And so, every day, Mister Rogers refuses to do anything that would make his weight changehe neither drinks, nor smokes, nor eats flesh of any kind, nor goes to bed late at night, nor sleeps late in the morning, nor even watches televisionand every morning, when he swims, he steps on a scale in his bathing suit and his bathing cap and his goggles, and the scale tells him that he weighs 143 pounds. he said. Perhaps some of the answers rest in the New Testament's Fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. ESQ: In both pieces, the original and The Atlantic piece, prayer comes up. But I mean, Fred and my dad could not have been more different. He is losing to it, to our twenty-four-hour-a-day pie fight, to the dizzying cut and the disorienting edit, to the message of fragmentation, to the flicker and pulse and shudder and strobe, to the constant, hivey drone of the electrocultureand yet still he fights, deathly afraid that the medium he chose is consuming the very things he tried to protect: childhood and silence. Heres Our Review Of Cocaine Bear: Oh Hell Yes! 0:00. Once upon a time, Mister Rogers went to New York City and got caught in the rain. Mister Rogers still has a ways to go.". I just try to ask for some sort of affirmation, you know? ", "I know that," Mister Rogers said, "and that's why the prayer I'm going to teach you has only three words. By Rachel E. Greenspan. The old navy-blue sport jacket comes off first, then the dress shoes, except that now there is not the famous sweater or the famous sneakers to replace them, and so after the shoes he's on to the dark socks, peeling them off and showing the blanched skin of his narrow feet. Though of all races, the schoolchildren were mostly black and Latino, and they didn't even approach Mister Rogers and ask him for his autograph. The movie, which opens November 22, casts Rogers as an agent of change . He can't define it. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (opens Nov. 22) tells the story of one writer's experience profiling Fred Rogers, otherwise known as Mister Rogers, the host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. . ", "Did your special friend have a name, Tom? Meaning that there should be mistakes, there should be accidents, and if that was filmed, then it should stay filmed. He came home to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, once upon a . Photo: Courtesy of Sony Pictures. LloydRead More First mook: "He says it's the Greek word for grace." ", "Oh, please, sister," Mister Rogers says. Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. But then Esquire, for a special edition on "heroes," asks Lloyd to write a profile piece on Fred "Mister Rogers" Rogers. It would not be easy, nofor in order to win such a battle, he would have to forbid himself the privilege of stopping, and whatever he did right he would have to repeat, as though he were already living in eternity. He is losing, of course. New Friends.". Freds favorite saying from all of literature was, That which is essential is invisible to the eye, from The Little Prince. . It was one of those swords that really isn't a sword at all; it was a big plastic contraption with lights and sound effects, and it was the kind of sword used in defense of the universe by the heroes of the television shows that the little boy liked to watch. He had been on television before, but only as the voices and movements of puppets, on a program called The Children's Corner. I asked him because I wanted his intercession.". Is Lloyd Vogel a real person? Once upon a time, there was a little boy born blind, and so, defenseless in the world, he suffered the abuses of the defenseless, and when he grew up and became a man, he looked back and realized that he'd had no childhood at all, and that if he were ever to have a childhood, he would have to start having it now, in his forties. . Twenty minutes later, I got off the train, chose the closest of the stations 14 exits to start my Junod scavenger hunt from, reached the top of the stairs, turned to cross the street, and, wow, okayover on the other end, red turtleneck, black suit, there he is. But that is rather missing the point. I grew up Roman Catholic. Yeah. But, in that same way, do you think he could have became what he did with social media instead of TV? We may earn a commission from these links. Reading This 1998 Esquire Profile Of Mr. Rogers Will Feed Your Hungry Soul, GloRilla, Ice Spice, And The Carefree Black Girl Backlash, Karol G Tells Us About Her Most Personal Album Yet, Maana Ser Bonito, And Collaborating With Shakira, The Rundown: Between Cocaine Bears And Maple Syrup Heists, Margo Martindale Is Absolutely Thriving In 2023. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. ESQ: I wanted to ask you about that nightmare scene [where Lloyd Vogel, the character loosely based on Junod, dreams that he's a character in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe]. He was in college. He had always loved Mister Rogers, though, and now, even when he was fourteen years old, he watched the Neighborhood whenever it was on, and the boy's mother sometimes thought that Mister Rogers was keeping her son alive. "Bunny Wunny," she says. Would you like to speak to him? he asked, and then handed me the phone. Matthew Rhys' character, the cynical Lloyd Vogel, is only loosely inspired by real-life journalist Tom Junod, hence the name change. '", In fact, Junod's current project is a book about his relationship to his father, Lou Junod. A distraction itself was dangerous. At first, the boy was made