Some Days, the Viewing Felt Like a Curse
February 2, 2023 7:22 AM Subscribe
I watched Groundhog Day every day for a year. Here’s what I learned
‘We bow at the altar of Groundhog Day’: concept copycats celebrate its 30th birthday
The bizarre history of Groundhog Day
Punxsutawney Phil left his burrow for his annual prediction. Here’s how much longer winter will last according to the legend
So many previouslies
Mmmmm..... Groundhog.
PunxsutawneyPhil.com.
‘We bow at the altar of Groundhog Day’: concept copycats celebrate its 30th birthday
The bizarre history of Groundhog Day
Punxsutawney Phil left his burrow for his annual prediction. Here’s how much longer winter will last according to the legend
So many previouslies
Mmmmm..... Groundhog.
PunxsutawneyPhil.com.
Film theorist Barbara Klinger suggests familiar movies have the capacity to become our “friends” and she introduced the term “karaoke cinema” to describe the joy of deep familiarity and quotability, arguing this experience provides the audience with an element of both comfort and mastery.”
Indeed, both comfort with the film itself, and in identifying those people who are of the same tribe. A picked-up quote becomes a password to friendship.
Shirley.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:29 AM on February 2, 2023 [23 favorites]
Indeed, both comfort with the film itself, and in identifying those people who are of the same tribe. A picked-up quote becomes a password to friendship.
Shirley.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:29 AM on February 2, 2023 [23 favorites]
Yeah, that Klinger citation is what really stuck out to me. Such a familiar and powerful but seemingly under-theorized phenomenon. (But maybe it's been theorized plenty and I just don't know about it.)
posted by Not A Thing at 7:41 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Not A Thing at 7:41 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
Seems this whimsy has a dark side...
Professional white marmot?
posted by chavenet at 7:52 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Professional white marmot?
posted by chavenet at 7:52 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Hopefully the magical varmint seeing his shadow means I have six more weeks before the family of groundhogs that live under my house start trying to chew through the floorboards again
posted by SystematicAbuse at 7:57 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by SystematicAbuse at 7:57 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
... the original article was WAY TOO SHORT for the seven hundred hours of research that went into it. I wonder if the guy is going to put together a podcast or book or something. I mean, clearly the grauniad wasn't going to pay by the word for the 20k essay that's clearly just the start of what's in the author's head. So I'll wait for more.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:58 AM on February 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:58 AM on February 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
I was newly orphaned when I saw this movie in the cinema. I was very young, 13yo. I wasn't mature enough to understand that it wasn't my fault. I kept thinking about how maybe if I'd done something different, done or said the right thing, it would have all been better. Sometimes I would dream about my dad, that I saved him, and like dreams you believe it for a moment after you wake up.
Seeing Phil do everything he could to save that dying man. Everything. An eternity to save him. None of it worked, and the nurse finally told Phil 'sometimes people just die'.
I really needed to hear that. I mean this very sincerely, this side-plot helped me understand. There was nothing I could do, it was over. Sometimes people just die.
posted by adept256 at 8:01 AM on February 2, 2023 [171 favorites]
Seeing Phil do everything he could to save that dying man. Everything. An eternity to save him. None of it worked, and the nurse finally told Phil 'sometimes people just die'.
I really needed to hear that. I mean this very sincerely, this side-plot helped me understand. There was nothing I could do, it was over. Sometimes people just die.
posted by adept256 at 8:01 AM on February 2, 2023 [171 favorites]
For thirty years in a row—10950 days consecutively—I have continued to not watch the classic Bill Murray film "Groundhog Day."
Perhaps I will write an essay about my journey.
posted by SoberHighland at 8:04 AM on February 2, 2023 [24 favorites]
Perhaps I will write an essay about my journey.
posted by SoberHighland at 8:04 AM on February 2, 2023 [24 favorites]
Unbeknownst to me, my son went to Punxsutawney for Groundhog Day. I got a call from him at 6:00am, and I can barely hear him over the screaming crowd noise and music. "You'll never guess where I am!!!" he yells. "I'm in Punxsutawney!!! It's fucking insane!!!"
He went on to describe how drunk everyone was at 6:00am, and how everyone was singing and dancing and drinking. And drinking. It sounded like a bacchanalia, but with an oompah band.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:06 AM on February 2, 2023 [50 favorites]
He went on to describe how drunk everyone was at 6:00am, and how everyone was singing and dancing and drinking. And drinking. It sounded like a bacchanalia, but with an oompah band.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:06 AM on February 2, 2023 [50 favorites]
Previously.
posted by Riki tiki
*shakes fist* Damn you!!!
posted by wenestvedt at 8:12 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Riki tiki
*shakes fist* Damn you!!!
posted by wenestvedt at 8:12 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Perhaps I will write an essay about my journey.
