A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Mr. Rogers: Someone has hurt my friend, Lloyd. And not just on his face. He is having a hard time forgiving the person who hurt him. Do you know what that means? To Forgive? It’s a decision we make to release a person from the feelings of anger we have at them. It’s strange, but sometimes, it’s hardest of all to forgive someone we love.

Jerry: You gotta baby. And a wife. You happy?

Lloyd: I’m happy.

Jerry: Well, she seems nice enough. but [laugh] you’re a little old to have a baby, huh?

Lloyd: I’m not that old.

Jerry: Well, you’re smart. Your mom and I hardly knew each other when she got pregnant. We were babies.

Lloyd: Don’t talk about her.

Jerry: Whoa. Whoa. Wait a minute. You don’t know the whole story. Your mom was really not the saint—

Lloyd: Don’t talk about my mom! [Punches Dad]

Lloyd: You didn’t hear him.

Andrea: You were out of control.

Lloyd: He was out of control.

Andrea: You just aren’t gonna take responsibility for any of this.

Lloyd: Of course I am. I have to pay for Lorraine’s dry cleaning.

Mr. Rogers: Have you ever felt the way Lloyd does? So angry you want to hurt someone or yourself? I know I have.

Ellen (editor): We’re doing an issue on heroes and we’re profiling an number of inspirational people. We just need a small piece of copy to accompany a pretty photo.

Lloyd: You hired me as an investigative journalist. I don’t do puff pieces.

Ellen (editor): Wait a second, didn’t I hire you to do whatever I tell you to do? And right now that is doing a profile on one of our nations heroes.

Lloyd: Who?

Ellen (editor): Mister Rogers.

Lloyd: As in the hokey kid’s show guy?

Ellen (editor): As in the beloved children’s television host, yes. Look, I think this could help you, Lloyd. Just start to change your image.

Lloyd: I don’t need to change my image.

Ellen (editor): Okay.

Lloyd: Ellen?

Ellen (editor): He was the only person on our list willing to be interviewed by you, Lloyd. I guess you’re developing a reputation.

Lloyd: A reputation? People love talking to me.

Ellen (editor): Yeah, they do. Until they read what you write about them.

Mr. Rogers: On our program, I try to look through the camera into the eyes of a single child, and speak to him or her. Trying to be fully present to their feelings and their needs.

Lloyd: Right.

Mr. Rogers: Do you know what the most important thing in the world is to me right now?

Lloyd: Uh, no.

Mr. Rogers: Talking on the telephone to Lloyd Vogel.

Lloyd: The tent. Why didn’t you let them set it up for you?

Mr. Rogers: Well, children need to know that even when adults make plans, sometimes they don’t turn out the way we hoped. How long have you been married, Lloyd?

Lloyd: 8 years.

Mr. Rogers: Oh, 8. That’s a wonderful accomplishment. Does your spouse have a name?

Lloyd: Andrea.

Mr. Rogers: I’d like to meet Andrea some day.

Lloyd: I’m sure. Um, you lived in Pittsburgh your whole life?

Mr. Rogers: I grew up not too far from here in a town called, Latrobe but we’ve lived here quite some time and we raised our boys here.

Lloyd: Do you think living here makes it easier or more difficult to be a celebrity?

Mr. Rogers: Hm, celebrity?

Lloyd: You don’t consider yourself famous?

Mr. Rogers: Fame is a four letter word like tape or zoom… or face. What ultimately matters is what we do with it.

Lloyd: And what are you doing with it?

Mr. Rogers: We are trying to give children positive ways to deal with their feelings.

Lloyd: This piece will be for an edition about heroes. Do you consider yourself a hero?

Mr. Rogers: I don’t think of myself as a hero, no. Not at all.

Lloyd: What about Mr. Rogers? Is he a hero?

Mr. Rogers: I don’t understand the question.

Lloyd: Well, there’s you, Fred, and then there’s the character you play, Mr. Rogers.

Mr. Rogers: You said it was a play at the plate? Is that what happened to you? What did happen to you, Lloyd?

Lloyd: I got into a fight.

Lloyd: How much time do you think I’ll have with him today?

Bill (Producer): You’re here because Fred wants you here.

Lloyd: Honored?

Bill (Producer): He likes everybody but he loves people like you.

Lloyd: People like me?

Bill (Producer): I’ve read your work. You don’t really care for humanity, do you?

Lloyd: I most certainly don’t.

Bill (Producer): I insisted he read you before he agreed.

Lloyd: And did he?

Bill (Producer): Every article we could find.

Lloyd: So, how does it feel to be married to a living saint?

Joanne Rogers: You know, I’m not fond of that term. If you think of him as a saint, then his way of being is unattainable. You know he works at it all the time. It’s a practice. He’s not a perfect person. He has a temper. He chooses how he responds to that anger.

Lloyd: That must take a lot of effort.

Joanne Rogers: Well, he does things every day that help to ground him. Reads scripture. Swims laps. Prayers for people by name. Writes letters; hundreds of them. He’s being doing that since I met him.

Mom: I know you think your doing this for me. Holding onto this anger. But I don’t need it.

Lloyd: Are you a vegetarian?

Mr. Rogers: I just can’t imagine eating anything with a mother.

Lloyd: Bill was right. You love people like me.

Mr. Rogers: What are people like you? I’ve never met people like you in my entire life.

Lloyd: Broken people.

Mr. Rogers: I don’t think you are broken. I know you are a man of conviction. A person who knows the difference between what is wrong and what is right. Try to remember that your relationship with your father also helped to shape those parts. He helped you become what you are. Would you do something with me Lloyd? It’s an exercise I like to do sometimes. We’ll just take a minute and think about all the people who loved us into being.

Lloyd: I can’t do that.

Mr. Rogers: They will come to you. Just one minute of silence. Thank you for doing that with me. I feel so much better.

Mr. Rogers: You know, death is something many of us are uncomfortable speaking about. But to die is to be human. And anything human is mentionable. Anything mentionable is manageable.

Lloyd: What did you say to Jerry?

Mr. Rogers: I asked him to pray for me. I figured anyone who was going through what he is going through must be awfully close to God.

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