与我为邻

An ordained minister in Pittsburgh, Mr. Rogers (1928-2003) is the show-runner and host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, a children’s program of PBS, ran from 1968 to 2001. What singularly distinguishes Mr. Rogers from his coevals is his affable persona (which is almost too good-natured to invite skepticism that it is just a front in front of the camera) and his far-reaching, forward-looking philosophy that “every child is inherently special” and he in earnest, “loves each and every kid in the way they are”. And Neville’s quasi-cradle-to-grave documentary makes an eloquent case of lionizing Mr. Rogers, it is a hagiography, but indeed, for such a saintlike figure, the “h” word is fair and square.

Collating Rogers’ own footage (of the show, his interview and other televised occasions, predominantly the one during 1969 US Senate Subcommittee on Communications, modulated by John Pastore, his cogent testimony which secured funding for PBS at then), the usual talking heads of his family, friends and colleagues, doling out succinct comments, recollections or anecdotes, with children-friendly snippets of animation, WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? comprehensively encompasses almost all the hot-button topics and accidents during Mr. Rogers’ life: consumerism, racism, warfare, homosexuality, JFK’s assassination, The Challenger disaster, among others.

By conventional estimation, those aforementioned issues are simply not apposite for the show’s key demo (roughly toddler to preteen), but Mr. Rogers knows better and in the movie’s very first scene, he frankly muses that a young child needs certain modulations to prepare them for the real world, thus he becomes their modulator, inculcating cracker-barrel nuggets through his show, the Neighborhood of Making-Believe and his trademark puppetry, without dumbing down their nuts and bolts of. On that aspect, an affable Mr. Rogers is an indomitable force, and his endeavor’s vast beneficence is validated by the massive popularity he has amassed spanning over three decades.

Of course, one of the major curiosities lies in Mr. Rogers’ almost inconceivable all-around decency as a human being, which does not tally with our time-honored conviction that each person is a complex entity, what is Mr. Rogers’ dark side? That is a question the documentary tactfully evades, but on a second thought, if one’s dark side is rather disproportional compared to their oceanic goodness and sageness, why should anyone want to be a fault-finding rubbernecker? At the end of the day, it is Mr. Rogers’ indiscriminately wholesome christianity that gets the best of any dyed-in-the-wool cynics, WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? is like its subjects, soft-spoken and well-intentioned, blissfully illuminating, whole-heartedly humble, an efficacious antidote to our troubled times.

referential entries: Neville’s 20 FEET FROM STARDOM (2013, 6.1/10); Marielle Heller’s A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (2019, 7.6/10).

该片的主人公弗雷德·罗杰斯（Fred Rogers）是美国最著名、影响最深远的儿童电视节目《罗杰斯先生的邻居》（Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood）的制作人及主持人。他从1968年开始主持的《罗杰斯先生的邻居》，影响了四十年间一代代的美国儿童。

他曾说过：“生活中真正的问题不是我们拥有多少祝福，而是我们用我们的祝福做了什么。有些人拥有许多祝福并把它们珍藏起来，有些人拥有的很少，却把所有的都给了别人。”

他告诉观众“你是特别的”，其实不是普罗大众意义上的特别，也绝非理所应当的不劳而获，而是说人应该享有被爱的权利以及发展出爱人的能力（这也是决定一个人一生幸福的关键所在）。尽管他有些理想主义的色彩，但他却把这种理想主义付诸于行动，也确实温暖了无数人。

他告诉每一个观众，你就是你自己，独一无二。就像小王子对待他的玫瑰花。

他在每天节目最后会说：

“You've made this day a special day, by just your being you. There's no person in the whole world like you, and I like you, just the way you are.”

From the time you were very little, you’ve had people who have smiled you into smiling, people who have talked you into talking, sung you into singing, loved you into loving. Let’s just take some time to think of those extra special people, some may be right here, some may be far away, some may even be in heaven, no matter where they are, deep down you know, they’ve always wanted what was best for you, they’ve always cared about you beyond measure and have encouraged you to be true to the best within you.”花一分钟去想想生命里那些带给你无尽关怀的人，温暖你、帮助你、只希望你好。感恩他们。

“You know, I think everybody longs to be loved, and longs to know he or she is lovable, and consequently, the greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that they’re loved and capable of loving.”

“You have to make each day a special day, by just being yourself, there’s nobody else in the whole world who’s exactly like you, and people can like you as exactly as you are, you are special.”

By Fred Rogers

如果我小时候看过这个节目，我的人生可能会从此不一样。

史上最卖座的人物传记纪录片，主人公是一位与众不同的儿童电视节目制作人Fred Rogers。他自制自编自主持的节目《Mister Rogers' Neighborhood》从60年代一直播到新世纪（年数仅次于《芝麻街》），每集半小时共900多集，可谓长盛不衰老少咸宜。但这部纪录片更多的不是关于这个节目，而是关于Rogers其人。

影片围绕几个问题展开：Rogers究竟有什么魔力让孩子们喜欢他和他的节目？Rogers谦谦君子的形象究竟是人设还是人性？Rogers怎样看待自己？怎样看待Rogers传递的价值观？

