A Haven for Vee

Monday, November 25, 2019

A Beautiful Day...


Laurel and I sniffled a bit off and on all the way back to my house after the movie. 



It hit a lot of our buttons. Great movie! My recommendation? Go see it. Just go. Trust me. That's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood with Tom Hanks playing the role of Fred Rogers.


It is based on the article Can You Say...Hero? written by Tom Junod for Esquire magazine in November of 1998, which can still be found my searching online. Why the writer's name is changed to Lloyd Vogel in the movie is the director's prerogative. 

Anyway, I don't do movie reviews so I'll quit talking about the movie and start talking about why I loved Fred Rogers as so many others did as well.


When I first began teaching, I realized immediately that something was "off" with many children. Their attention spans were almost nothing and they seemed easily annoyed and upset. I blamed it on societal woes such as drugs and the lack of cohesiveness in the home. Even decades ago there were few children whose parents were married to each other. And so many people were involved with drugs. Sadly, all of this continues to be prevalent today only now we not only have parents who are involved, we have grandparents and great-grandparents. The poor children!

In the early 1990s, I attended a seminar on children's television programming. Seems that the popular PBS network program featuring a big, yellow bird may have been responsible in part for those short attention spans. Their segments were fast moving and short

The instructor shared two stories of taking his own children to shows, one featuring the big, yellow bird and company and one featuring Mr. Rogers. In the first, the children were literally bouncing in their seats and off the walls. When the characters came on stage, the place went wild. It was like a rock concert. He, and probably every other adult there, had a massive headache.

At the Mr. Rogers concert, the children were also bouncing off the walls. Then the beautiful Lady Aberlin came on stage and, with her finger to her lips, smiled at the audience and said that Mr. Rogers was a quiet man who needed quiet spaces. If the children would be quiet and sit in their seats, he would indeed come out and they'd have their show. The children settled down immediately and spent a rapt hour listening to Mr. Rogers tell his stories and sing his songs. 

My daughter did not begin childhood as a Mr. Rogers' fan, though she has become one. My son, on the other hand, was a Mr. Rogers' fan from the beginning. Perhaps he best loved Lady Aberlin and Daniel and the Land of Make Believe folk. I'll have to ask him. I know that I was smitten then as now with Mr. Rogers himself, a gentle man if ever there was one.












32 comments:

  1. A wonderful summation of attention spans. I am getting the absolute privilege of having my grandson with me everyday. I can already tell you that I don't put on much TV at all and that is when he finds something to do and entertains himself. We have the best time just puttering around the house. When I do put on a little TV, I am finding those slower moving programs are the ones he likes. Every toy has a bell, moving part, lights etc. these days. Whew! It wears me out. I definitely have to go see the movie. I've heard nothing but good about it.

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  2. I am looking forward to this movie. I was always a fan of Mr. Rogers and his gentle voice.

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  3. I'll have to go see it. My older kids did watch Mr. Rogers, and NOT the show with the yellow bird. My younger kids didn't watch much TV but we did watch a delightful show called Charlie and Lola, based on books by British author Lauren Child. They watched Max and Ruby, and lots of Busytown by Richard Scarry.

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  4. Television for children was not part of my growing up experience, nor of my children's, so I was barely aware of Mr. Rogers until about 20 years ago. What I have seen of his shows resembles a Canadian show called Mr. Dressup, also a slower moving program that appealed to many children here. All the flash and movement is detrimental to attention spans. I have grade 8 students who literally cannot stay in their seats at school.

    Thanks for the movie recommendation. I've been wondering how it is.

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  5. My daughter accused me of having another child at age thirty-five just so I could watch Mr. Rogers again. I loved Mr. Rogers but I wasn't too sure about the movie because of a discussion about it on the Rachel Ray Show recently (I rarely watch it!). She said he reminded her of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in the movie. Hmmmm...

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    1. No. Just no. Although, perhaps I could see why liberal progressives might wish. You should also know that Joanna Gaines, Michael W. Smith, and others have endorsed the movie as exceptional. I will be thinking about this movie forever.

