What Fame is For

From https://www.abeautifulday.movie/, Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers and Matthew Rhys as Tom Junod.

In “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” Esquire magazine writer Tom Junod (Matthew Rhys) asks public TV children’s show host Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) about fame.

“Fame is a four-letter word,” Fred says. And it all depends on what you do with it. What he did with it was to help the people around him, and you can't watch this movie without wishing it were so for other famous TV figures.

The sweet story of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” did draw me in. I was a bit old for the TV show, but saw it in snippets when I was growing up.

It was never my favorite. The pace was too slow for me, but then again, I was too old for the show.

Mr. Rogers had a way of talking to younger viewers at their level, and from all I’ve heard, not knowing the man, it came from a genuine desire to help children navigate this life.

Hanks is a good choice to play Rogers. He doesn’t imitate too much, but does remind one of the actual Fred Rogers.

The movie makes real life and the Land of Make Believe a bit similar, showing a toy New York. My wife and I both laughed when a toy plane touched down with realistic noises. But that fit, somehow. The idealized version of reality was the world as seen through the lens of the TV show.

And it was a cool movie, partly because it showed what a TV studio looks like and functions. You do feel a bit sorry for the whole crew who has to wait it out while Fred Rogers is being so nice to someone.

If you grew up at all with Mr. Rogers, I think you’ll love this movie. If you like writing and journalism, it’s not a bad portrayal of how life and reporting can interact.

And it will leave you feeling a bit better about this mortal existence. That’s about all a kid’s TV show or movie about it could do, I suppose.

And the Music Winner for Now is YouTube

What music site do you prefer?

I listen to Pandora on some computers, because it’s convenient to sign into on many devices. I have Spotify installed on my office computer at home.

I kind of like Spotify because it suggests interesting new music to me. I’m sure I never heard “Hole” before Spotify suggested Malibu, and although I consider it a bit of a guilty pleasure, that’s still a pleasure.

But when I’m working at some mundane task that doesn’t require much attention, I’m likely to just launch a list suggested by YouTube. Yeah, I know, I’m being controlled by the Overlords at Google, and I get exposed to the maximum number of ads that way, but still, YouTube just seems to make the best guesses about what I might like. I think Phoebe Bridgers and The Big Moon both came onto my radar through the magical algorithms of Google.

Facebook, you think you know me, and you probably do. But my robot overlords really control me through Google and YouTube.

Anyway, when I want a break from the disaster that is the Trump impeachment reality TV show, here are some recent songs that have been the background of my life:

First, Phoebe with “Motion Sicnekss.” I often find that live recordings by radio stations—often public ones—gives me the best versions of songs, and while I like her official music video, I think this version is better:


Next, Tessa Violet, because who doesn’t need some Tessa now and then? And she has a new album. Hmmm. Christmas is coming. I like all of the songs I’ve heard from the album, this one in particular:


Third, The Big Moon, because, why not? I used one of their videos on a recent post on my bike blog, and here is another of their songs accompanied by another whimsical video:


Fourth, Taylor Swift, of all people. I have to be in a mood to listen to Taylor, she’s rarely my first choice, but when I want some pop, there she is. Both the banter and the music are entertaining in this NPR concert, and if you don’t watch NPR tiny desk concerts, there’s a whole new world of time suck on YouTube waiting for you:


Last, guiltiest of guilty pleasures. No, I am not a big Courtney Love fan, but in truth several of her songs are catchy:


All of my choices are women. Hmmmm. Men are welcome to sing, too, but I guess I'm liking listening to women. Must be the antidote to Trump.

Spotlight on a Film that Gets Journalism Right

Brian d’Arcy James and Rachel McAdams in Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight. Photograph: Allstar/Open Road Films—from The Guardian.com. I like how they hold pens and use notebooks--a small thing, but that's what a reporter would look like during an interview.

 Last week, students in my media law and ethics class got to snack on pretzels and enjoy one of those rare classes where Joe didn’t spend too much time talking. We watched most of the 2015 movie “Spotlight.”

It’s a sobering film to watch at a Catholic university. But it’s a great film, in my opinion. NPR liked it, too.
 The all-star cast does a great job of creating the feel of journalism as it actually is, something that is very rarely seen in movies. These people aren’t glamorous or rich—they are inquisitive, intelligent writers who are feeling around in the dark, trying to find the story. They don’t know what the story is when they start.

And the people they are dealing with are not simple, either. There are multiple points of view, multiple levels of deception and truth telling.

As I re-watched the film with students, I was struck by the many memorable lines in the film:

Liev Schreiber, playing the new editor of “The Boston Globe” Marty Baron, introduces us to some journalism jargon, noting an opinion column about an abuse speech. “What’s the follow on that?”

That a priest would abuse so many kids “strikes me as an essential story for a local paper,” he adds. One overt key lesson of the movie, to me, is the importance of the kind of journalism that the Spotlight team at the Globe represents and that sadly is passing away as American journalism contracts.

But on to the memorable quotes from the movie. Stanley Tucci, as lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, is conversing with a Globe reporter and notes the system of secrecy that existed in the Archdiocese of Boston. “If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one,” he says.

The class I was teaching lasts an hour and 50 minutes, and the movie is a bit over two hours long. I put a DVD on reserve in the library, and students are required to finish the movie, and write an essay answering some discussion questions I posted.

The class movie viewing was last week. Papers are due Thursday. I’m excited to read what students think. The movie, I hope, will pack some impact with them.

And at least they got to see one movie with actors and actress who actually look and act like the journalists I worked with during my newspaper career.

Boonville Daily News, circa 1985. JK. Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery and Brian D'Arcy James are members of the Boston Globe investigation team that uncovers a sex-abuse scandal involving the Catholic Church in the film, Spotlight. Kerry Hayes/Open Road Films—from NPR.org.