Millennials and Gen Xers may not agree on everything, but when it comes to Mr. Rogers, we're all pretty aligned in our beliefs that he's our collective grandpa/best friend. For 31 seasons, Fred Rogers entertained children across the country, teaching us lessons about kindness, acceptance, friendship, and love with the help of his puppets and eclectic cardigan collection. And though he may no longer be with us, we've never needed his guidance more.
Thankfully, Focus Features is going to bring Mr. Rogers' friendly smile and inspirational advice back to viewers through an upcoming documentary, appropriately titled Won't You Be My Neighbor? According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will look back at the life and influence of Rogers and his hit PBS show, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and is set to debut on June 8, 2018.
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"The Fred Rogers I discovered making this film is at once comfortably familiar and completely surprising. I believe Mister Rogers is the kind of voice we need to hear right now," director Morgan Neville said in a statement obtained by THR.
Amen to that! The entire world could use a refresher on how to be a neighborly person as the list of high-profile men accused of sexual misconduct grows, white nationalists are literally taking to the streets, and the president of the United States continues to call people names, at least one of which is a racial slur.
Mr. Rogers is very very upset in heaven. He is frowning at all of the men.
— roxane gay (@rgay) November 20, 2017
Accurate!
The thing is, there are so many good people amongst us; those who, to paraphrase Mr. Rogers' mother, can be found in the crowd helping others in times of need. For every heartbreaking story, there's one (published or not) that can lift us up. Hopefully this film will be just the reminder we need that even in the darkest of times, if we try, it can be a beautiful day in all of our neighborhoods.
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