WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?: A
A well put together documentary on the life of a man who deserves to be celebrated and remembered for the beautiful human being that he was and the positive impact he had on the world around him.
Some of the issues spoken about were briefly brushed upon the surface, while others were explored in great depth. I suppose they had to structure it that way in order to fit it nice and neat into an hour and 34 minutes.
To see the influence that Fred Rogers had and continues to have is quite amazing. A man so full of passion and love, and a genuineness and sincerity that I don't think I've ever seen matched. It's not that I saw before me a man without flaws, nor did I see before me a man whom I'd picture to never have a disagreement with. It's that I saw before me a man so honest, so raw and so truthful that I can't help but respect, admire and love him.
As I watched the film I came to my own conclusion of what it was that made Fred Rogers so special. Most people listen to you with their ears. He listened to you with his heart.
It amazes me how some like the Fox News anchor the film displayed, could conclude that Mr. Rogers created a world full of the self entitled. He did quite the opposite. While the Fox News Anchor is the type to give all the glory and credit to the quarterback who threw five touchdowns while forgetting the rest of the team, Fred Rogers was the one reminding the overlooked linemen that without their protection ole pretty boy wouldn't have thrown all those pretty passes.
It's hard for me to write this formally because it is personal for me. It's personal because when I was little it never occurred to me that Mr. Rogers was talking to millions of kids across the country. It never occurred to me that other kids could see him on the television screen in their home too. I thought he was talking to me. Specifically to me. Telling me, Stephen Stonebraker that I'm special. That I have talents and gifts and abilities. That I am important.
There are a lot of people that I would like to meet and shake their hand, but I have to go a step further and say that I would have liked to have met Fred Rogers and given him a hug.
In a world that can often be ugly and cruel, it is nice to know that such a man existed. And it's nice to know that because he existed, and because he influenced so many, that some still exist to this day.