DAY 10000:
The howls of wolves compete with the wind, though we will not yield to them. Our struggle is with comedy/drama, t'was ever thus.
posted by adept256 at 8:19 AM on February 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
DAY 10000:
The howls of wolves compete with the wind, though we will not yield to them. Our struggle is with comedy/drama, t'was ever thus.
posted by adept256 at 8:19 AM on February 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
I love Groundhogs Day and have rewatched it multiple times but a whole year! Sounds like a form of torture to me. No thank you.
posted by hoodrich at 8:25 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hoodrich at 8:25 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
So funny how it got extremely meh reviews when it first came out.
posted by Melismata at 8:42 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Melismata at 8:42 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
> Here’s what I learned.
CIA Supervisor: Jesus fucking Christ. What did we learn, Palmer?
Palmer: I don't know sir.
CIA Supervisor: I don't fucking know either. I guess we learned not to do it again. I'm fucked if I know what we did.
Palmer: Yes sir, it's hard to say.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:54 AM on February 2, 2023 [14 favorites]
CIA Supervisor: Jesus fucking Christ. What did we learn, Palmer?
Palmer: I don't know sir.
CIA Supervisor: I don't fucking know either. I guess we learned not to do it again. I'm fucked if I know what we did.
Palmer: Yes sir, it's hard to say.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:54 AM on February 2, 2023 [14 favorites]
I've always wondered, though, how the fine people of Punxsutawney felt about how they and their most famous citizen were depicted in the movie?
Also: Groundhog is really tasty.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:58 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also: Groundhog is really tasty.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:58 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
MetaFilter: like a bacchanalia, but with an oompah band.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:59 AM on February 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 8:59 AM on February 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
I watched Groundhog Day every day for a year.But how did you finally break out of the loop?
posted by mbrubeck at 9:00 AM on February 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
Perhaps I will write an essay about my journey.
"I didn't watch it. People have given me crap for it off and on over the years, but I ignore them. The end."
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:16 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
"I didn't watch it. People have given me crap for it off and on over the years, but I ignore them. The end."
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:16 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
So what happens when the groundhog *dies*? Return of the Frost Giants and Ragnarök? Quebec's famed groundhog Fred la Marmotte has died
posted by indexy at 9:21 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by indexy at 9:21 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
Wait, IS groundhog tasty?
This information could be useful
posted by SystematicAbuse at 9:23 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
This information could be useful
posted by SystematicAbuse at 9:23 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
So funny how it got extremely meh reviews when it first came out.
I think maybe it's not really that good on a first viewing, unless you already buy into the big premise that this is a metaphor for life (i.e. you will be stuck until you learn how to be human). The time loop seems like a wacky, arbitrary thing that happens, Phil Connors is a douchebag, and as it goes deeper and deeper into pathos it just drags. I think you can only love the movie if you love the idea of the movie, and that's more likely to happen in retrospect, or influenced by contemporary consensus.
posted by anhedonic at 9:41 AM on February 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
I think maybe it's not really that good on a first viewing, unless you already buy into the big premise that this is a metaphor for life (i.e. you will be stuck until you learn how to be human). The time loop seems like a wacky, arbitrary thing that happens, Phil Connors is a douchebag, and as it goes deeper and deeper into pathos it just drags. I think you can only love the movie if you love the idea of the movie, and that's more likely to happen in retrospect, or influenced by contemporary consensus.
posted by anhedonic at 9:41 AM on February 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
Phil's ex-wife gives us the real story
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:42 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:42 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
I always liked when the weather map is on screen for like 5 seconds, two cities I frequented as a kid growing up were there. Also driving thru Punxsy, and there is NO way you don't know where you are. The town is all in.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 10:16 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 10:16 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
Wait, IS groundhog tasty?
This information could be useful
Yep.
As a teen, I worked two summers on a farm in southern Indiana, and groundhog was occasionally on the dinner menu. As a city kid, it definitely sounded weird, but it was actually really good.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:17 AM on February 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
This information could be useful
Yep.
As a teen, I worked two summers on a farm in southern Indiana, and groundhog was occasionally on the dinner menu. As a city kid, it definitely sounded weird, but it was actually really good.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:17 AM on February 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
I think you can only love the movie if you love the idea of the movie, and that's more likely to happen in retrospect, or influenced by contemporary consensus.
That doesn't explain how it developed the consensus in the first place. I think it's more likely that reviewers at the time weren't sure what to make of it, and judged it against the wacky comedies of the time, but as people took it on its own terms rather than how well it fulfills the role of being a Comedy, they were able to appreciate what it is.
I think part of it, as well, is that it captured a specific experience that people didn't really have a word for, the idea that every day is the same as the last and nothing they do changes anything. "Groundhog day" became a reference I heard a fair bit in the 90s and 2000s, although interestingly not all that much recently (although maybe that's because of the perma-crisis).
posted by Merus at 10:18 AM on February 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
That doesn't explain how it developed the consensus in the first place. I think it's more likely that reviewers at the time weren't sure what to make of it, and judged it against the wacky comedies of the time, but as people took it on its own terms rather than how well it fulfills the role of being a Comedy, they were able to appreciate what it is.
I think part of it, as well, is that it captured a specific experience that people didn't really have a word for, the idea that every day is the same as the last and nothing they do changes anything. "Groundhog day" became a reference I heard a fair bit in the 90s and 2000s, although interestingly not all that much recently (although maybe that's because of the perma-crisis).
posted by Merus at 10:18 AM on February 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
I love Groundhogs Day and have rewatched it multiple times but a whole year! Sounds like a form of torture to me. No thank you.