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  6. I would love to see that movie but rarely, rarely, ever get to go. So glad you enjoyed it. Maybe I can go see it. Hope you are feeling well today Vee and I hope that you have a most wonderful blessed Thanksgiving. Hugs and blessings, Cindy

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  7. I SO want to go see this. Thanks for the reminder that it's probably playing at a movie theater near me. My daughter grew up with Mr. Rogers (so to speak).

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    1. Yes, make it a point and make Bill go with you. Seriously.

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  8. I had and have so much respect and admiration for Mr. Rogers....I plan to see it. Vee, I want to ask you for prayers for my son who is in the hospital with a very serious condition.

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    1. Oh I am sorry, Kristi. Yes, I will be praying for him and all the family.

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  9. I’m going to take Louis Dean with me to see this! So glad you got to go!

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    1. Take your tissues, my friend. Good thing my daughter warned me.

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    2. Although there are many light moments as well! Don’t want to scare anyone.

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  10. We saw the movie on opening day and loved it. I learned things I wish I had known a long time ago.

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    1. Yes, that’s just how I felt about it. But we know now...

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  11. I hope I get to see it but if not now, I can wait for pay per view. He was an extraordinary man.

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  12. Of course we are going...what a beautiful time of year to release this movie! Tom Hanks is always amazing in his roles! My children did watch both shows and were really more into one more than the other....and, they learned alot from both shows...but times have changed...enjoy the holiday!

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  13. I can't wait to see the movie, Vee. I love quiet, gentle things, and always loved Mr. Rogers. It was nice that you and your daughter saw the movie together. Happy Thanksgiving!

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  14. I'm sure I'd enjoy the movie!!
    Always thought Mr Rogers was a great program.
    We lived in Scotland when my kids were small and they had some really great kid shows. Their favorite was a show called Play School.

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  15. I dearly love the gentle, sweet man that is Mr. Rogers. I'm so glad you enjoyed the movie, Vee. Grayden and I will be going to see this one for sure! We hardly ever go to the movies as they always disappoint us, but we are looking forward to seeing this one. So glad to hear it is a good interpretation of the special kind man that we love. ♥

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  16. Sounds like a worthwhile movie. I didn't have much experience with Mr. Rogers. Sad commentaries on attention spans. A very Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours dear Vee!

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  17. I cannot wait to see it. Our son, 43 and daughter, 40, both loved Mr. Rodgers. So enjoyed your take on attention span and I do believe you are "spot on." Have a lovely Thanksgiving!

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  18. Your warm recommendation has me rethinking. I was not a huge fan of Mr. Rogers (eek . . . unpopular opinion). I do appreciate his slow and easy pace, as well as his respect for children as people. The puppets . . . another story. (I know, I know. I am in the minority!) But it sounds as if there is much to this story that I don't know and I am intrigued.

    {Totally agree with you on the attention span thing. I could go on . . . )

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  19. I can't wait to see this movie and I know I'll love it! We didn't have a tv in the 70s when my kids were little and they were behind in school when they started! But I had a friend that helped me get them 'up to speed' when we realized what other kids had been learning from watching the PBS shows. I haven't thought of that in years! lol Hugs!

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    1. Some of those PBS shows have done precious little to help children. Your children were perhaps in a better position to learn than other children who had “learned” so much from that kind of programming. Anything that is short and fast is horrible for children.

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  20. We have never had television in our home so really knew very little about Mr. Rogers. I watched some sort of movie about him -- think it was some sort of documentary -- on the plane last year coming back from Nevada. This one sounds much better than that one. Thanks for the recommendation!

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  21. What a beautiful story about Mr.Rogers. I loved him dearly. There was a quiet, gentle spirit about him that reminded me of my own father...a lover of stories and books and soft-spoken advice.

    I got carried away at your link to Susan Branch's site and almost forgot to come back. I love her and Mary Engelbreit, too. xo Diana

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  22. I don't how I missed this post. My kids grew up on Mr. Rogers...what a kind hearted gentle soul. They may not have admitted to their friends that they watched the show because well, he would have actually not been considered as "cool"...but they always watched. I have not seen the movie but it is on my "watch list". I pray you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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