美国国家公共电台 NPR 50 Years Later, Mister Rogers Remains Our Favorite Neighbor

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Fifteen years after his death, Fred Rogers is having a moment.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD")

FRED ROGERS: (As himself, singing) It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Your favorite neighbor is about to get his face on a stamp, his own movie starring Tom Hanks and two documentaries. It's no coincidence tomorrow will be 50 years since "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" first aired on national TV. NPR's Andrew Limbong has this on the lasting¹ legacy² of the show.

ANDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE³: There were other kids' shows in the 1960s that had puppets and talked to kids. But "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" was different. He was on public television, for one thing - no commercials. And he was relaxed.

ELIZABETH MAHONEY: He was never as obvious as those other shows.

LIMBONG: That's Elizabeth Mahoney from the University of Pittsburgh. For more than 20 years, she oversaw⁴ the Rogers archive - tapes of the show, scripts, puppets - cataloging data. She noted⁵ the show's soft, subtle repetition. The shoes always went on and off. The jacket was always traded in for a sweater.

MAHONEY: He really did create an environment that children were comfortable in because some of the same things happened every day.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD")

ROGERS: (As himself) Do you ever change your shoes when you come home from some place - oh, your school or your work or - get ready to play?

LIMBONG: Mahoney says Fred Rogers got help from a child psychologist named Margaret McFarland.

MAHONEY: She talked with him about the manner in which children see the world and thinking about, how can this 3- or 4-year-old understand my concept?

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD")

ROGERS: (As himself, singing) Fences - the world is full of fences. And some I like. And some I don't like - the kind that keep me out.

LIMBONG: While the show was comforting, it also pushed against the status quo of 1968. "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" was one where men baked cakes in the kitchen. Women wore army uniforms. Michael Long is author of the book "Peaceful Neighbor: Discovering The Countercultural Mister Rogers." He says the show dealt with the heavy topics of the time.

MICHAEL LONG: In 1967, just before the show debuted⁶ nationally, race riots were rocking the country.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: In a hundred places, Detroit is afire.

LONG: And at the same time, the Vietnam War was raging.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: In the weekend of last Saturday, 218 Americans died in combat.

LONG: And Mister Rogers decides that he's going to devote the first week of his national program to issues of war and peace.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD")

ROGERS: (As himself) Here we go, to make believe.

LIMBONG: On the first week of his show, there's this five-day story arc where King Friday XIII is preparing to go to war...

LONG: ...Because he's upset that things have changed in the neighborhood.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD")

BETTY ALBERLIN: (As Lady Alberlin) Just because Lady Elaine made a few changes is no reason for you to set up border guards.

ROGERS: (As King Friday XIII) There may be other changers, and I refuse to let them come in.

LIMBONG: The king builds a fence with barbed wire around the castle. People are required to give their name, rank and serial⁷ number if they want to come over.

LONG: And so Lady Aberlin decides that she's going to exercise a voice of dissent⁸. And she and another character in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe devise a plan whereby they're going to float peace balloons with peace messages attached to them. And these peace balloons are interpreted by King Friday to be paratroopers. And he calls for his armed troops to fire on these peace balloons.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD")

ROGERS: (As King Friday XIII) Fire the cannon⁹. Fire the cannon. Man your stations...

LIMBONG: Eventually King Friday XIII acquiesces¹⁰ and accepts the messages of peace and change. From issues like violence to border walls to gender¹¹ roles, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" has something to say to kids and to the rest of us 50 years later. Andrew Limbong, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD")

ROGERS: (As himself, singing) Tomorrow - it soon will be tomorrow and be our day. We will say a very happy tomorrow to you.

See you then. Goodbye.

1 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

2 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

7 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

8 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

9 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

10 acquiesces   

v.默认，默许( acquiesce的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

11 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。