He's in a New Neighborhood Now: Religious Fantasy Themes About Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Fred Rogers' death prompted many of his fans to post tributes to him and his show, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, on the PBSkids.org Web site. Fantasy theme analysis was conducted for specifically religious themes on tributes posted during the 1st week after his death. Themes fell into one o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of media and religion 2004-11, Vol.3 (4), p.199-218
Main Authors: Perry, Stephen D., Roesch, Amanda L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Religion
Rogers, Fred
Social impact
Television programs
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Fred Rogers' death prompted many of his fans to post tributes to him and his show, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, on the PBSkids.org Web site. Fantasy theme analysis was conducted for specifically religious themes on tributes posted during the 1st week after his death. Themes fell into one of three broad classifications. The first category, religious attribution, included applying directly religious meaning to Rogers and the program. Fans spoke of Rogers as "saintly," an "angel," and "sent from Heaven," along with other fantasy chains. The second category, religious language, included comments about prayers and blessings and the use of religious phrases. The third, religious ideals, provided a category for themes related to the program's moral values and Rogers' "compassion" and "personal character." Findings suggest long-term impact of the program's values on viewers of many ages. They also show that a group of fans reflected on Rogers' noble character by participating in a social reality constructed of religious metaphors.
ISSN:1534-8423
1534-8415
DOI:10.1207/s15328415jmr0304_2