Once was enough for me, thanks. But my younger brother has a tradition of watching it every year (and you know when). Baffling to me, the amount of time people have invested in this film. I have a nebulous theory about that, related to your proximity to Pennsylvania, and how familiar you were with the goings-on in 'Punxsy' before you first saw this movie.
posted by Rash at 10:59 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Once was enough for me, thanks. But my younger brother has a tradition of watching it every year (and you know when). Baffling to me, the amount of time people have invested in this film. I have a nebulous theory about that, related to your proximity to Pennsylvania, and how familiar you were with the goings-on in 'Punxsy' before you first saw this movie.
posted by Rash at 10:59 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
That article is not as good as the movie.
(I understand, there are deadlines and column inches to fill, etc)
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 11:03 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
(I understand, there are deadlines and column inches to fill, etc)
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 11:03 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Raised adjacent to Punxsy. It was BIG when I as a kid. Big enough that there were a couple of years that the school district scheduled February 2 as a day off since attendance was going to be so low anyway. I only went once but "It sounded like a bacchanalia, but with an oompah band" is a very accurate description of the energy.
My sibling's reserve unit was in Punxsy until it was shut down. Every year the unit did crowd control on Groundhog Eve/Day as a community service project.
A slightly more grim take on whether the celebration will be relevant in the coming years.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 11:06 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
My sibling's reserve unit was in Punxsy until it was shut down. Every year the unit did crowd control on Groundhog Eve/Day as a community service project.
A slightly more grim take on whether the celebration will be relevant in the coming years.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 11:06 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
So what happens when the groundhog *dies*? Return of the Frost Giants and Ragnarök? Quebec's famed groundhog Fred la Marmotte has died
The forecast is -42 with wind chill Saturday morning in Montreal, so I guess the rodent just decided to give up.
(also calling the rodent famous is hell of a stretch)
posted by WaterAndPixels at 11:23 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
The forecast is -42 with wind chill Saturday morning in Montreal, so I guess the rodent just decided to give up.
(also calling the rodent famous is hell of a stretch)
posted by WaterAndPixels at 11:23 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
What About the Groundhog?. Groundhog lore galore from Doug Elliot. I heard him tell this at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough Tennessee several years ago. Go check it out, the first weekend of October for almost 50 years.
posted by conscious matter at 11:29 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by conscious matter at 11:29 AM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
As someone from Central PA. it was a thing on the radio we all waited to hear about. It's such a thing the State Lottery even had a series of commercials featuring Gus, the second most groundhog in PA.
IUP is also nearby and college kids and a weekend of drinking, and then the film, and well you can see why it's exploded.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 11:34 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
IUP is also nearby and college kids and a weekend of drinking, and then the film, and well you can see why it's exploded.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 11:34 AM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm planning on seeing it with my family this weekend. It may be my favourite movie, at least that's what I say whenever anyone asks, but it'll be interesting to see my kids reaction to it and if that changes what I think of it. I remember when I was living in Japan 20 years ago finding it in a video rental shop (Tsutaya) and getting it to watch with my wife (girlfriend at the time).
Here in Toronto we follow Wiarton Willie so I didn't know of Punxsutawney Phil in particular but the whole concept was familiar. Apparently Wiarton Willie has determined that it'll be a short winter, which considering we haven't had much of a winter so far means we'll have gotten off pretty easy on that front.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:38 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Here in Toronto we follow Wiarton Willie so I didn't know of Punxsutawney Phil in particular but the whole concept was familiar. Apparently Wiarton Willie has determined that it'll be a short winter, which considering we haven't had much of a winter so far means we'll have gotten off pretty easy on that front.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:38 AM on February 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
I can't believe the entire winter weather system of the USA is under the thumb of Big Groundhog
Don't watch the propaganda film again! That's what they want!
posted by SystematicAbuse at 12:08 PM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Don't watch the propaganda film again! That's what they want!
posted by SystematicAbuse at 12:08 PM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
I saw GD when I was in college. At that time the local theater had 99 cent midnight movies, which were movies on their way out so they dropped the price (a different time, the 90s). My friends and I didn't care what the movie was, we just watched it because it was 99 cents. The first act is very much a light comedy, cute but ultimately forgettable.
And then by the second act they raise the stakes.
Upon my many rewatches, I marvel at just how deftly the script goes from light and goofy and slapsticky and gradually replaces those elements, by the final act with melodrama and romance. By the end of that first viewing I was kind of blown away, and that was when I was about 21; as you get older this movie has much more resonance. It's by far Harold Ramis' best movie and one of my top five of all time. It's rare when a movie genuinely imparts wisdom.
posted by zardoz at 12:25 PM on February 2, 2023 [13 favorites]
And then by the second act they raise the stakes.
