Show & Tell: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
All:
The meaning of the last two weeks of August changes depending on which stage of life you’re in. For the young, it’s the bittersweet tail end of a period of delicious vacation, with the prospect of old people trying to teach you stuff for months on end, an idea that seems spectacularly dumb because of Google!
For the rest of us working stiffs, the last weeks of August are pretty much like the last two weeks of any month (well, except November and December). But there’s always a little atavistic tinge of regret, with just a touch of smirking as we watch the young contemplating their fate. Back-to-school ads are the purple loosestrife of youth, a sign that the end is near.
But the last two weeks of this August are a cause for rejoicing (I hope) because we have two movie discussions coming up that should please just about everyone.
The first, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, is the documentary about Mr. Rogers (and his neighborhood) that you’ve probably heard about.
Personally, I was a generation too early for Mr. Rogers, and my favorite memory of him is actually Eddie Murphy’s parody on Saturday Night Live (Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood, with Eddie changing from Rogers-like tenderness to denizen of the ‘hood in a split second).
But reading about Won’t You Be My Neighbor? has given me a fresh appreciation of Fred Rogers’ revolutionary approach to children’s’ television; low-tech, quiet, infinitely welcoming and accepting, and, most of all, paying attention to the real feelings and perceptions of small people who generally got patronized into virtual non-existence.
If this makes the movie, which has been drawing raves from critics, sound like a snooze-fest, I’m glad to reassure you. Neighbor? is a documentary from Morgan Neville, the guy who directed 20 Feet from Stardom, an appreciation and recognition of the backup singers who enriched the sounds of innumerable hits, including several from the Rolling Stones. Neville respects his subject, but he also knows how to put together a movie with real blood in its veins and a heartbeat that won’t leave you catatonic.
Everything I’ve read about Won’t You Be My Neighbor? says that it will be the right kind of sentimental, digging deep into its subject instead of just adding frosting.
I’ll write more about the second movie, Hearts Beat Loud, which will show on August 28, next week, but it promises to be a great showcase for everyone’s favorite bearded TV star, Nick Offerman. You wouldn’t want a steady diet of “father and daughter bond by playing rock and roll” movies, but I think Offerman offers enough irony to keep things enjoyable.
I hope to see you tomorrow night, August 21, in the Historic Theater for a trip to the Neighborhood. You can tell me all about what I missed. Shall we say 7:00?
Paul Goodwin
TMHMG