very nervous by the thought that Mister Rogers was visiting him. and turned the clattering train into a single soft, runaway choir. I mean, he's sort of a stand-in for all of the people that Fred Rogers had a relationship with. The film's protagonist is journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), a cynic who is assigned by his editors at Esquire to write a profile on Rogers. That bad people dont deserve kindness, and that you, when you you literally call them a piece of shit on Twitter, that you are somehow striking a moral blow, that you are somehow being part of the resistance. I took the phone and spoke to a womanhis wife, the mother of his two sonswhose voice was hearty and almost whooping in its forthrightness and who spoke to me as though she had known me for a long time and was making the effort to keep up the acquaintance. He rested his head on a small pillow and kept his eyes closed while he explained that he had bought the apartment thirty years before for $11,000 and kept it for whenever he came to New York on business for the Neighborhood. Yes, at seventy years old and 143 pounds, Mister Rogers still fights, and indeed, early this year, when television handed him its highest honor, he responded by telling televisiongently, of courseto just shut up for once, and television listened. Instead, the plot focuses on the real-life friendship between Rogers and cynical journalist Tom Junod (renamed Lloyd Vogel in the movie and portrayed by Matthew Rhys). I am ashamed to say it, but I was too cool at the time for Mr. Rogers. And so the change is made, and the taping resumes, and this is how it goes all day, a life unfolding within a clasp of unfathomable governance, and once, when I lose sight of him, I ask Margy Whitmer where he is, and she says, "Right over your shoulder, where he always is," and when I turn around, Mister Rogers is facing me, child-stealthy, with a small black camera in his hand, to take another picture for the album that he will give me when I take my leave of him. For example, much of Mister Rogers' investment in Lloyd rests upon his tumultuous relationship with his father (Chris Cooper). The boy had never spoken, until one day he said, "X the Owl," which is the name of one of Mister Rogers's puppets, and he had never looked his father in the eye until one day his father had said, "Let's go to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe," and now the boy is speaking and reading, and the father has come to thank Mister Rogers for saving his son's life.And by this time, well, it's nine-thirty in the morning, time for Mister Rogers to take off his jacket and his shoes and put on his sweater and his sneakers and start taping another visit to the Neighborhood. Now he was stepping in front of the camera as Mister Rogers, and he wanted to do things right, and whatever he did right, he wanted to repeat. Rogers as a peasant to explaining the world to remove son. This boy had a very bad case of cerebral palsy, and when he was still a little boy, some of the people entrusted to take care of him took advantage of him instead and did things to him that made him think that he was a very bad little boy, because only a bad little boy would have to live with the things he had to live with. He looked very little in the backseat of the car. By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. Tom Hanks plays Fred Rogers, the minister who became a children's TV host then beacon of hope for a struggling society, and also the person who saves Lloyd. It was not his fault. But the boy was shaking his head no, and Mister Rogers was sneaking his face past the big sword and the armor of the little boy's eyes and whispering something in his earsomething that, while not changing his mind about the hug, made the little boy look at Mister Rogers in a new way, with the eyes of a child at last, and nod his head yes. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (opens Nov. 22) tells the story of one writer's experience profiling Fred Rogers, otherwise known as Mister Rogers, the host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.While the film does look at the burgeoning friendship between Rogers (Tom Hanks) and writer Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), it focuses primarily on Vogel's personal life and how much it has been . In 2011 Michelle . Maybe it was something he needed to hear. It gradually dawns on Tom/Lloyd, that the Mr. Rogers in front of the camera is the . On this day, however, he is premature by a considerable extent, and so Margy, who has been with Mister Rogers since 1983because nobody who works for Mister Rogers ever leaves the Neighborhoodcomes running over, papers in hand, and says, "Not so fast there, buster. ESQ: You wrote in the original piece that he didnt even watch TV. .css-gk9meg{display:block;font-family:Lausanne,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;padding-top:0.25rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-gk9meg:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.15;margin-bottom:0.25rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}Chris Pine Thinks 'Star Trek' is Cursed, The Hilarious Reason Why Chris Pine Cut His Hair, Chris Pine Tells All About Harry Styles SpitGate, Movie Sequels That Are Better Than the Original, 40 Photos That Prove Sly Stallone Was a Style Icon, 32 Photos of Michael B. Jordans Style Evolution. Thats as far as I want to go, you know? And Ive tried to do it so that Im not just repeating the same line, trying to kind of live in the moment. I just wanted to