A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Speaks to Mister Rogers’ Lessons of Forgiveness
There was a moment during the press junket for “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” when I walked into an area and turned to see all of Mister Rogers puppets on display. Standing before me were King Friday XIII, X the Owl, Lady Elaine Fairchilde, Henrietta Pussycat, and Daniel Striped Tiger. Granted they were replicas of the originals, but I immediately teared up. It was like all my childhood dreams of visiting the Neighborhood of Make Believe were coming true.
Mister Rogers has a way of unlocking your heart. Whether it’s as simple as feeding his fish, or teaching us about difficult subjects, something about his calm demeanor just makes you want to listen. In the new film “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” Tom Hanks embodies Mister Rogers fully, reminding you of simple things like believing in the good of humanity and the kindness of others.
The film starts out like any other Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood episode, his jovial changing of formal jacket to cardigan, the removing of shoes to sneakers, the whole process is a lesson in getting comfortable and settling in, to soak up new knowledge you may have never known before.
To quote a line from the film “It’s not really about Mister Rogers. It is but…” The movie is a story inspired by real life – about a jaded journalist and his journey towards acceptance of his past and his future. Inspired by the Esquire Magazine article, “Can You Say…Hero?” by journalist Tom Junod, the movie follows Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Ryhs) as he learns a timely lesson about compassion and letting go.
Vogel has to face with his future with his wife Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson) and their newborn, while wrestling with his past and learning to forgive his father (Chris Cooper).
Mister Rogers takes a back seat to Lloyd’s family trauma but just as in real life, his wake is mighty. His stillness, his listening, his genuine inquires. These actions seem meaningless, almost comical at times, but they are a means to an end. The movie relays the message that Mister Rogers is not a saint, but rather works hard on his actions everyday, something any of us can do.
Director Mariele Hunter masterfully juggles reality and make-believe—just like on the show—showing Lloyd’s struggles as surreal figments of his imagination to help deal with his problems.
It’s not until the end of the movie that you realize you’ve just been witness to an entire Mister Rogers-type episode on forgiveness. It’s hard to know whether to feel for journalist Lloyd or for Fred Rogers himself, who has taken on the burden of being a positivity beacon for everyone in the world. Mister Rogers also has his bad days but he works through it. And we can all appreciate his love and support for humankind, something that still resonates to this day.
“Some days, doing ‘the best we can’ may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn’t perfect on any front—and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else.” – Mister Rogers
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood opens November 22nd.
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