Upon my many rewatches, I marvel at just how deftly the script goes from light and goofy and slapsticky and gradually replaces those elements, by the final act with melodrama and romance. By the end of that first viewing I was kind of blown away, and that was when I was about 21; as you get older this movie has much more resonance. It's by far Harold Ramis' best movie and one of my top five of all time. It's rare when a movie genuinely imparts wisdom.
posted by zardoz at 12:25 PM on February 2, 2023 [13 favorites]
In 2021, I did a project on time loop movies (I didn't watch every single one but I ended up with 20+ -- I forget the exact count and I included Russian Doll because I like Russian Doll. One actually ended up breaking my rules for time loop movies -- time can't progress forward -- but I didn't know that until after I watched it oops too late).
This is the one I started with, of course, and it definitely sets the model for all the ones that follow (it wasn't really the first time loop movie, though). Some definitely riff on it but others just basically play the formula straight -- a bad person becomes a good person through trial and error.
I actually think this plays better on a small screen (I don't believe I saw it in theaters but I don't remember).
I can't imagine watching it every day for a year, though.
posted by edencosmic at 12:31 PM on February 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
This is the one I started with, of course, and it definitely sets the model for all the ones that follow (it wasn't really the first time loop movie, though). Some definitely riff on it but others just basically play the formula straight -- a bad person becomes a good person through trial and error.
I actually think this plays better on a small screen (I don't believe I saw it in theaters but I don't remember).
I can't imagine watching it every day for a year, though.
posted by edencosmic at 12:31 PM on February 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
I've watched this movie maybe 40-50 times with my partner over the years. It used to be quite the thing to do. Over time, what you saw in the movie would morph with familiarity. Where the script and interactions were initially the focus of attention, later on I'd notice the directorial choices, the color scheme or the blocking.
The characters phrasing and intonation became short cuts for our interactions. Saying 'and a donut...' was a way of saying okay, I'm reluctantly bribing you to do what I want. Or "$363 dollars and 39 cents..." was a way of saying I'm putting all my cards on the table, I'm all in.
Or using Ned Ryerson's intro was a way to signify being totally insincere with lots of covert motives.
We can both recite large parts of the movie from memory and when Phil basically says to Rita in the cafeteria after demonstrating what seems like omniscient knowledge of the future, 'you can't leave...you've got to believe me' it's really the start of his transcendence.
Given it sounds like the movie was kind of a shitshow to make, as a cultural landmark, hits way above its weight class.
posted by diode at 12:42 PM on February 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
The characters phrasing and intonation became short cuts for our interactions. Saying 'and a donut...' was a way of saying okay, I'm reluctantly bribing you to do what I want. Or "$363 dollars and 39 cents..." was a way of saying I'm putting all my cards on the table, I'm all in.
Or using Ned Ryerson's intro was a way to signify being totally insincere with lots of covert motives.
We can both recite large parts of the movie from memory and when Phil basically says to Rita in the cafeteria after demonstrating what seems like omniscient knowledge of the future, 'you can't leave...you've got to believe me' it's really the start of his transcendence.
Given it sounds like the movie was kind of a shitshow to make, as a cultural landmark, hits way above its weight class.
posted by diode at 12:42 PM on February 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
Part of the genius of Groundhog Day is that—to paraphrase Ebert (I think)—Bill Murray plays Phil as somebody who is plausibly above all this. Sure, he's a jerk and a chauvinist, but that first go-around is perfectly tooled to make you sympathetic to his jerkiness, if not the chauvinism stuff. It's not that he's some hotshot TV guy, it's that everybody around him seems myopic: their mannerisms are irritating specifically because they involve an attention to, and obsession with, little tiny things that just aren't especially interesting to begin with.
There's a line in the original Office where Tim gets a novelty beer-drinking hat for his birthday, and mentions dryly that, sure, he likes the works of Proust, but a novelty hat is fine too. In The Office, it's a sympathetic moment, because Tim, like Phil, is trapped in what seems to be a dreary, monotonous hellscape. But you could easily interpret that comment less as a plea for substance and meaning than as a snide, pretentious thing to say about a silly birthday gift. What's brilliant about Groundhog Day is that it starts Phil off as a relatable asshole, then confronts him with the things he hates the most until he learns to love them after all.
For me, the bit where he kidnaps Punxsutawney Phil and drives off a cliff is so good. It's everybody's fantasy of finally snapping at that minor thing that drives them up the wall. And plenty of movies offer power fantasies of characters taking vengeance against the petty irritations of their life (American Beauty comes to mind). But here, Phil loses it, gets his satisfaction, and... it doesn't matter. It just isn't worth a damn thing. Because no amount of Phil being irritable or weary or above it all changes the fact that this is the world he lives in, these are the people who he knows, and his only real choice is whether or not he ought to care.
Caring, of course, is what everybody else in this world does but him. Yes, they care about tiny things, trivial things, menial things—in other words, their lives. Phil can imagine better things to care about, sure, but what he can't imagine is caring about what's right in front of him.
Part of the irony of the movie, which I never really see commented on, is that Phil's first version of "caring" is basically for the purposes of manipulation. It's not "good" to memorize the movements of the folks unloading that armored truck, but it does take genuine investment. It's shallow as hell to try and learn every one of Rita's interests for purposes of seducing her, but it take Phil putting effort into learning what he doesn't already know. The irony is that this is his first step towards redemption: the road to heaven is paved with bad intentions, so to speak (at least at first).
