“When I was a child and would see scary things on the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
—Fred Rogers
In a world of reality television where vacuous supermodels are the ideal, it’s always good to remember a time when things were a little simpler.
Think back to when television was slightly more than just the brain-corroding cesspool of lowbrow entertainment we have today and children’s television was about more than creepy-faced Teletubbies and movie and toy spin-offs with more market appeal than Pamela Anderson’s underwear.
It truly was a sad day in the neighborhood when Mr. Rogers passed away. I couldn’t help but be distressed by the news. Sure, as I got older Mr. Rogers may have become that creepy guy in the red sweater who played with puppets. But when I was young he was a baby sitter, an entertainer and an all-around positive role model for a generation that is currently in the midst of some of our most eye-opening and world-changing events.
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With war and death looming, it seems as if we all need something to remind us of our childhoods. If an immortal TV personality such as Fred Rogers isn’t safe from the gloom of the world, what chance do we have?
Plenty, I think Rogers would say.
Rogers wasn’t just the host of a children’s show. The real reason he’s going to be missed is because of the message he tried to convey to all of his viewers: we should to try to love each other as neighbors.
Like so many in my age group, I am a child of divorce. Nearly all of my young life was spent listening to my parents bad mouth each other over who was right and who was wrong. It didn’t seem like a big deal until I was much older and I realized that a lot of families didn’t go through this every day.
One memory that I will always carry around is an episode of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” where he talked about living in a broken home. I can’t recall the specifics but I do remember his ending message, which he has repeated over the years: “Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like ‘struggle.’ To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now — and to go on caring even through times that may bring us pain.”
So, as Tim Goodman said in The San Francisco Gate about the retirement of Mr. Rogers from his show after 33 years, “The sweater has long since been in the Smithsonian. We are all fast friends now, in this neighborhood of his. It seems like only yesterday that he raised yet another generation of children in this country. And yet, doesn’t it seem a little odd that it’s over now, that we’re losing Mr. Rogers?”
Mr. Rogers is a timeless and important figure in popular American culture. He has been an integral part of growing up for more than just one generation. Since starting his show in 1966 he has transmitted a message of love and understanding that I hope we never forget.
So, while my generation grew into one of cynicism and irony, he remains a flashing light of positive attitudes that helped shape our worldview and showed the importance of being a good neighbor.
