the mis-casting of Mr Rogers

We just watched the new film about Mr Rogers starring Tom Hanks.



Tom Hanks is a great actor who has successfully played many roles, from hero to comedy, but alas in this movie he is miscast, or maybe misdirected.

the words and plot is good: in typical Hollywood style, more about the writer's story than about Mr Rogers himself. This makes some sense, since it gives us a character arc and a satisfying ending, but I do get annoyed when films seems only to be about the self centered elite class of the media rather than the actual subject in hand.

But the worst part of the film is that Tom Hanks plays Mr Rogers as a condescending twit.

I've met some of these types (usually in religious settings), who use psychobabble to "encourage you" or to "understand your pain" or whatever, and although their words are okay, their body language seems to be "I'm a superior person and I want to help/correct you, you inferior piece of shit, so please thank me for demonstrating my superiority."

Usually I would have turned off the film in disgust when Mr Rogers/Hanks started spouting cliches, but I was watching it with family, so I didn't.

But at the end of the film, it shows the real Mr Rogers for two seconds, and suddenly, I re-imagined the film with the actual Mr Rogers, and by replacing the actor with the image of the real Mr Rogers in my mind, the film suddenly seemed wonderful.

You see, Mr Rogers did not "talk down" to children. He didn't treat them as inferior being but as equals. Which is why kids liked him (not just moms who thought his show would be 'good' for the kids).


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