In a media world with few bright spots, I'm thankful for "Mister Rogers'
Neighborhood."
Every day, people of all ages are watching hyped-up and commercialized TV
programs that emphasize surface appearances. Sitcoms often brandish
put-downs as cutting edges of humor. When aiming at children, many shows
rely on computer-generated glitz.
But for half an hour, five days a week, Fred Rogers looks into the camera
and into the hearts of viewers -- mostly preschoolers -- who hear about
simple and humanistic values. Mister Rogers explores how feelings matter.
He doesn't talk down. He doesn't dodge tangled emotions. And he engages in
plenty of fun.
There are recurrent moments of whimsy, like saying "Hi fish" to the
occupants of a little aquarium. The other day, Rogers devoted a few minutes
to playing with brightly colored paper cups, building pyramids. And there
are always interludes in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, a kind of
parallel mini-universe mainly populated by puppets (who seem more real than
most of what passes for reality on television).
Back in Mister Rogers' neighborhood, a recent chat with a visitor led to a
discussion of divorce. Although it can be a painful subject, the host
commented, divorce "is something that people can talk about." For many of
the several million young kids who regularly watch the program, it's an
attitude likely to come in handy.
Rogers manages to avoid being sappy while he talks -- a lot -- about
feelings. Actually, I think that adults could benefit from periodic
viewings, whether or not we missed "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" the first
time around. (The show has been on PBS for 31 years.) Producers say that
"the most important goal" of the program "is to help strengthen a child's
sense of self-esteem."
Implicit in each broadcast is reverence for the uniqueness of every
person. In the words of Mister Rogers: "Each one of us is valuable, and
there is nobody in the whole world exactly like you."
The nonprofit company that Rogers chairs, Family Communications Inc.,
produces a videocassette series called "Different and the Same." Designed
for grade-school classroom use, it aims at "helping children identify and
prevent prejudice." As Harvard scholar Alvin Poussaint has pointed out,
"There is a dearth of materials addressing issues of racism for young
children and yet they are exposed to it constantly in our society.
'Different and the Same' is an innovative and carefully conceived project
that is very much needed."
Fred Rogers' on-screen manner is sometimes parodied, even mocked. Maybe it
causes appreciable discomfort when a man is so purposely and consistently
gentle, year after year, on national television. There's a method to his
sanity.
"Most of us, I believe, admire strength. It's something we tend to respect
in others, desire for ourselves, and wish for our children," Rogers wrote
in one of his many essays distributed to parents and others who care for
kids. "Sometimes, though, I wonder if we confuse strength with other
concepts -- like aggression and even violence."
Rogers added: "One of the signs of this confusion is the way many people
seem to consider strength an appropriate attribute of men, while thinking
gentleness is something women should possess. To me, that seems very far
from the truth. We all need the capacity for both strength and gentleness.
The opposite of strength isn't gentleness but weakness, and the opposite of
gentleness isn't strength but violence. ... It takes strength to talk about
our feelings and to reach out for help and comfort when we need it. There
is no 'masculine' or 'feminine' when it comes to anger or sorrow, and
certainly no weakness in expressing feelings that are human and common to
us all."
The optimism of Fred Rogers is based on decades of slow but cumulative
progress that his own efforts have helped to move forward: "I am heartened
by the way double standards are being discarded in many arenas where there
used to be stereotypic ideas of what men 'should' do. As I look around
these days, I can see that we, as a society, are growing in some really
important ways."
Norman Solomon's latest book The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media: Decoding Spin and Lies in Mainstream News has
just won the 1999 George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to
Honesty and Clarity in Public Language, presented by the National Council
of Teachers of English.
