I have to confess, I did now grow up with Mister Rogers. I am from the generation of Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Green Jeans, Dancing Bear, and, of course, my favorite, Bunny Rabbit!!!!!!!!! Oh, and don't forget Mr. Moose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This does not mean I was not aware of Mister Rogers. But what I was aware of was disturbing to me. If some guy with as unctuous a voice had approached me as a kid, I would either have run for my life, or smacked him in the face, accusing him of being a child sexual predator.
I always thought Mister Rogers had the manner of a child molester. He absolutely creeped me out!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yesterday was a HOT day! And, with us potentially suffering from cabin fever, David, our neighbor, Jennifer, and I, went to the only interesting movie around--the documentary on Mister Rogers, entitled, inevitably, "Won't You Be My Neighbor."
Overall, I got a lot out of it. I had no idea he was a talented musician, or he had been an ordained minister--now that voice makes sense! It is perfect for a minister!!!!!!--or that he had come from a wealthy family, and had been an overweight kid, who was sickly, and had been bullied.
There were dimensions to this guy I had not even imagined. And his interaction with children, which you get to see, first hand, is so moving and genuine, that even I was impressed. Especially when it came to this disabled boy, Jeffrey Erlanger, who, years later, meets up again with Rogers, showing his triumphant survival into adulthood. There were moments like this, when the film genuinely moved me to tears!!!!!
It also made me wonder. Fred Rogers had great help and support from his wife, Joanne, and he had two sons, one of whom looks like Joanne, the other like your garden variety drug dealer. Obviously, neither followed in his footsteps into children's television, unless it was behind the scenes.
There was a subtle moment when Rogers took an employee to task for frequenting a gay bar, during his off hours. Hmmmmmm...so Mister Rogers disapproves of homosexuality????????? Are there any other dark secrets to his persona????????????
If there were, this film did not explore them. Perhaps the filmmakers were just interested in a puff piece. Perhaps, this really WAS Mister Rogers!!!!!!! Still, when someone comes off as the closest male equivalent to Jennifer Jones in "The Song Of Bernadette," my suspicions cannot help but be aroused!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In any case, the film is highly enjoyable. Though I have to confess, Koko, the gorilla, steals the show! You always spell the name with a "K," unless one is talking about Chanel, in which case it is a "C." But Koko is a real scene stealer, and interacts with Rogers beautifully! Simply precious, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Still, and all, I could not help wondering--if someone is simply too good to be true, then they usually are.
Aren't they?????????????
The "gay" black co-star recently spoke out to clarify what went down between him and Fred Rogers during the course of the show's run, precisely because he felt this documentary presented Rogers inaccurately as a one-dimensional homophobe.
ReplyDeleteAs often happens when we view the past thru the lens of the present, the truth is a bit more nuanced. At the time, it would have been a horrific scandal if some muckraking journalist got wind the co-host of a popular kiddie show was frequenting sleazy gay bars. It would have killed the show dead in its tracks: this was at the peak of Anita Bryant's brainwashing most straights to believe ALL gays were child molesters who "reproduced" their kind by converting vulnerable children.
So Fred had a fraught conversation with his co-star. More than anything else, he was upset that the guy didn't just tell him he was gay in the first place so they could have come up with a pre-emptive discretion plan. Clemmons explained that he really hadn't been sure himself until recently, and it was even more dangerous to be a BLACK gay man. Things were tense for awhile after that: Rogers was very religious in that straight midwestern way. But he realized Clemmons had been his close friend and collaborator for years, and he did not want to lose that friendship or his contribution to the show. So Rogers evolved his attitudes toward gay people once the light bulb clicked that he already knew and loved one: the outcome all of us have preached for decades.
Eventually the strain lifted and they became closer than ever, with Rogers only stipulation being his friend should avoid high-profile sleaze clubs where he'd be likely recognized and outed. Over the years Clemmons increasingly opened Rogers mind to the oppression suffered by gays, particularly gays of color, and Rogers became involved in some important behind-the-scenes pro-gay situations where his credibility was crucial to changing some powerful minds.
ReplyDeleteI wish the movie had gone into
details as you describe. While it
was touching and moving, it seemed
more like a puff piece. Though I
learned more about Mr. Rogers than
I thought I ever wanted to know.
Now, I would like to know even morr!