of Mr. Rogers. Go figure.

...and unfortunately Fred?s image genuine persona was almost certainly the penultimate to be taken advantage of by countless sickos and creeps which gave people such an impression in the first place, and the world became all the worse for it.

clowns ... I was scared of Mr. Rogers. Go figure.

Won't you be my neighbor? We're *all* neighbors here...

Worst. crossover. ever.[/spoiler]

Sadly, yes this is regrettably true. My first exposure to adults talking to me in such a manner was at my first school, which as some may recall we were all violently, emotionally, and sexually abused where hundreds of children were raped by a man who spoke to children in exactly this way to the extent of being so severe it was addressed by the US senate. I am pretty sure that shaped my view of adults speaking to children in the manner he does, and why I honestly feel afraid still when I see/ hear people interacting that way instead of behaving the way people normally interact with children.

Children who have been exposed to such things will likely not see the person speaking and behaving in such a manner as being "friendly and welcoming" and will likely have the opposite reaction.

 

[Jarrito3002]

Fred Rogers is one two people to be born without original sin the other virgin Mary. This is just objective fact.

I remember it not being my favorite but still it just felt inviting to watch. Plus like every Mr. Rogers fact is some small or large moment or tidbit that just adds on his legacy of probably being the most least shit human being ever. Like many have said he is so pure is sickening and unnatural.

Plus lets be real how many years has it been and not one negative damning thing about him has not surfraced. Also he was integral to PBS being a thing. I will stan for Mr. Rogers will out regret.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The movie had better recapitulate this scene:

See, that's the power of Mister Rogers. Who else can flip off children and make them AND adults smile gleefully? No one; that's who.

Kinda makes you wonder if there was some hidden message behind that...even someone as wholesome as him had to have known what it meant.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The movie had better recapitulate this scene:

See, that's the power of Mister Rogers. Who else can flip off children and make them AND adults smile gleefully? No one; that's who.

Kinda makes you wonder if there was some hidden message behind that...even someone as wholesome as him had to have known what it meant.

No, there was no hidden message. He knew what it meant (hence his knowing smile,) but the children didn?t; for all they knew it was just a part of the classic children?s song ?Where is Thumbkin?? wherein each finger is given a name. Rather than the awkward killing of the fun, he bit the bullet and let the song play out as the children expected, the alternative being Mister Rogers essentially teaching the children the nature of an [in their minds] innocent gesture which I think wouldn?t have gone over well with the parents.

Spoiler: ?Mr. Rogers Introduces us to Jeff?

Spoiler: ?Jeff inducts Mr. Rogers into the TV Hall of Fame?