Which leads to Phil's next plan: to become God. If he's trapped in this town, he's going to make it his town. He will take his old familiar superior self and apply it to all these little bits and pieces. Only he can't. He can't save every life. He can't right every wrong. He can't "own" Rita, or make her want anything other than what she really wants.
And Rita doesn't just want someone who cares about her, for all that she's the first person Phil winds up caring about. She wants someone who cares about everything. Someone who sees life as meaningful, not in the general but in the particular. What is meaning, after all, but connection and intent? To find things meaningful is to connect yourself with them. If you devote yourself to one person exclusively, you're still fundamentally performing a selfish and limited act, one that divorces you from the world around you. It's only when Phil truly embraces the world that Rita realizes she can love him after all—and it only takes her a day to fall in love.
I think a lot about how the Vatican called this the most religious film of all time, or what-have-you. I think that a part of that is that Groundhog Day presents two opposing visions of God. One is the God that sees all, knows all, controls all. (Would Phil really be all-powerful if he could bring back the dead and make women fall for him with a snap of his fingers? Not really—because he'd still be trapped in this place that he hates.) The other vision of God is, for lack of better words, a being that cherishes the world, and affords even the littlest pieces of it endless dignity.
Phil doesn't become God by holding himself above the world, in other words: he becomes God through an act of genuine humility, one that places him not above or below or equal to it so much as turns him into its embrace. Phil, by finally loving the world as it is, becomes something greater than Phil. He becomes the world.
Consciousness is a trickster. Simply by existing, it tells itself that it is separate from everything around it—in ways that lead to its walling itself off. But consciousness is also what lets us see others, not as equal to us, but as us: that feat of imagination and empathy and sheer heart that takes the lonely precipice we start as and broadens its ground, taking more of the world into its fold. Putting God aside, Phil starts out as the one version of consciousness—the lonely, superior kind—and ends as the other sort, the tree whose roots connect it to the Earth.
(If you want to really stretch, you can say that Phil moves on when he finally stops noticing his own shadow. But that really is a stretch.)
Religion or no, philosophy of conscious or not, I think the beauty of Groundhog Day is that it grapples with the process of becoming more human in a completely mundane, plot-driven, comedic sort of way. It's a movie about a guy trying to "earn" a girl, and it's also a movie that finds a way to overlap superficial popcorn-movie love with profound expansion-of-self love. You can watch it as a fun movie about a guy who gets into some hijinx, or you can watch it as a movie about someone learning that humanity and love are synonyms, and either way more-or-less every scene works perfectly. There's no separation between mundane and profound, local and cosmic, personal and universal. The moral of the story, really, is that there never was.
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 12:57 PM on February 2, 2023 [94 favorites]
There's a line in the original Office where Tim gets a novelty beer-drinking hat for his birthday, and mentions dryly that, sure, he likes the works of Proust, but a novelty hat is fine too. In The Office, it's a sympathetic moment, because Tim, like Phil, is trapped in what seems to be a dreary, monotonous hellscape. But you could easily interpret that comment less as a plea for substance and meaning than as a snide, pretentious thing to say about a silly birthday gift. What's brilliant about Groundhog Day is that it starts Phil off as a relatable asshole, then confronts him with the things he hates the most until he learns to love them after all.
For me, the bit where he kidnaps Punxsutawney Phil and drives off a cliff is so good. It's everybody's fantasy of finally snapping at that minor thing that drives them up the wall. And plenty of movies offer power fantasies of characters taking vengeance against the petty irritations of their life (American Beauty comes to mind). But here, Phil loses it, gets his satisfaction, and... it doesn't matter. It just isn't worth a damn thing. Because no amount of Phil being irritable or weary or above it all changes the fact that this is the world he lives in, these are the people who he knows, and his only real choice is whether or not he ought to care.
Caring, of course, is what everybody else in this world does but him. Yes, they care about tiny things, trivial things, menial things—in other words, their lives. Phil can imagine better things to care about, sure, but what he can't imagine is caring about what's right in front of him.
Part of the irony of the movie, which I never really see commented on, is that Phil's first version of "caring" is basically for the purposes of manipulation. It's not "good" to memorize the movements of the folks unloading that armored truck, but it does take genuine investment. It's shallow as hell to try and learn every one of Rita's interests for purposes of seducing her, but it take Phil putting effort into learning what he doesn't already know. The irony is that this is his first step towards redemption: the road to heaven is paved with bad intentions, so to speak (at least at first).
Which leads to Phil's next plan: to become God. If he's trapped in this town, he's going to make it his town. He will take his old familiar superior self and apply it to all these little bits and pieces. Only he can't. He can't save every life. He can't right every wrong. He can't "own" Rita, or make her want anything other than what she really wants.
