Also, between now and Friday, write a blog response about the episode of Mr. Rogers's Neighborhood we watched in class (or watch another on YouTube or on Amazon). How did it make you feel to watch this show, again? What memories pop up? If this is new to you, describe the experience of watching this television icon for the first time as an adult. I look forward to your responses.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Due Friday, May 18th - Mrs. Dalloway and Mr. Rogers
Please read Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - Pages 1-56. Be prepared for a class discussion. Post any questions or discussion pints in this blog space.
Also, between now and Friday, write a blog response about the episode of Mr. Rogers's Neighborhood we watched in class (or watch another on YouTube or on Amazon). How did it make you feel to watch this show, again? What memories pop up? If this is new to you, describe the experience of watching this television icon for the first time as an adult. I look forward to your responses.
Also, between now and Friday, write a blog response about the episode of Mr. Rogers's Neighborhood we watched in class (or watch another on YouTube or on Amazon). How did it make you feel to watch this show, again? What memories pop up? If this is new to you, describe the experience of watching this television icon for the first time as an adult. I look forward to your responses.
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As someone who was watching Mr. Rogers for the first time and lacked the experience of watching it as a child I felt I missed out on the innocent joy of the show. I think that as a child I would have enjoyed the show and the tailored way Mr. Rogers talks due to his child psychology background. Even as an adult I appreciated that Mr. Rogers talked to children in a more mature and grown up away. All children hate being reminded of how young they are and I believe the way the show and characters were presented provided a very different type of children show than I have ever seen before. Besides the layout of the show I also think it was interesting to see such a positive outlook on life. Mr. Rogers seemed to be full of joy and happy with everything. Being positive is a valuable lesson that not only children can benefit from but adults too. We too often get caught up in what goes wrong and conflict. I liked how Mr. Rogers calmly handled conflict and anything that went wrong showing the audience the proper way to address such situations.
ReplyDeleteLike Julia, this was also my first time watching Mr. Rogers. It gave me an incredibly nostalgic feel, however, and I appreciated how he felt like a safe person to talk to and someone who is trustworthy. His communication with the various people who visited him showed children how to interact with people appropriately, and especially in treating people as equals with respect. When Mr. Rogers showed this level of respect to his friends, they showed it right back, and that's honestly just a golden rule of life that people, even adults (!) seem to be forgetting: treat others the way you want to be treated. I think I would have liked this show as a child. It seemed to be comforting and just safe, if that makes sense. He acted like a friend to the children as well as a wise parent or grandparent giving considerate advice.
ReplyDeleteThis was also my first time watching Mr.Rogers' show and I had mixed feelings about it. At first, I felt uncomfortable and awkward because his manner of speaking and the way he acted came off as a bit weird to me but I realized why that was. I've gotten used to kids shows being infantile in the way they're written and how the characters act, but seeing Mr.Rogers treat the topic and the audience with respect and understanding was new. Like Katie said, no kid enjoys being reminded of their age, and Mr.Rogers' background in psychology aided him in creating a show that made his audience feel valued. I'm not sure if I would've liked the show as a kid, I always enjoyed animated shows better, but I see why so many people who did watch it have such admiration for Mr.Rogers and the messages he shared.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching Mr. Rogers Neighborhood again after many years, I felt very nostalgic as I could somewhat remember the show and I felt that I was kind of placed back into the past. As I watched it, I also felt that I had a greater appreciation for the simplicity of it and the positivity that Mr. Rogers embodied. I feel like I did not comprehend what was happening during the show when I was younger and now that I have seen it again it feels new and I have a newfound respect for Mr. Rogers. I also agree with Katie and Domenica that Mr. Rogers makes the audience feel valued and respected; he is able to speak to the audience in such a way as to make them feel like they are right there with him and welcomed.
ReplyDeleteIt was my first time watching it and to be honest I was a bit crept out by the way Mr. Rogers talked, but then I realized it was a kids show. I love how he looked straight into the eyes of the audience and said, "You are very special". Imagine me watching as a kid I would really appreciate that.