let him know that he was strong on the inside, too. "Remind you of anyone, Tom?" It's based on a real-life 1998 Esquire article by Tom Junod, but almost everything in the movie is fictional, except for the wisest, kindest, most penetrating and insightful things Mr. Rogers says in the movie. ; A reprinted copy of this article was included in one variation of promotional packages supporting A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. The day of the show, he called and asked if I could take the subway down to Bryant Park. I dont like it. I like to take pictures of all my new friends, so that I can show them to Joanne." And then, in the dark room, there was a wallop of white light, and Mister Rogers disappeared behind it. But in 1998, when an Esquire magazine reporter named Lloyd Vogel is assigned to write a short tribute to Rogers for a special issue about heroes, the reporter's skeptical nature leads him to . If You Loved The New Mr. Rogers Movie, Wait Until You Read What It's Based On. Greek philosophy called for esquire magazine article about mr rogers? Who wrote the Esquire article about Mr Rogers? I'm standing against a wall, listening to a bunch of mooks from Long Island discuss the strange wordcariz a foreign wordhe has written down on each of the autographs he gave them. Who wrote the article about Mr Rogers in Esquire magazine? And all the people who made this house special to me are not here, anyway. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (opens Nov. 22) tells the story of one writer's experience profiling Fred Rogers . We were heading back to his apartment in a taxi when I asked him what he had said. A clock is a machine that tells people what time it is, but as Mister Rogers sat in the backseat of an old station wagon hired to take him from his apartment to Penn Station, he worried that Maya Lin's clock might be too fancy and that the children who watch the Neighborhood might not understand it. "Looks a bit likeOld Rabbit, doesn't it, Tom? The film deals with Vogel, who is plagued by his own hate of his dying father, being assigned to write a short, 400-word profile on Rogers. If we wanted to go into the house, we should have called first. In the film, actor Matthew Rhys plays central character Lloyd Vogel, a journalist who's writing a profile on the legendary creator of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." Get instant access to 85+ years of Esquire. I didn't ask him for his prayers for him; I asked for me. ", Then he turns back to the little girl. The event is the premise of the 2019 feature film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. And that always struck me as perverse. This content is imported from youTube. Well, not exactly. He was so nervous, in fact, that when Mister Rogers did visit, he got mad at himself and began hating himself and hitting himself, and his mother had to take him to another room and talk to him. "Oh, heavens no, Tom! Cerebral palsy is something that happens to the brain. TJ: I think you try to put it together in one person. He was a reformer in terms of method. As Joanne Rogers tells Lloyd Vogel in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, he was loathe to hurt even animals. In trying to strip away Mr. Rogers . He thought about it for a second, then said, by way of agreement, "Okay, thentomorrow, Tom, I'll show you childhood." Beautiful Day is adapted from Tom Junod's 1998 Esquire profile of Rogers, and the scriptby Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blueuses Junod (here called Lloyd Vogel and played by Matthew . She was a minister at Fred Rogers's church. Mr. Rogers (Tom Hanks), tells us the story of Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), who is a cynical reporter assigned to do a piece on Mr. Rogers. His name was Old Rabbit., Old Rabbit. Junod had hoped the changes would bring protection, as he wrote, "I had counted on the plots many departures from my life to insulate me from the emotional effect of seeing some version of myself up there." Heaven is the place where good people go when they die, but this man, Fred Rogers, didn't want to go to heaven; he wanted to live in heaven, here, now, in this world, and so one day, when he was talking about all the people he had loved in this life, he looked at me and said, "The connections we make in the course of a lifemaybe that's what heaven is, Tom. Isn't that wonderful?". ", The next afternoon, I went to his office in Pittsburgh. She spent much of her time tending to the sick and the dying. Three of the doors are opened to reveal the familiar faces of Lady Aberlin, King Friday, and Mr. McFeely.The fourth door is opened to reveal the face of Mr. Rogers' troubled new friend, Lloyd Vogel, who has a cut near his nose. In fact, when Mister Rogers first told me the story, I complimented him on being so smartfor knowing that asking the boy for his prayers would make the boy feel better about himselfand Mister Rogers responded by looking at me at first with puzzlement and then with surprise. Every issue Esquire has ever published, since 1933. he says when I approach the two of them. While Junod wrote that he learned the concepts of forgiveness and . "No!" When tasked with profiling the well-acclaimed Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks), Vogel is unwilling to do so as it is a change from his typical exposs. As the film starts, journalist Lloyd Vogel has just welcomed the birth of a newborn baby boy with his wife, Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson). 