And Rita doesn't just want someone who cares about her, for all that she's the first person Phil winds up caring about. She wants someone who cares about everything. Someone who sees life as meaningful, not in the general but in the particular. What is meaning, after all, but connection and intent? To find things meaningful is to connect yourself with them. If you devote yourself to one person exclusively, you're still fundamentally performing a selfish and limited act, one that divorces you from the world around you. It's only when Phil truly embraces the world that Rita realizes she can love him after all—and it only takes her a day to fall in love.
I think a lot about how the Vatican called this the most religious film of all time, or what-have-you. I think that a part of that is that Groundhog Day presents two opposing visions of God. One is the God that sees all, knows all, controls all. (Would Phil really be all-powerful if he could bring back the dead and make women fall for him with a snap of his fingers? Not really—because he'd still be trapped in this place that he hates.) The other vision of God is, for lack of better words, a being that cherishes the world, and affords even the littlest pieces of it endless dignity.
Phil doesn't become God by holding himself above the world, in other words: he becomes God through an act of genuine humility, one that places him not above or below or equal to it so much as turns him into its embrace. Phil, by finally loving the world as it is, becomes something greater than Phil. He becomes the world.
Consciousness is a trickster. Simply by existing, it tells itself that it is separate from everything around it—in ways that lead to its walling itself off. But consciousness is also what lets us see others, not as equal to us, but as us: that feat of imagination and empathy and sheer heart that takes the lonely precipice we start as and broadens its ground, taking more of the world into its fold. Putting God aside, Phil starts out as the one version of consciousness—the lonely, superior kind—and ends as the other sort, the tree whose roots connect it to the Earth.
(If you want to really stretch, you can say that Phil moves on when he finally stops noticing his own shadow. But that really is a stretch.)
Religion or no, philosophy of conscious or not, I think the beauty of Groundhog Day is that it grapples with the process of becoming more human in a completely mundane, plot-driven, comedic sort of way. It's a movie about a guy trying to "earn" a girl, and it's also a movie that finds a way to overlap superficial popcorn-movie love with profound expansion-of-self love. You can watch it as a fun movie about a guy who gets into some hijinx, or you can watch it as a movie about someone learning that humanity and love are synonyms, and either way more-or-less every scene works perfectly. There's no separation between mundane and profound, local and cosmic, personal and universal. The moral of the story, really, is that there never was.
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 12:57 PM on February 2, 2023 [94 favorites]
For me, the bit where he kidnaps Punxsutawney Phil and drives off a cliff is so good. It's everybody's fantasy of finally snapping at that minor thing that drives them up the wall.
I just loved this line: “There is no way that this winter is ever going to end as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his shadow … he’s gotta be stopped. And I have to stop him.”
I’m a fan of this movie and could probably quote much of it verbatim (“well what if there is no tomorrow?! There wasn’t one today!?”). I think the interesting part of it comes when he does all of the things he thinks he’s supposed to do re: Rita and that doesn’t end the cycle but he has to keep going. It’s not just about doing things differently so he can get in her pants. It’s not about doing things differently. It’s about being different.
I also feel like in a weird way, this was a more affecting rom-com for me than most others. Because he has to be vulnerable to get the girl and move forward, the things he says about her come across as really genuine (“you like boats but not the ocean … you’re kind to strangers and children, and when you stand in the snow, you look like an angel.”).
Stopping myself from just listing my favorite quotes from the movie …
posted by kat518 at 1:56 PM on February 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
I just loved this line: “There is no way that this winter is ever going to end as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his shadow … he’s gotta be stopped. And I have to stop him.”
I’m a fan of this movie and could probably quote much of it verbatim (“well what if there is no tomorrow?! There wasn’t one today!?”). I think the interesting part of it comes when he does all of the things he thinks he’s supposed to do re: Rita and that doesn’t end the cycle but he has to keep going. It’s not just about doing things differently so he can get in her pants. It’s not about doing things differently. It’s about being different.
I also feel like in a weird way, this was a more affecting rom-com for me than most others. Because he has to be vulnerable to get the girl and move forward, the things he says about her come across as really genuine (“you like boats but not the ocean … you’re kind to strangers and children, and when you stand in the snow, you look like an angel.”).
Stopping myself from just listing my favorite quotes from the movie …
posted by kat518 at 1:56 PM on February 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
Phil is a palimpsest overwriting himself over and over again with a slightly different text until he is eventually a new man.
posted by snofoam at 2:15 PM on February 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 2:15 PM on February 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
He will take his old familiar superior self and apply it to all these little bits and pieces. Only he can't. He can't save every life. He can't right every wrong.
Your comment was really interesting and cool, but this part especially resonated with me. A number of years back, I wanted to write a fanfiction story with a time loop, and I'd always very sheepishly loved them but was surrounded by people who hated time loops, and this movie especially, so I rarely really indulged my interest.
Since after this movie, every single piece of genre television did their own Groundhog Day episode (and still do them), I started watching all the episodes just to get a bead on how they handled the concept. Every single one of them turned out to be about someone righting a wrong, or correcting something in the universe that had gone askew. None of them were really about a character becoming a better person, about someone being happy. That idea of, as you noted, grappling with the process of becoming more human. I love the part where Phil says that whatever happens tomorrow, he was happy then.