ReplyDeleteI vaguely remember watching Mr. Rodgers, so I was definitely able to relate to the nostalgic feeling that everyone seemed to be getting. Watching the show again actually brought up memories of where I used to watch shows in the house I grew up in, which I had not thought about in awhile. It was interesting to see the lessons that he was trying to teach children, it made me wonder if shows like this actually helped me learn how to treat others, and how big of an impact they had on me growing up. Also, I enjoyed the documentary we started in class because we kind of got to see that Mr. Rodgers was truly a great man always willing to help and teach others. He was not someone doing it just for the job, like the actor who played Barney (that now has a bad rep), he genuinely cared about teaching whoever was watching in a way he thought was the most effective.
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I wasn’t here on Monday, so I watched a different episode. I watched episode 11 from season 3, called “Mr. Rogers Talks About Music”, and it was all about appreciating music, dance, play, and imagination. I watched Mr. Rogers when I was little; it was one of the few shows that my parents tell me I actually liked. Watching this episode made me appreciate how genuine Mr. Rogers appears; he talks passionately and seems to have a natural love and curiosity about others. He interacted with a 6 year old in this episode who played the piano, and he listened very intently whenever the kid spoke, without interrupting when he struggled to find his words. He spoke to the kid the same way he spoke to adults, which left an impression on me, like it did Julia, Kate, and Domenica. Watching this made me feel nostalgic, and I didn’t remember much about the show, but I remembered the puppets because my grandparents had similar ones I used to play with, and I remembered the theme song. I enjoyed the lessons Mr. Rogers shared about the importance of wondering and playing, and that “People can like you exactly as you are”. I think those are lessons all kids (and teens and adults too) should hear. His positive outlook and emphasis on being kind are lessons I hope to take with me in life.
ReplyDeleteI also wasn’t here on Monday, but I watched part of an episode in which Mr. Rodgers talked about competition. I watched small pieces of Mr. Rodgers when I was little, but I think his personality left a bigger impact on me than his actual program. I remember listening to an NPR segment where they were talking about him and I was reminded of this when I watched the episode. Oftentimes, a TV personality is different in real life than they are in their show, but I think this is completely different in Mr. Rodger’s case. He lives both of his personalities in the same way. He continues to lead his outside life “simply and deep” is so inspirational even to me as a teenager. As the documentary mentioned, the idea that people tend to live “shallow and complex” lives because of the fast pace of our society really rang true to me. Seeking out moments where you experience beauty and live in a simpler and deeper way is a lot more appealing, and it will take a lot of practice to start leading a life were we experience things in a “lighter” and simpler way. Also, like others, I find his voice to be safe and calming and I think this is a big part of his personality. It’s like his voice brings me to a simpler, comfortable time. His show and personality also brings up the point that if everyone just practiced kindness and respect in all that they do, this world would be a lot simpler and arguably better. Sosha
ReplyDeleteI vaguely remember watching Mr. Rogers as a kid. Watching it again in class made me remember it some more and brought back memories. Like everyone else, I could relate to the nostalgic feeling. At the time I had no idea of the messages he was giving children through this shows. When Mr P old us we would be watching his show, I thought to myself “what was his show even about?”. The way Mr. Rogers talked to the kids viewing his show is one that I can appreciate now as an adult . While he explains things thoroughly, he does so in such an understandable way. He makes his lessons clear and concise, which might make a child listen to and understand him better. Mr. Rogers had such a positive tone and even positive outlook on life and the challenges he's described which I found somewhat calming. However, it makes me wonder how and what topics he would address in todays time. I think that if the show were still being made, it would be an entirely different show. Watching Mr. Rogers as an adult gave me an entirely different outlook on the show and brought back some memories that I haven't thought about in years.
