Why Does Southwest Michigan Need To Travel An Hour To See ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’
I went and saw the new documentary chronicling Fred Rogers and his show "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" called Won't You Be My Neighbor?, and I absolutely loved it.
The only problem was, I had to drive over an hour to go see it. I went to see a showing at Celebration Cinema North in Grand Rapids, and even if I had traveled to the NCG Cinema in Lansing to see it I would have had to travel an hour that way.
As I said in my review, in a divided society like the one we live in right now, the message of love that Fred Rogers espoused is an incredibly important one that I feel we need to listen to. I feel like as jaded adults, we don't want to admit that people as good as Mister Rodgers can exist, because in a way that obligates us to be as good as we can be.
I believe that the message of Won't You Be My Neighbor? is an important one that needs to be seen by as many people as possible, and the lack of theaters in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo showing this documentary worries me. I discussed this issue and film on my show on Saturday, and I had many people call in and comment that they would love to see this film, but for various reasons they can't make it to Grand Rapids or Lansing.
However, if the market is there, area theaters would likely rise to the occasion to meet demand. The only way for that to happen is to make sure your voice is heard, so if you want theaters in Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, and beyond to show Won't You Be My Neighbor?, you have to speak up.
Spread the word, and let these theaters know that the message of Mister Rogers needs to be heard.