[GN] Fw: NIGHTLINE: There Goes The Neighborhood
Sam Damon
Mr.Rogers, I thought I'd forward this. There'll be a tribute on tonight's
Nightline on ABC. I'm going to miss those wholesome but horribly-unmelodic
songs he sings...
Here's to Fred,
Sam
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nightline" <liste...@abcnews.go.com>
To: "Nightline Mailing List" <nightli...@alist0.starwave.com>
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2001 11:57 AM
Subject: NIGHTLINE: There Goes The Neighborhood
> TONIGHT'S SUBJECT: If you didn't watch him, chances are your children, or
> your grandchildren do. After 32 years, Mr. Rogers is hanging up his
> sweater. We'll take a last tour through his neighborhood.
>
> ---
>
> I am surrounded by television all the time. There are seven televisions on
> round the clock above my desk. Thankfully, the sound is usually off, which
> actually improves some of the programs. But that flickering glow is a
> constant in my life. Even at home, more often than not, we'll flip on the
> TV, and it becomes background noise for whatever we're doing. And I am one
> of those people who can spend too much time just flipping through the
> channels with the remote without actually watching anything. There are a
> couple of shows I do try to watch, but not many.
>
> When we were getting ready for this broadcast, it made me think back to
> what I watched as a child. "Combat!," starring Vic Morrow was a huge thing
> for me, and I remember weekly crises at our house because "The
> Untouchables," my father's favorite, overlapped with "The Man From
> U.N.C.L.E." And those were the days when there was one and only one TV in
> the house. But I never watched Mr. Rogers. I knew who he was, but by the
> time he first went on the air, I was already too old. He was too uncool.
> We would joke about him, and later Eddie Murphy would do hysterical
> parodies on Saturday Night Live.
>
> But Mr. Rogers continued on with the puppets, and the trolley, and the
> soft voice, and the songs. And just talking about this broadcast around
> the office, whether people watched him or not, it's clear that everyone
> knows who he is. In this day of rats being dumped on people or contestants
> holding knives on other contestants on the reality shows, Mr. Rogers seems
> pretty quaint. Now it's interesting, I mentioned this subject in the email
> the other day, and one person wrote in outraged that Nightline was going
> to profile Mr. Rogers. This person somehow felt that he was beneath
> Nightline. But I have to say that, aside from the fact that he has been a
> part of the lives of tens of millions of children, and their children, and
> their grandchildren, what he has to say about the state of television, and
> its responsibility toward society, is more relevant now than ever before.
> But more than that, the broadcast is just a whole lot of fun.
>
> We've introduced you to a number of people on this broadcast that you
> probably didn't know before. Eva Cassidy, Nkosi Johnson, that crazy guy at
> M.I.T. who went fishing for paramecium. But tonight we're going to
> re-introduce you to an old friend, who I realized I really didn't know.
>
> Now I'm pretty cynical, but when I screened the program yesterday, I
> walked out of the edit room thinking that by not watching his program, I
> had missed something.
>
> Friday, July 13, 2001
>
> Leroy Sievers
> Executive Producer
> NIGHTLINE Offices
> Washington, D.C.
>
> -----------
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Marc Stauffer
Pittsburgh I lived just a few doors away from Fred Rodgers. This highest
compliment I can make about him was that he was the same off camera as he
was on camera. He's have a sweater on ( in season ) and usually greeted
neighbors with - "Isn't it a great day in our neighborhood." speaking,
listening, offering his views if asked - he practiced what he taught on his
program. He was friendly and kind to all - gay and lesbian couples,
straight couples, mixed race couples - everyone was and is Fred's
neighbor....as a random act of kindness - it would be nice if we all
started treating our neighbors that way - even the one's who are
curmudgeons, or homophobic.
Fred Rogers was one of a kind. He did a seminar for me once for a National
Convention. His topic - "Television - Chewing Gum for the Eyes" subtitled -
"TV isn't a baby sitter"
Marc
Chief Thracian
Stauffer" <stau...@washpost.com> wrote:
>it would be nice if we all
>started treating our neighbors that way - even the one's who are
>curmudgeons, or homophobic.
That's over the top, Marc. Would you profess that Jews in 1930's
Germany should have tried being "friendly" to Nazis? It is utterly
foolish, IMO, for gays to try to be "neighborly" to homophobes. Been
there, done that...if we don't wake up NOW, they'll crush us all, and
dance on our graves.
It is way too late to play such games as lending a hand of friendship
to these crocodiles in human skins. It *is time, however, to extend
our hands of compassion to each other in our own, gay
community...regardless of income, sex, looks, skin color, world view,
or any other superficial difference. It is time for us to bond
together, and prepare for war.
See my recent short essay here, on the fallacy of "Love thine enemy".
---
Lavender-Velvet Revolution
http://surf.to/gaybible
Lan...@aol.com
<<
That's over the top, Marc. Would you profess that Jews in 1930's
Germany should have tried being "friendly" to Nazis? It is utterly
foolish, IMO, for gays to try to be "neighborly" to homophobes. Been
there, done that...if we don't wake up NOW, they'll crush us all, and
dance on our graves.
It is way too late to play such games as lending a hand of friendship
to these crocodiles in human skins. It *is time, however, to extend
our hands of compassion to each other in our own, gay
community...regardless of income, sex, looks, skin color, world view,
or any other superficial difference. It is time for us to bond
together, and prepare for war. >>
For the 'homophobes' who are vicious attackers, I agree. However for the many
many people who are vaguely uncomfortable with homosexuality because they
don't think they know any, or because have no direct contact with gays, or
who don't understand that gays have families too...and can be good neighbors
too...I agree with Marc.
Chief Thracian
>For the 'homophobes' who are vicious attackers, I agree. However for the many
>many people who are vaguely uncomfortable with homosexuality because they
>don't think they know any, or because have no direct contact with gays, or
>who don't understand that gays have families too...and can be good neighbors
>too...I agree with Marc.
I wouldn't label these "vaguely uncomfortable" types as homophobic in
any way. I reserve my definition of "homophobe" as one who is
virulently antagonistic towards gay people; and I believe this is the
commonly accepted definition.
So I reiterate: we owe absolutely *nothing towards homophobes,
including attempts to win them over, or appease them in any way
whatsoever.
As for neighborliness, it seems to me that gay people in general, are
quite friendly to their neighbors...and remain so unless or until,
bigotry rears its ugly head. Mr. Rogers, as a hetero, has no monopoly
on being a good neighbor.
---
Lavender-Velvet Revolution
http://surf.to/gaybible
**********