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I absolutely loved Mr. Rodgers as a kid. I remember being completely mesmerized by the places and people he visited, the songs he sang, and especially by the Land of Make-Believe. It was really fun to watch him again now that I’m older, because I have such happy memories of the show from when I was little. Watching Mr. Rodgers now felt kind of therapeutic, especially since the episode we watched was about calming yourself down when you’re angry. The show is relaxing while still being oddly captivating, which is a pretty rare combination. There's something about Mr. Rodgers that is so calming and positive. He seems to radiate kindness and genuine concern for people. I loved listening to Mr. Rodgers and his friends and puppets when I was little. However, I don’t think I consciously noticed the message behind the episodes. Watching now, I noticed how everything that occured in a single episode was geared towards one thematic idea. The themes seem to be pretty deep for a kids show, and I don’t think I really noticed it as a kid, but I wonder if they affected me nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteAnna Vrountas
I can recall almost nothing about my experience watching Mr Rogers when I was a kid, and watching him now I feel a sense of melancholy. Seeing Mr Rogers now I am able to feel some twinges of nostalgia but for very abstract and random things (the panning over the miniature town in the intro, the colors of Mr Roger's objectivly awful curtains, the way he takes his sweaters of the coat hangers of his closet, the transition from the trolly to the imaginary world, the smooth jazz). But nothing else hits at me. I don't feel anything watching Mr Rogers, a person whose job description is probably just "Professional good person." That makes me sad. It makes me sad that I don't feel anything. That I am so jaded and cynical by this point that instead of being filled with wonder watching Mr Rogers, I'm making making involuntary pedophelia jokes in the back of my mind. I wonder if that makes me a bad person, that I have lost all of that innocence and wonder that Mr Roger's radiates and embodies. Regardless, watching Mr Rogers was thereputic in a way, relaxing, especially in light of the burning dumpster full of medical waste, tires, and human feces that is our modern landscape. Everything sucks so having a guy who is so calm and collected and just good, talk to you like a friend... it's calming. In addition I never realized how emotionally mature and informative his show was. Looking back I had always thought he spent every episode talking softly and interacting with puppets, but its all so much more than that. In summery: Mr Rodgers = God of Kindness and Wonder, Sam Finbury = Heathen.
ReplyDeleteI watched Mr. Rogers Neighborhood when I was very young but I don’t remember much since it was so long ago. Watching the episode in class didn’t so much bring back memories as it just reminded me of my childhood in general. Mr. Rogers has such a unique and special approach to connecting with children and relating to their emotions that is unlike any other TV personality I can think of. Even though he is only speaking through the TV it seems as though he is addressing you directly. I can definitely see how a child without any parental guidance in their lives would look to Mr. Rogers for someone to look up to and learn from. Just as a side note my mom grew up in Pittsburgh and actually did live in the neighborhood where Mr. Rogers was filmed. Her house was only two blocks away from Mr. Rogers’ house and she used to see Mr. Rogers at the local community center. Also one of her friends dated Mr. Rogers’ son Fred.
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ReplyDeleteI never had any real experience with watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood as a child so upon viewing the episode “Day Care & Night Care,” I found the show’s ability to speak about various topics all in the span of one episode to be quite fascinating. A section about how balloons are made, how to exercise, and also more intrapersonal subjects such as feelings of self-worth as well as learning, or at least realizing, that one’s parents will not always be there. These range of topics being explored seemed to be drabbly illustrated (aside from the balloon making, that was sort of interesting) which made the impact of Mr. Roger’s words of wisdom or encouragement, for me at least, less moving than probably intended.
