Four Ingredients to Make Goodness Attractive in Interactive Media
Fred Rogers was born on March 20, 1928, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. His family was already successful and well off.
During his childhood, he had many issues with his health. He was overweight and often sick which kept him homebound for much of his childhood. Being home by himself gave Fred his creativity that made his television show so successful. Being home alone meant that he had no friends his age to interact with so he was left creating his imaginary friends. Fred would be in his room alone creating different voices and characters that we would later meet in “The Neighborhood.”
As an adult, Fred had a strong commitment to his religion and he wanted to become an ordained minister. Television wasn’t on his radar until he had the opportunity to do puppets on a television program on PBS. That job eventually led to what he knows to be Mister Rogers Neighborhood. During his run on TV, Mr. Rogers believed in the power that television had to influence the thoughts and imagination of children.
“What we see and hear on the screen is who we become” - Fred Rogers
He believed that children are impressionable so every word, question, and action was important regardless of how small the detail was.
From the start of his show, there was a lot of different content on television and Fred believed that the programs being aired weren’t contributing to the health and wellness of children’s emotional being. His approach on television was speaking to “one little buckaroo”. His approach was extremely different to what was on television at this time. Everything was fast-paced, silly, and violent. Mister Rogers Neighborhood was the first program to use authenticity, silence, turn-taking, and empathy as the main ingredients of a children’s television program. Mr. Rogers changed children’s television forever.
In a time where everything on television was exaggerated Fred believed in being authentic.
He used his real name and likeness on his television show. What made his show so unique and real was that Fred didn’t play a character, he was being his true and authentic self. It felt as if you were coming over for a visit and learning about something new. There were many times during the height of Mr. Rogers were his show was being parodied what almost seemed like a daily basis. There were two specific times were Fred’s likeness was being parodied. Of course, there was the infamous SNL sketch where Eddie Murphy acted as Mr. Rogers.
Then there was a time that wasn’t made known by many people because it was banned within 24 hours. This is the time where Burger King used Fred Roger’s likeness as a marketing pitch.
As you could imagine Fred was not a fan of this marketing ploy. Fred was appalled for many different reasons and one reason, in particular, is the fact that Fred was a devoted vegetarian. While the commercial aired nationally “BK” never got permission from Fred to use a character based on Mr. Rogers. Fred spoke with the then director of marketing for “BK” and within 24 hours the commercial was permanently removed.
Fred understood that children believe almost anything that you place in front of them. Many children across the country knew who Mr. Rogers was and what he stood for so when an imposter came onto the television screen not sharing the same morals and ethics as Fred then it could be very confusing. As mentioned before Fred was a vegetarian and for a company that makes it riches off of selling meat was appalling because it stood for the complete opposite of who Fred was. Authenticity isn’t just who Fred was, but it’s also who Fred encouraged everyone to be. Simply you. Fred’s son Jim once said,
“Being who you are was so important to him that the only thing that would really upset him was phoniness. as long as I was being genuine and honest, he respected that.” - Jim Rogers
Authenticity was one of Fred’s main ingredients.
Another important ingredient for Fred was silence. This was key for Mister Rogers Neighborhood. As mentioned before Fred wasn’t a fan of the children’s programs being aired and one of the reasons was because the programs were loud and obnoxious. One time Fred said,
“Silence is one of the greatest gifts we have” - Fred Rogers
Rogers believed that silence was a gift and like any gift, it’s meant to be given. Fred was intentional with making room for silence. This ingredient had to be intentional because silence is a choice and we have to choose it. There is a great video on Youtube called “Why Silence is Powerful — 5 Secret Advantages of Being Silent” by The Life Formula.
Fred not only used silence as an ingredient for a successful children’s program, but he also taught his viewers how to incorporate it into your personal life. This video clearly explains the benefits of silence. There were times and moments where silence is not the answer, but when used in the right situation it can be powerful. One point that stood out to me is how silence makes your words more powerful and meaningful. A person who is constantly talking and doesn’t understand the importance of silence cannot always be taken seriously because your use to hearing them talk so after a while it just becomes white noises. Do you remember that quiet kid in your high school class who gave an oral presentation for the first time? Everyone was attentive and listening because you were about to hear from someone that you may not have heard before.
