Discuss Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Discuss → Movies → Won't You Be My Neighbor? → General
Mr Rogers finally starts running out of patience
posted by thebarnmanSTAFFMOD on July 12, 2018 at 6:13 PM
With all the time Mr. Rogers spent in front of TV cameras taking his time teaching current events to his audience; the most fascinating aspect of this documentary was watching him slowly loose patience, and getting angry with all that was going around him as he slowly started to wither away towards the end. I'm not talking about someone blowing up in front of the camera, it was in his words, the expression on his face, the disbelief of what was going on around him and in the world, I could hear it in his voice.
You might say those reactions were more about him being disappointed than anything else, but I could see there was something more going on inside of him.
Reply by thebarnman
on July 12, 2018 at 9:36 PM
I'm very sorry you were either misled or simply overheard/read one day about Mr. Rogers being with the SEALs and/or served in Vietnam. I found what you said to be very interesting and discovered some information about him from NAVYSEALS.COM. According to one of the articles, it's all urban legend. The rumor must have been a very common one for them to post two articles about Mr. Rogers on their own website. The following is what they have to say about this...
The Rumors:
While there are rumors that Mr. Rogers, the host of internationally acclaimed TV show for children – Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, served as a Navy SEAL or a Marine Scout Sniper during the Vietnam era with a large number of confirmed kills, we have to state it is false. Mr. Rogers never served in the military. Why?
Another rumor says that Mister Rogers always wore long-sleeved clothes only to conceal the tattoos on his arms he obtained while serving in the military.
The Facts:
Firstly, Mr. Rogers was born in 1928 and thus at the time of the US involvement in the Vietnam conflict was too old to enlist in the US Navy. Secondly, he had no time to do so. Right after finishing high school, Mr. Rogers went straight into college, and after graduating college directly into TV work.
Conclusion:
From the above mentioned reasons, it is clear that Mr. Rogers could never have served in the military. He was purposely choosing long-sleeve clothes to keep his formality as well as authority not only to children but to their parents as well. Surprisingly, nobody called him Fred and he wanted to keep it that way.
There's another article from the same website that in part says...
"Rogers embarked on a nearly uninterrupted broadcasting career that lasted over 50 years and became an ordained minister in 1962."
Reply by VinTinKin
on July 12, 2018 at 10:01 PM
Right, that really is understandable how Mister Rogers or anybody else would be hurt by the world gone awry because life, entertainment, society and even politics had much higher quality back in those days than ever since.
Then all of that pressure, stress and niceties preservation really has to get to even the most patient of stars.
When you think about it, all of those great, longsuffering, understated, underappreciated, patient stars really know how to dress in style for the cameras, like Fred Rogers, Irene Dunne, Angela Lansbury, Dinah Shore, Dick Cavett, Wally Cox and those lovely Lennon Sisters know that their public wants them to dress nicely.
But even the rest of the cast of the Neighborhood of Make Believe bundles up in sweaters and sleeves because Fred's neighborhood is a suburb of frozen Pittsburgh, and even if it were in a warm state, like Dinah's Palm Springs, Dinah says that they turn up the air conditioning, causing her to wear long clothing to bundle up, the way they do when the heat is on back in Make Believe.
At any rate, Mister Rogers is great, and nobody really believes that decent stars like that alter their bodies with tattoos and stuff, so this Documentary ought to be really good once they compile all of that great footage.
Reply by thebarnman
on July 12, 2018 at 10:35 PM
What you said is really true about how things have changed over the years.
Also, you said it "...ought to be really good once they compile all that great footage." It was released on 06-29-18 and received a 8.7 on IMDB. I'm sure you'll be able to catch it on home video one day!
Reply by Patrick E. Abe
on February 11, 2019 at 1:58 PM
https://www.history.com/news/urban-legends-mr-rogers So, what do your comments about "Killer U.S. Marine/U.S. Navy SEAL" Fred M. Rogers say about YOU?
Reply by thebarnman
on February 12, 2019 at 1:29 AM
I agree, though sometimes you have to let people believe in what they believe. I wanted to say something about that post back in July, but I didn't want a back and forth argument about something someone is so obviously convinced about.