ReplyDeleteI actually have watched Mr. Rogers more frequently recently than I did as a child. My mother grew up watching Mr. Rogers and so made sure that it was included in one of the very few tv shows I watched as a child, but even so, I vaguely remember watching the show then. However, about 2 years ago, I started watching it again. I came home one day to my mom watching it, and before I even saw the screen I knew what she was watching. I ended up watching an episode that started with one of Mister Rogers’ fish dying, and the show hadn’t even been on for 5 minutes and I was crying. And I truly believe that is was the way Mister Rogers speaks to the viewers, whether they’re children or adults, which has the ability to envoke a feeling of safety and comfort and acceptance to the point where I could feel that it was more than ok to just start crying over the death of a fish. And which watching the show now, I still feel that way. In addition to feeling safe and comfortable, watching the show gives me a feeling of such relief because I feel like there is somebody who fully understands any hardship or emotion that I have gone through or felt. I feel like Mister Rogers gets it. I also love the feeling that you get when watching because there is no judgement in the show, and its slow paced, so watching the show reminds you that its important to slow down and be nice. I feel so many things when watching Mister Rogers Neighborhood. I'm probably going to go watch some more episodes and cry a little bit because he’s not going to judge me for having feelings and he knows that everything is going to be ok :)
ReplyDeleteI never watched Mister Rogers Neighborhood when I was little but I have heard of it. I thought it was unusual for someone to be so happy and positive, lingering over simple ideas. I think it may be that we have all started juggling multiple responsibilities and tasks at once, making it impossible to relax and focus on one idea at a time. Although I never watched the show before, it brought back memories of watching tv as a kid. Memories of watching the Arthur, Dragon Tales, caillou, and other shows came to my mind while watching the episode. It seemed to be a simpler time where I didn’t panic over irrelevant details. At first I was really confused when we were watching the show, but I later noticed myself watching the show with detail. It was an interesting, unusual experience to watch a children’s tv show in an AP class, but it reminded me of pleasant memories and the simplicity life could have.
ReplyDeleteKaby
While I was aware of its existence, I had never watched a full episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood until AP Lit this Wednesday. What intrigued me the most about the show was the way in which contemporary issues were incorporated into the plot, albeit discreetly. Although a seemingly aimless tv show for young children, the show encompassed ideas of social acceptance, equality, and kindness. I was amazed at how elaborate the plot was and how it incorporated a multitude of topics that could potentially be controversial.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, watching the show made me feel calm, even tranquil. I felt as if Mr. Rogers and the other characters and the way in which they spoke in a soothing and trance-like manner made the show very enticing. Although simple in nature, the episode that we watched captured my undivided attention. Watching it made me feel nostalgic, as the show paralleled many of the shows I watched as a child, including Teletubbies, Barney, Bob The Builder, etc.
I have very vague recollections of watching Mr Rogers neighborhood, as most of my television watching was focused on Caillou or Arthur. I remember that my mom loved Mr Rogers, and she cried when she learned he died. To me he was just another character keeping me company before my afternoon naps, teaching me about feelings while my other favorite shows taught me about shapes and colors. Seeing the show again made me feel a little weird, like an out of body experience. It reminded me of the time where I found the old video games I played in preschool, suddenly being transported back to that moment in childhood, as if I had these memories repressed for years that just came flooding back. His slow and quiet voice was soothing, and his positivity was strange to hear after so many years.
ReplyDeleteps. lady elaine is the creepiest puppet that exists and I dont understand how children arent traumatized by it.
I only watched Mr. Rogers Neighborhood a fe times when I was little, but I remembered enjoying it and it felt very nostalgic as the whole show came flooding back to me when we watched it in class. It struck me how simple and pleasant the whole show was, it was straightforward and relaxing. The other TV shows that I watched when I was little were mostly those like the ones Sonnet mentioned; Arthur, Caillou and Dora and Diego. All of these shows were aimed at young children, and so they tried to promote good behavior and morals, but they went about it in a very different method than Mr. Rogers. He seemed to address the viewers as friends, equals. He didn't make assumptions about the level of intelligence that the children watching had and every line seemed deliberate and honest. It's such an interesting experience to go back to things you enjoyed when you were little and have such a changed perspective on it.
