The Fetishization of Mr. Rogers’s ‘Look for the Helpers’ | Hacker News Reader

The Fetishization of Mr. Rogers’s ‘Look for the Helpers’

theatlantic.com

9 pointsfortran778 comments

What a cynical take on such an inspired quote. Adults need hope too. And the first step of becoming a helper is often to look for them.

"Look for the helpers" wasn't just a quote meant for children. He repeated it many times, including in this interview clearly aimed at an adult audience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LGHtc_D328

Part of the brilliance of Fred Rogers was his ability to impart deeply profound life lessons in terms small children could understand. But that doesn't mean adults can't learn a lot from his lessons as well.

Is it not obvious that "look for the helpers" is intended for those without power, with the implication that those who can should "be the helpers"? The value of Mr. Rogers was in both caring for others intentionally and thinking deeply about what people need emotionally.

Outragebait. I'm not sure op eds of the flavor of "Some people think X about this thing, and I don't like it!" are really on-brand for this site. How is this something "that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity?"

Rogers put a lot of thought into how to talk with children, this other Atlantic article explains: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/06/mr-rogers...

I wonder if there's any modern equivalent...

Wouldn't it be great if such people and theories were employed in designing games that are popular with kids?

"Let’s Talk about Freddish" (1977) seems to be the original source for this advice, but it's surprisingly difficult to find a copy. All I can find are websites that re-reported what The Atlantic wrote.

It never really existed. It was a follow on from a drunk night. Probably in someones cupboard. Now internet attributed to Mr. Rogers even though it's really Arthur Greenwald and Barry Head's work. Which since they wrote Mr Rodger's I guess it is the entity that's Mr Rogers, but never published under that entity, so not really.

The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers -

"In 1977, while on a break, Arthur Greenwald and fellow writer Barry Head cracked open a bottle of Scotch, and to blow off steam, coined the term “Freddish” to describe the grammatical rules in writing for Fred Rogers. Head and Greenwald, also a talented cartoonist, even created an illustrated manual called “Let’s Talk About Freddish,” a loving parody of the demanding process of getting all the words just right for Rogers.12

12. Greenwald, Arthur. Interview by Elizabeth Deane. 2 January 2016. Telephone."

(2018), please.

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