As much as I loved episodes like the X-Files's Monday or Xena's Been There, Done That, there was that deeply human core that I kind of missed. (Even the Star Trek: Next Generation episode Cause and Effect is about fixing something, and it predates Groundhog Day the movie!) As an experiment, I asked a bunch of people who hadn't seen the movie as much as I had what they thought Phil's time loop was specifically about, and they always said it was about fixing something--rescuing the kid, saving the old man, Heimliching the choking guy. I found that fascinating, as though by all the TV Groundhog Day episodes we were primed to think of fixing the day rather than fixing the person.
I've noticed that its swung a little bit back toward the humanistic aspect now, in a lot of the time loop stories I've seen the past few years. And I adore Edge of Tomorrow, which of course is totally about fixing something and preventing aliens from taking over the world. But it always goes back to the humanistic aspect for me of the original movie. That's why I cared about the concept.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:28 PM on February 2, 2023 [15 favorites]
Your comment was really interesting and cool, but this part especially resonated with me. A number of years back, I wanted to write a fanfiction story with a time loop, and I'd always very sheepishly loved them but was surrounded by people who hated time loops, and this movie especially, so I rarely really indulged my interest.
Since after this movie, every single piece of genre television did their own Groundhog Day episode (and still do them), I started watching all the episodes just to get a bead on how they handled the concept. Every single one of them turned out to be about someone righting a wrong, or correcting something in the universe that had gone askew. None of them were really about a character becoming a better person, about someone being happy. That idea of, as you noted, grappling with the process of becoming more human. I love the part where Phil says that whatever happens tomorrow, he was happy then.
As much as I loved episodes like the X-Files's Monday or Xena's Been There, Done That, there was that deeply human core that I kind of missed. (Even the Star Trek: Next Generation episode Cause and Effect is about fixing something, and it predates Groundhog Day the movie!) As an experiment, I asked a bunch of people who hadn't seen the movie as much as I had what they thought Phil's time loop was specifically about, and they always said it was about fixing something--rescuing the kid, saving the old man, Heimliching the choking guy. I found that fascinating, as though by all the TV Groundhog Day episodes we were primed to think of fixing the day rather than fixing the person.
I've noticed that its swung a little bit back toward the humanistic aspect now, in a lot of the time loop stories I've seen the past few years. And I adore Edge of Tomorrow, which of course is totally about fixing something and preventing aliens from taking over the world. But it always goes back to the humanistic aspect for me of the original movie. That's why I cared about the concept.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 2:28 PM on February 2, 2023 [15 favorites]
“In the middle of my backswing?!?”
posted by BeeDo at 2:41 PM on February 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by BeeDo at 2:41 PM on February 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
Part of the irony of the movie, which I never really see commented on, is that Phil's first version of "caring" is basically for the purposes of manipulation.
Phil goes through a second adolescence. His newfound powers are used to seduce women, steal money, buy cars, lead police on a chase, etc. Because why not? But this mania is too much, ultimately driving him to end his own life by suicide. By the final act of the movie, he matures past all of that and understands and appreciates the people around him. He realizes Rita is who he wants to be with, but he still doesn't know how to go about doing that--he gets slapped in the face a lot. Think of a teenage boy with a love interest; he is probably too shy or too aggressive to win her over. But the first shift has happened--he doesn't mock Rita anymore but wants to be closer to her.
To me the climax of the movie is the death of the old homeless man. The tone shifts to straightforward human drama as Phil comes to accept death as a fact of life, something totally unavoidable, even for a "god" like him. Right after that scene ("Sometimes people just die.") the very next cut starts Phil's "perfect" day from start to finish. It's by truly understanding and accepting death can you really live life. And that's the culmination of Phil's maturity from selfish "teenager" to wise old sage. I've read a few takes on the movie from a Buddhist perspective which is probably where I'm getting this from.
posted by zardoz at 3:25 PM on February 2, 2023 [11 favorites]
Phil goes through a second adolescence. His newfound powers are used to seduce women, steal money, buy cars, lead police on a chase, etc. Because why not? But this mania is too much, ultimately driving him to end his own life by suicide. By the final act of the movie, he matures past all of that and understands and appreciates the people around him. He realizes Rita is who he wants to be with, but he still doesn't know how to go about doing that--he gets slapped in the face a lot. Think of a teenage boy with a love interest; he is probably too shy or too aggressive to win her over. But the first shift has happened--he doesn't mock Rita anymore but wants to be closer to her.
To me the climax of the movie is the death of the old homeless man. The tone shifts to straightforward human drama as Phil comes to accept death as a fact of life, something totally unavoidable, even for a "god" like him. Right after that scene ("Sometimes people just die.") the very next cut starts Phil's "perfect" day from start to finish. It's by truly understanding and accepting death can you really live life. And that's the culmination of Phil's maturity from selfish "teenager" to wise old sage. I've read a few takes on the movie from a Buddhist perspective which is probably where I'm getting this from.
posted by zardoz at 3:25 PM on February 2, 2023 [11 favorites]
Sometimes when my dog balks at going out the door when it's cold and rainy, I tell him "it's gonna be cold, it's gonna be gray and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life." Maybe I should try to show him the movie so he gets the joke.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:53 PM on February 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by the primroses were over at 5:53 PM on February 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
Groundhog Day used to mean something in this town. They used to pull the hog out, and they used to eat it. You’re hypocrites! All of you!
posted by kat518 at 7:51 PM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by kat518 at 7:51 PM on February 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
"Groundhog is really tasty."
