Mr. Roger's Neighborhood

Caught the last part of some sort of tribute show to Mr. Rogers on PBS this evening. That man was real. As I was watching it I found myself gaining a little courage to be real as well. Or at least more real. No matter what kind of communication you are engaged in. . .one on one. . .letter writing. . .the host of a children's TV show. . .songwriting. . .if you're not real, you're not going to communicate very well. But it takes a lot of courage. Maybe it has always taken courage to be authentic, but it sure seems like our image-conscious cuture makes it very difficult. How did Mister Rogers do it so consistently for so long? My wife thinks he had a very clear vision regarding children, and what they need, and that is what gave him the courage to be real. He made a surprising statement to me. . .something that I hadn't really thought about before. He said TV was an "intensely personal medium". He'd learned that from Gabby Hayes, the cowboy star that he had worked with (as a floor manager) early in his career. Mr. Rogers asked Gabby what he thought about when he looked into the camera, knowing that thousands upon thousands of kids were watching. Gabby said, "I just imagine I'm talking to one buckaroo." That is so profound. When we communicate, especially via some form of media like TV, radio, pop music, etc. . .we have to realize we're communicating with one person. You can't talk to a crowd, a mob, or a demographic. A person speaks with another person.