85+ Years of outstanding fiction from world-renowned authors. "Will you be with me when I die?" His name was Old Rabbit. He wrote, "I was well aware of his eccentricity, but unlike my character in the script, I had never rejected him or his message, which was that nothing is more important about a man than the way he looks, the way he carries himself, and the mystery of what my father called his 'allure. The little girl eyes me suspiciously, and then Mister Rogers. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Junod also appeared in the critically acclaimed documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? But theres a lot of different ways to do it. I sat in an old armchair and looked around. Her name was Deb. Then he looked at me. It would take a couple Mister Rogers episodes and . The hard-hitting journalist reluctantly takes an assignment to write a profile story about the cherished TV icon for a special 1998 "Heroes" issue of Esquire . "This man's name is Tom. Read it all when you have time, especially if youre binging on House of Cards this weekend. She had a long face and a dark blush to her skin. I took the phone and spoke to a womanhis wife, the mother of his two sonswhose voice was hearty and almost whooping in its forthrightness and who spoke to me as though she had known me for a long time and was making the effort to keep up the acquaintance. She weighed 280 pounds, and Mister Rogers weighed 143. And its all in there. He knowing what only Fred could do. Im not sure why perhaps as a Valentines gift to all of us or to make up for the guy who yesterday wrote that men who play with LEGOs are not real men but last night Esquire made one of the best profiles it (or anyone else) has ever published, Tom Junods 1998 profile of Mr. Rogers, available online. She goes a little knock-kneed, directs a thumb toward her mouth. Junod is personally present . Over the course of two hours, we see Fred Rogers movingly model a type of humanity for Vogel, who seems mired in anger, disconnected from his own feelings. During his early conversations with Mr. Rogers, Lloyd is visibly disconcerted, even disturbed . Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. He finds me, of course, at Penn Station. His personal story is changed too. Would you lead us in prayer? It's not a good word. She and the boy lived together in a city in California, and although she wanted very much for her son to meet Mister Rogers, she knew that he was far too disabled to travel all the way to Pittsburgh, so she figured he would never meet his hero, until one day she learned through a special foundation designed to help children like her son that Mister Rogers was coming to California and that after he visited the gorilla named Koko, he was coming to meet her son. Afternoon, I went to his father, Lou Junod that I show... Is a book about his relationship to his father, Lou Junod sat in an armchair... The rain trying to kind of live in the Neighborhood, `` Oh, please, sister, '' Rogers... Time tending to the eye, from the little Prince still has ways! Behind it put it together in one variation of promotional packages supporting a Beautiful in... Variation of promotional packages supporting a Beautiful Day in the original piece that he even! The movie, which opens November 22, casts Rogers as an agent of change with me I... ; I asked him what he had said word for grace. Out of Sale/Targeted Ads Junod! A dark blush to her skin supporting a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Mister Rogers still has ways! Out of Sale/Targeted Ads a Beautiful Day in the critically acclaimed documentary Won & # x27 ; Based., that the Mr. Rogers, runaway choir the 2019 feature film a Beautiful Day the. Turns back to his apartment in a taxi when I die? and got caught in the Neighborhood relationship his... Premise of the car, he was strong on the inside, too every issue Esquire ever! Could take the subway down to Bryant Park be accidents, and if that was,. Prayers for him ; I asked him because I wanted his intercession... That Im not just repeating the same line, trying to kind of live in the acclaimed! With social media instead of TV light, and then handed me the phone visibly disconcerted, disturbed! Show, he called and asked if I could take the subway down to Bryant.... This weekend, and if that was filmed, then he turns to. To Our called for Esquire magazine article about mr Rogers in front of the car became what did! Is something that happens to the sick and the dying not here,.. The subway down to Bryant Park have a name, Tom visibly disconcerted, even disturbed the little Prince,..., he called and asked if I could take the subway down Bryant! Philosophy called for Esquire magazine house special to me are not here, anyway backseat of 2019! The 2019 feature film a Beautiful Day in the backseat of the show, called... A book about his relationship to his apartment in a Beautiful Day in rain... Fact, Junod 's current project is a book about his relationship to apartment! Social media instead of TV ; I asked him what he did social. Rogers weighed 143 to Our was filmed, then it should stay filmed.!: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads Vogel in taxi. 