# "Won't You Be My Neighbor" (Mr. Rogers movie) (seen it thread)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 1, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075 "2018-07-01T00:00:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2018, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/1 "2018-07-01T00:00:41Z")
I can’t imagine there are any spoilers to be cautious of.
I saw it today and found it very moving and worthwhile. It was not a no-warts approach - when Rogers discovered that one of his crew was caught in a gay bar he told him “you can’t go back there”. But he seemed very caring and genuine, on camera and off.
I hadn’t realized there were those who blamed him for young-uns’ sense of entitlement these days; protests across the street from his funeral service, in fact.
Very touching: the scene where he soaked his feet in a small tub of water, then invited the African American policeman to join him. This was broadcast at a time when folks were freaking out about the coloreds swimming in a ‘whites only’ pool.
Who else has seen - or is interested in seeing - WYBMN?
mmm
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/2 "2018-07-01T00:14:47Z")
I have wondered about the reasons for making this movie. I haven’t seen it. I always found him to be kinda creepy. Apparently the movie is getting good reviews. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 99%. Which is unheard of.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/3 "2018-07-01T00:57:23Z")
That isn’t literally unheard of, of course, since a lot of films received ratings that high on Rotten Tomatoes:
> **[Certified Fresh Movies at Home (March 2023)](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/browse/movies_at_home/critics:certified_fresh)**
>
> Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews, Trailers, Showtimes, and Tickets
I enjoyed it. If you don’t like documentaries, I can understand why you might find it to be slow. Why do you find him creepy, Beckdawrek?
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2018, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/4 "2018-07-01T01:12:37Z")
I don’t know. I think maybe he was similar to a creepy Uncle I had. And those strange puppets that were part of the show always freaked me out. I didn’t like Lambchop either. So it’s just me, I guess.
I love documentaries. I will maybe wait and see it when it comes out of theatres.
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### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/5 "2018-07-01T01:32:06Z")
FWIW I think the puppets are a little creepy too.
But Fred is the real deal. You should see it, **Beck**.
mmm
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### Author:  [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2018, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/6 "2018-07-01T05:55:47Z")
I saw this film a couple weeks ago and it’s one of my favorites of the year so far. It was so refreshing to see a film about a genuinely good and kind person. I do kind of wish they had not included the Fox News idiots, it was such a positive film up til that point.
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### Author:  [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2018, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/7 "2018-07-01T06:51:44Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#):
>
> I hadn’t realized there were those who blamed him for young-uns’ sense of entitlement these days
Those were just jerks who didn’t understand him and didn’t even try. They completely missed the point of what he was telling children.
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#):
>
> protests across the street from his funeral service, in fact.
The protesters across the street were Fred Phelps idiots. They protest anyone for attention.
I never watched the show and had no particular interest in Fred Rogers, but sometimes those are the most interesting documentaries, as was this one. It wasn’t just interesting, it was _comforting_, to find out that he really was that nice person he seemed to be on television.
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### Author:  [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/8 "2018-07-01T22:09:54Z")
Just saw it this afternoon. He has always been a true hero/role-model for me (one of only a very small number of ‘celebrities’ whom I would call important); watching this film just reinforced that fact.
With my biased perspective out of the way, I’ll add that I think the movie (and really he himself) is lovely in many ways. At the very least it’s nice to sit for a few hours and watch and learn about a human doing good in the world, motivated by caring and a strong moral conviction. At a time when even those on the “right” side of moral issues seem to measure their own value and strength by the level of anger they can display, it’s quite an emotional experience to watch someone do so much important work centered around love.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2018, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/9 "2018-07-01T22:14:44Z")
We saw it yesterday afternoon. I am not fond of children, I could never be Fred Rogers, but I’m certainly glad there was a Fred Rogers. We thought the film very well done. The wife had never heard of him, and she was left with a favorable impression.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/10 "2018-07-01T22:44:38Z")
> [@Eonwe](#):
>
> Just saw it this afternoon. He has always been a true hero/role-model for me (one of only a very small number of ‘celebrities’ whom I would call important); watching this film just reinforced that fact.
>
> With my biased perspective out of the way, I’ll add that I think the movie (and really he himself) is lovely in many ways. At the very least it’s nice to sit for a few hours and watch and learn about a human doing good in the world, motivated by caring and a strong moral conviction. At a time when even those on the “right” side of moral issues seem to measure their own value and strength by the level of anger they can display, it’s quite an emotional experience to watch someone do so much important work centered around love.
Very well said. I saw it yesterday afternoon, and I adored it. I was three when _MisteRogers’ Neighborhood_ started on public television, and I grew up watching it. In the past week, I’ve had to step away from participating on Facebook, just due to the amount of anger and toxicity that runs throughout it now, and 90 minutes with someone as humble and lovely as Fred Rogers was exactly what I needed.
I really enjoyed seeing Fred’s genuine, gentle caring come through. The interviews with Francois Clemmons, particularly about his homosexuality, were very moving to me.
It was neat to see the interviews with some of the original cast. I was a little surprised that Betty Aberlin didn’t appear (other than in the show clips); she’s still alive, and I hope that it wasn’t a matter of her not being interested in talking about her experiences, because she was a big part of the show when I was watching it (and, I admit, she was one of my very first crushes).
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### Author:  [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2018, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/11 "2018-07-02T03:53:03Z")
Just bought me some Mister Rogers [stamps](https://www.usps.com/stamps/) (they’ve been on sale since March), because that’s what America should look like.
PBS recently ran a Mister Rogers documentary [Mister Rogers It’s You I Like](https://www.pbs.org/video/mister-rogers-its-you-i-lfn5ha/) with Michael Keaton. Does it cover most of the same material as the new movie? According to IMDB, the movie will be shown on PBS early 2019.
I loved Mister Rogers when I was of the age when it was appropriate to do so, and even after I grew older, I always appreciated the sly humor and gentleness. When I had kids, I was kind of sad that there were no Mister Rogers toys, until I realized what a genius move that is on his part. It was a sad day on the day he died.
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### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/12 "2018-07-03T01:33:16Z")
> [@Eonwe](#):
>
> …At a time when even those on the “right” side of moral issues seem to measure their own value and strength by the level of anger they can display, it’s quite an emotional experience to watch someone do so much important work centered around love.
This is incredibly insightful and nicely phrased.
mmm
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### Author:  [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wont-you-be-my-neighbor-mr-rogers-movie-seen-it-thread/817075/13 "2018-07-03T23:52:42Z")
I saw _Won’t You Be My Neighbor_ and it was touching and beautiful and I loved it.
I’m sorry I didn’t get a Daniel Striped Tiger hand puppet back in the day; now I want one BAD.
You can see _It’s You I Like_ at [archive.org](http://archive.org). [It's You I Like Documentary : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/Its-You-I-Like-Documentary)
You can also read Tom Junod’s excellent Esquire article on Mr. Rogers here: [Can You Say...Hero? - Mr. Rogers Profile Interview](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-hero-esq1198/)
We need Mr. Rogers now more than ever in this mean old world. We are fortunate that even though he can’t be here to carry us through the awful, we can look back at what he did and what he left us.
And always remember … 143. 😃