The next ingredient that was very important to Fred was turn-taking. Now, this ingredient may not seem very important, but Mr. Rogers understood how powerful it could be. Turn-taking can be used in many different ways. While watching Mister Rogers Neighborhood you will notice how Fred took turns while in conversation. You would never see Fred interrupt or cut someone off in the middle of a thought or sentence. Also when doing an activity more often then not he would have his guest do the activity first. Fred wouldn’t make someone watch him play or do an activity, he would either share the activity or watch someone else do it. Fred understood how turn-taking was a form of empowering others. Fred believed that there was an actual two-sided relationship between viewer and television personality. He believed in the community that he was building and understood there were real-life people with real emotions and feelings on the other side of the screen.
“Television has a real chance of building a real community out of an entire country” - Fred Rogers
Growing up one of the most popular television programs was a show called Blue’s Clues. At this point in children’s television, there weren’t many examples where the program would interact with the viewers. Mister Rogers Neighborhood was one of the pioneers of this. Years later when Blue’s Clues first aired, interaction with viewers was almost nonexistent. This show was unique because it combined animation with a real-life actor. This was ground-breaking. What was also ground-breaking was the empowerment it gave children. Kids felt like they influence the thoughts and actions of the characters.
Blue’s Clues did an outstanding job of mastering this interaction. The characters on the screen would always look directly at the screen and the child felt like they were having a real-life conversation in real-time. Does this sound familiar? it should. Fred Rogers was the first to do this. During Mister Rogers Neighborhood, he would always look directly at the camera and speak right to the small child who was watching. Blues Clues was obviously influenced by “The Neighborhood” and it became one of the most popular television programs of all time, and even to this day, the show from 1996 is still running on the same network. The characters may have changed or evolved, but the methods are still the same and they still work.
The last ingredient that we see from Fred Rogers is arguably the most important of them all. The last ingredient is empathy. What’s so amazing about Mr. Rogers is his ability to feel other people’s emotions. He had this way about him where he just seemed to understand a person’s feelings even if he himself has never been in a similar situation. What made Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood so special was the show’s ability to tackle the hard topics. Throughout the years the television show has covered topics such as death, tragedy, and loss. Many children’s programs didn’t know how to go about speaking on these issues so they would just ignore it. Mister Rogers Neighborhood was not your ordinary children’s program. Fred understood that children have feelings and emotions too. He didn’t want any child to feel left out or feel bad. He had empathy.
“You don’t have to do anything sensational to be loved” - Fred Rogers
There was an episode where Fred invited a young child named Jeff on his show who was handicapped because of a tumor that he had when he was just an infant. He bound to a wheelchair because the tumor destroyed the nerves in his body that controlled his hands and legs. I could not begin to imagine what Jeff must have gone through growing up. The impudent glares and snarky comments he must’ve endured is something a child should not have to deal with. Luckily Fred was not your ordinary neighbor.
You’ll notice the way that Fred is so sincere in his conversation to Jeff and how much he actually cares about what he has to say. Fred didn’t look at his handicap has less than, he actually praised Jeff for doing so well on navigating his wheelchair and was so amazed at how it worked. There was a sincerity that Fred had that was special. Everyone was treated with the same kindness and respect regardless of you were, how you looked, or what your background was.
Today we need more of the ingredients that can be found in every episode of Mister Rogers Neighborhood. While his show first aired in the 1960s the ingredients used are still effective today.
Fred Rogers changed the television and children’s programming forever! Regardless of what form of media you use I believe we all should include Fred’s four ingredients of authenticity, silence, turn-taking, and empathy. He made our lives better. Fred famously once said,
But, how do we make goodness attractive? By doing good whatever we can do to bring courage to those whose lives move near our own — by treating our neighbor at least as well as we treat ourselves and allowing that to inform everything that we produce - Fred Rogers
I hope his words and methods continue to live on far beyond his burial. Now more then ever we need more neighborhoods like Mister Rogers Neighborhood.