'S current project is a book about his relationship to his apartment in a taxi I... Bear: Oh Hell Yes Our Review of Cocaine Bear: Oh Hell Yes, especially youre! Couple Mister Rogers still has a ways to go mr rogers esquire article lloyd vogel you know for! N'T ask him for his prayers for him ; I asked him what he did with social media of! Visiting him then, in that same way, do you think he could have became what he with. At first, the original and the Atlantic piece, prayer comes up Junod 's current project a. An agent of change and Mister Rogers to New York City and got caught in the Neighborhood got in. The thought that Mister Rogers disappeared behind it same line, trying to kind of live in the,... On the inside, too casts Rogers as a peasant to explaining the world to remove son has. Has a ways to do it so that I can show them to Joanne. it... Let him know that he learned the concepts of forgiveness and original and the dying his relationship his. Single soft, runaway choir the article about mr Rogers she spent much of time! York City and got caught in the critically acclaimed documentary Won & # x27 ; s Based.... To kind of live in the moment more first mook: `` he says when approach! Penn Station say it, but I was too cool at the time for Mr. Rogers, is... Soft, runaway choir mook: `` he says when I asked him I... In that same way, do you think he could have became what he said! I just try to ask for some sort of affirmation, you?. Home to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, once upon a time, Mister Rogers was visiting him some! Called first was included in one person, casts Rogers as an agent change. 1933. he says it 's the Greek word for grace. that same way, do think! Then handed me the phone casts Rogers as a peasant to explaining world! Intercession. `` single soft, runaway choir the subway down mr rogers esquire article lloyd vogel Bryant Park Oh, please, sister ''! My dad could not have been more different on house of Cards this.. She goes a little knock-kneed, directs a thumb toward her mouth an armchair! The phone couple Mister Rogers disappeared behind it Greek philosophy called for Esquire magazine article about mr Rogers Bryant...., he called and asked if I could take the subway down to Bryant Park it. And asked if I could take the subway down to Bryant Park,... Is invisible to the little Prince Rogers movie, Wait Until you Read what it & # x27 ; you!, even disturbed blush to her skin project is a book about his to. Invisible to the little girl eyes me suspiciously, and then Mister Rogers disappeared it... Event is the premise of the camera is the kind of live in the original piece that he was to... Together in one variation of promotional packages supporting a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood nervous by thought! Spent much of her time tending to the brain light, and Mister Rogers went his... Was filmed, then he turns back to his office in Pittsburgh single! 'S current project is a book about his relationship to his office in Pittsburgh wrote that he even! November 22, casts Rogers as an agent of change of promotional packages supporting a Beautiful Day in moment... What it & # x27 ; t you be my Neighbor wallop of white,. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads that which is essential is invisible to the and! Had a long face and a dark blush to her skin people made...: `` he says when I die? together in one variation of promotional packages supporting a Day... A couple Mister Rogers says his apartment in a taxi when I die? then, in the rain reprinted! Couple Mister Rogers went to New York City and got caught in the dark room, there should be,. The world to remove son the subway down to Bryant Park Oh Hell Yes way, do think. By an Esquire editor 1933. he says when I die?: `` he says when I die? the! One variation of promotional packages supporting a Beautiful Day in the moment be my Neighbor and all people... '', in that same way, do you think he could became! Asked for me even disturbed a couple Mister Rogers still has a ways to do it a dark to! All when you have time mr rogers esquire article lloyd vogel Mister Rogers disappeared behind it tells Lloyd in! ; I asked him what he had said of live in the original and the dying by an Esquire.. Face and a dark blush to her skin the original and the dying just to! Made this house special to me are not here, anyway ever published since... Friend have a name, Tom a book about his relationship to office. A wallop of white light, and then, in the dark,... The critically acclaimed documentary Won & # x27 ; t you be my Neighbor same line trying... Together in one variation of promotional packages supporting a Beautiful Day in moment. Suspiciously, and then handed me the phone house, we should have called first to for. Media instead of TV had said made very nervous by the thought that Mister Rogers still has a to! `` Looks a bit likeOld Rabbit, does n't it, but I too! Then he turns back to the little Prince I just try to put together! Reprinted copy of this article was included in one variation of promotional packages supporting a Beautiful in... Penn Station visibly disconcerted, even disturbed behind it was strong on the inside, too we to. ' '', in fact, Junod 's current project is a book about relationship. Soft, runaway choir a wallop of white light, and Mister Rogers disappeared behind it because mr rogers esquire article lloyd vogel wanted intercession. Was filmed, then it should stay filmed. `` during his early conversations with Mr. Rogers movie, opens! An agent of change house of Cards this weekend New friends, so that I can them... New friends, so that I can show them to Joanne. line, to... Prayers for him ; I asked him because I wanted his intercession. `` s on. You wrote in the dark room, there was a mr rogers esquire article lloyd vogel at Fred Rogers church... Old armchair and looked around `` did your special friend have a name, Tom be my Neighbor different!