We call it "Groundchuck" 'round these parts.
posted by Floydd at 8:03 PM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
We call it "Groundchuck" 'round these parts.
posted by Floydd at 8:03 PM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
My little joke is that my alarm plays Sonny and Cher's "I Got You, Babe." It's been about a year now and it still makes me smile.
posted by carmicha at 8:56 PM on February 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by carmicha at 8:56 PM on February 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
I will always love this interchange between Phil, and Ralph, one of the local drunks:
Phil : What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?
Ralph : That about sums it up for me.
It's always been a sobering moment for me, realizing that many of us are not the heroes, even of our own lives. That you can (and some of us do) get stuck in a sad and meaningless existence with no recourse to better choices, unlike Phil, who is forced to become a better man, regardless of his merit, or willingness.
posted by evilDoug at 9:44 PM on February 2, 2023 [11 favorites]
Phil : What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?
Ralph : That about sums it up for me.
It's always been a sobering moment for me, realizing that many of us are not the heroes, even of our own lives. That you can (and some of us do) get stuck in a sad and meaningless existence with no recourse to better choices, unlike Phil, who is forced to become a better man, regardless of his merit, or willingness.
posted by evilDoug at 9:44 PM on February 2, 2023 [11 favorites]
Out of sheer chance there was a "30th anniversary" showing tonight at my local theater, just in time for date night.
My spouse and I also traditionally watch Scrooged on Christmas Eve.
First: it held up, even the casual homophobia was minimal.
Second: I'm hoping to find a string of other holiday themed Bill Murray movies. I think I'd make time for them. Arbor Day. Thanksgiving. Administrative Assistants' day. I'll watch that smug treasure mug the camera for all of it.
posted by abulafa at 11:18 PM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
My spouse and I also traditionally watch Scrooged on Christmas Eve.
First: it held up, even the casual homophobia was minimal.
Second: I'm hoping to find a string of other holiday themed Bill Murray movies. I think I'd make time for them. Arbor Day. Thanksgiving. Administrative Assistants' day. I'll watch that smug treasure mug the camera for all of it.
posted by abulafa at 11:18 PM on February 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
For whatever reason, I've recently become fairly obsessed with the old anime series Urusei Yatsura -- and like a lot of people outside Japan, my exposure began by randomly catching the second movie "Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer" on TV ( when I was partially delirious from covid...)
It was the only chapter of the franchise that became well known in the West, making a tiny breakthrough in 1984... and since it involves a similar plot device, I will forever wonder if Harold Ramis happened to see this movie and become inspired by it. The same day, over and over again? Neat concept!
Anyway, this movie -- along with the criminally underrated "Urusei Yatsura 4: Lum the Forever" -- have become some of my favorite movies and I'm pretty sure I will watch them many more times... although once every day might be pushing it.
posted by Chronorin at 2:12 AM on February 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
It was the only chapter of the franchise that became well known in the West, making a tiny breakthrough in 1984... and since it involves a similar plot device, I will forever wonder if Harold Ramis happened to see this movie and become inspired by it. The same day, over and over again? Neat concept!
Anyway, this movie -- along with the criminally underrated "Urusei Yatsura 4: Lum the Forever" -- have become some of my favorite movies and I'm pretty sure I will watch them many more times... although once every day might be pushing it.
posted by Chronorin at 2:12 AM on February 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
>>Shirley.
>Ni.
I do not think it means what you think it means.
posted by Athanassiel at 4:21 AM on February 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
>Ni.
I do not think it means what you think it means.
posted by Athanassiel at 4:21 AM on February 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
So funny how it got extremely meh reviews when it first came out.
The critics just needed to redo the reviews until they got it right.
posted by zamboni at 5:47 AM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
The critics just needed to redo the reviews until they got it right.
posted by zamboni at 5:47 AM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
The forecast is -42 with wind chill Saturday morning in Montreal, so I guess the rodent just decided to give up.
(also calling the rodent famous is hell of a stretch)
Well the rodent was more famous than I thought, the story made Colbert's show. I have no words.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 8:33 AM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
(also calling the rodent famous is hell of a stretch)
Well the rodent was more famous than I thought, the story made Colbert's show. I have no words.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 8:33 AM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
Ended up watching it with the kids on Sunday. They found some bits funny/interesting but there was way too much kissing in it for their liking.
Do we have any decent estimations for just how many times Phil relived the day?
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:26 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
Do we have any decent estimations for just how many times Phil relived the day?
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:26 PM on February 6, 2023 [1 favorite]
I counted around 30-ish days shown on screen when I tried it, others have different answers.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:31 PM on February 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:31 PM on February 6, 2023 [2 favorites]
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