我找到的答案如下：1、Rogers在匹兹堡大学学过儿童发育研究生课程的经历，使他能站在儿童的视角问问题、想问题、展现问题、回答问题、处理问题，从而能跟儿童有效的沟通。2、Rogers在银幕上永远是斯文和善充满正能量的人，很多人觉得他装，但几乎所有受采访的人都表示他在生活中也是如此。当然这不排除他自己也在30年的银幕生涯中锻造了自己的性格。3、Rogers作为凡人当然也有七情六欲，但他的处理方式一是发泄在爱好中（钢琴游泳），二是通过他操控的玩偶来表达（包括一只小老虎和一位国王）。他也会迷茫和自省，甚至在死前问老婆自己是绵羊还是山羊。4、这是个最尖锐的问题，但影片却匆匆带过。Rogers节目的主旨是告诉每个儿童“要做自己”，这虽然到现在还是很主流的价值观，但当从童话世界走进现实社会，长大后会发现光做自己还远远不够。当然，这毕竟是给学龄前儿童看的节目，似乎也不能苛求太多了吧。

看到四分之三的时候忍不住痛哭了起来… Somehow, could sense his sorrow deeply… 虽然这部纪录片的主题完全不是这个 :p

前不久才知道Fred Rogers. 身为儿童电视之父的他也是一位被任命的长老会牧师。在我里面有一个迫切的思想，就是身为基督徒的我们实在是可以在各个领域做光做盐，彰显神的美好。“城造在山上是不能隐藏的“，而且“人点灯，不放在斗底下，是放在灯台上，就照亮一家的人”。

Fred充满智慧与爱心，而且对孩子们的爱更是让人动容。他不仅关心他们，更是尊重他们。他用孩子们可以明白的语言将最深刻的价值观 — 怜悯、理解、饶恕、接纳等等（其实就是爱的内容）— 传达给他们，成为了美国几代儿童的祝福。（表示很羡慕这些孩子，不过更为感恩的是可以成为别人的祝福。It’s more blessed to give than to receive.）

Fred是一个特别真实的人。电视上的他和真实生活中的他是同一个人，面对镜头的他是真真实实地面对着电视机前的真实的人。因为他相信“能给别人最好的礼物之一就是诚实的自己”。而且他也相信真正重要的东西是眼睛看不到的 What is essential is invisible to the eye.

Fred的神学思想是“爱你的邻舍，如同爱自己”。他把每次与人的交流，当作是他在做的最深刻的心灵交流。他深信“每个人都渴望被爱，渴望得知他或她是讨人爱的，因此我们所能做的最伟大的事，就是帮助别人知道他们被爱也有爱的能力。” 以前总纳闷承受爱有什么难的。不过越来越体会到承受爱真是很不容易，一是会出于骄傲的拒绝，二是会出于害怕失望或受伤害而选择避开...

总觉得被小孩子喜欢的人肯定是个有爱的人。耶稣是完美的榜样。Fred也是一个很好的范本。他照着本相接纳&爱每一位孩子。我好像是信主之后才爱跟小孩子打交道的。照着本相接纳&爱身边的人是一个非常非常奇妙的体验，仅有一点点的体会，不过已经欣然不已。

It's you I like, 我喜欢的是你，

It's not the things you wear, 不是你穿的衣服

It's not the way you do your hair 也不是你的发型

But it's you I like 我喜欢的是你

The way you are right now, 你现在的样子，

The way down deep inside you 你内心深处的样子

Not the things that hide you, 不是遮掩着你的东西

Not your toys 不是你的玩具

They're just beside you. 它们都在你身外

But it's you I like 但我喜欢的是你

Every part of you. 你的每一部分。

Your skin, your eyes, your feelings 你的皮肤，你的眼睛，你的感觉

Whether old or new. 不管是新的还是旧的。

I hope that you'll remember 我希望你记得

Even when you're feeling blue 即使在你感到沮丧的时候

That it's you I like, 我仍喜欢你

It's you yourself 是你的自己

It's you. 是你

It's you I like. 我喜欢的是你

Steven说他小时候有很长一段时间是一个人在家，而陪伴他的只有Mr. Rogers。我没有看过他的节目，看完了纪录片终于明白为什么他能受到这么多人的爱戴。他对小朋友说I like you just the way you are... thank you for being you。这种无条件的博爱的确近似基督教里上帝对世人的爱，但他以一种完全和孩子平等的身份真挚地说出这些话的时候，我觉得他的爱比任何神的爱还要有力量。印象最深的两个片段：一个是他说服了国会议员给PBS批准二十万美元的资金，另一个是他和大猩猩Koko的互动，他的确有一种魔力让人（甚至动物）都相信他亲近他。纪录片最后说现在的电视节目里已经没有好人的容身之处了。是的，现在都是靠鬼畜搞怪骂人来赚流量博出位。。。Mr. Rogers的真诚、温和、善良，令人怀念。

“那些在生活中抗争的人给我留下最深刻的印象”

是啊，现在的电视里充斥着许多暴力，人类最初的单纯和善良变成了时代的奢侈品

影片最后给剧中的人以及剧外的人一分钟的时间想想那些在我们生命中帮助我们成为更好的自己的人有谁？

有人想的是他的妈妈，有人想的是她的保姆，有人想的是弗雷德。

我想的是我的妈妈，从小给我念故事书，在我的爱情受挫时治愈我，在我生病时照顾我，在我抑郁时鼓励我。

当然不止我的妈妈，还有我的朋友，老师，以及给我善意的陌生人。

你呢？