Review of Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018) by Venu K — 28 Jun 2018

An incredibly fascinating portrait into a man who so inspired my childhood. I think my favorite tidbit from this movie, though, was a 1979 memo the documentarian had unearthed that Fred Rogers had written to himself. It's striking how frank Rogers could be with his own self-doubt, something he always drew on in both telling children to accept themselves and acknowledging sadness can't be willed away.

"Am I kidding myself that I'm able to write a script again? Am I really just whistling Dixie? I wonder. If I don't get down to it, I'll never really know. Why don't I trust myself. Really that's what it's all about...that and not wanting to go through the agony of creation. AFTER ALL THESE YEARS IT'S JUST AS BAD AS EVER. I wonder if every creative artist goes through the torture of the damned trying to create? Oh, well, the hour commeth and now IS when I've got to do it. GET TO IT, FRED. GET TO IT. But don't let anybody ever tell anybody else that it was easy. It wasn't".