ReplyDeleteWhen we watched Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood in class, It was my first time to ever experience it. I was very confused at first, because I couldn’t tell it was a children’s show, and I thought it was just a very odd show with hidden meanings. Watching it further, I could tell it was a children's show but also much more. The content was very well developed and I could tell there are underlying themes that may send subliminal messages of kindness to the younger viewers, while they do not immediately register the deeper themes. I was very entertained watching the show, because it is very different from any other show I have watched lately. It was very happy and pure in nature, and for me it was strange to see something like that when I am so used to watching mystery or drama shows, that are nowhere near as happy. After watching this for the first time, I definitely appreciate all of the work that went into this show for the benefit of others.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first time watching Mr. Rogers, so he doesn’t carry the same weight of memory as I am sure he does for many others in the class. However, I felt that there was a universal element to his philosophy and his caring nature. Despite not having seen his show when I was younger, I felt that he really distilled the nature of all the moralistic fables, good examples, and acts of charity that I have seen over the years—in other words, the absolute personification of his philosophy of “deep and simple.” I noticed that, unlike many other children’s shows that I have seen sometimes, Mr. Rogers never spoke down to his audience; his tone was respectful and equally touching no matter what age you are, and I think that that is part of why he has had such an enduring appeal among all generations that have watched his show. Even without the childhood memories of Mr. Rogers, I could immediately tell that he was truly something special and can see why his show was so inspirational to so many.
ReplyDeleteI was not in class when we watched Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, but I did watch the documentary Mr. Rogers & Me and after learning about Mr. Rogers, I would definitely watch it. I believe Mr. Rogers and his message are very relevant today. With the two school shootings in one day, it makes you think among yourself what would incite someone to do such a tragic act. I do not fully believe and agree with Mr. Rogers statement that if, “the shooters of Columbine would have found one thing that they found was beautiful, then they would not have been able to commit the murders”, but there is something that I agree with that message in general. There are many variables that play a role in school shootings, but it is truly sad to see that these children did not believe they have anything to lose. In today’s society, we are preoccupied by superficial things such as the amount of followers we have on Instagram or the amount of likes we receive on a photo we post. We are also always focusing on the future and rushing to get there, that it doesn’t seem that we ever let ourselves fall in love with life and its simple beauty. As Fred Rogers stated, “I feel so strongly that deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex.” This theory helps you understand the value of living in the moment and of not valuing trivial matters.
ReplyDeleteThe documentary also shows Mr. Rogers’ effect on others. It shows his genuine kindness when he stated that the reason he got into television was he “saw people throwing pies in each other's faces,” and he hates demeaning behavior. His positive views and his mission of making others feel better was shown when he said, “There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you, just the way you are.”
I had watched Mr. Roger's Neighborhood as a child, and I vaguely remembered some of the scenes when we had watched it in class, although not coherently. I did notice many clear differences between my experience viewing it as a child as opposed to viewing it now, though. For one, as a child, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood was nothing more than a show, akin to shows like Bob the Builder or Caillou. Psychology shows that at a young age, children are more fascinated with the sensory images and colors within a television show rather than the meaning behind the dialogue and content, which is understandable. I was also in this bucket as a child. I was intrigued by Mr. Roger's songs, and the other arbitrary objects and patterns sprinkled throughout the show. Watching it more than a decade later, though, I was able to pick out numerous subliminal messages in the show. I, for one, believe in the power of optimism and positive thinking to shape our lives — just like Camus conveyed in "The Stranger," life, in a nutshell, doesn't have much meaning. Things are simply the way they are because they just happened to be that way, and it is society that has attributed meaning to ordinarily-meaningless events and objects. I agree with Camus' existentialist views, but I also think that they can be quite upsetting to think about. Why do we exist? What is our purpose? These are questions that, despite all the literature we may read or the philosophy we may delve into, we ultimately are unable to answer. This is where I see Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood coming in. In a world of so much confusion and suffering, Mr. Rogers illustrates a simple, yet powerful message — it is, in the end, the happiness and positivity that we attribute to our lives that gives it subjective meaning.
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