The popular 1993 movie Groundhog Day tells the story of grumpy and arrogant weather guy Phil, who goes to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, as part of an assignment to cover the ritual of the coming out of the groundhog. Due to a snowstorm, he gets stuck in town for another night. As if it weren’t bad enough for Phil, who is impatient to get out of there, he awakes the next morning only to find out that he cannot get out of then as well; he is stuck in the previous day on a loop. Some speculated about the number of actual times that he had relived that day, and director Harold Ramis was even asked how many times he would say that Punxsutawney Phil was stuck on February 2nd. The director stated that originally the intent had been for Phil to live the same day for 10,000 years (!) but eventually he’d say he lived it for (only…) about 10 years.
The movie was interpreted by many as a story of transformation; the character of Punxsutawney Phil, a cynical and negative, “glass half empty” (as a drinking companion tells him in one scene), jaded man turns to a man capable of wonderment, of love and compassion, and of ambition. Actor Bill Murray, who played Phil, was going through his own drama at the time of filming Groundhog Day—he was going through a divorce—and it may be argued that his wonderful portrayal of Phil was due to his personal trials at the time. We don’t know how exactly Murray came out of the movie, and can hope that there was some healing process for him in playing the impatient, somewhat depressed and dejected Phil—a type of psychodrama, if you will. We do know that his character had definitely undergone significant and inspiring changes to his view of the world, of self, and his treatment of himself and other people.
Phil’s process mirrors in many ways our process as we go through our own trials. When times are rough, we are first confused and somewhat in denial. Then, we may begin, as Phil has, attempting some hopeless and potentially destructive ways of “coping” (we can all remember his binge-eating attacks in the diner…). Then, we experience the desperate recognition that no matter how much we “invest” in these unhelpful ways of coping, we will not change the outcome of tomorrow (i.e., we would wake up—in our case metaphorically—to the same day, the same reality). Upon this realization, Phil begins to sink into deeper despair, beginning to plan ways of killing himself. In our own lives, even when it isn’t as extreme as this, the analogy remains—we may often sink into this state of lifelessness, of metaphorically planning our deaths instead of living our lives. Phil’s suicide attempts are of course not successful, as he—again—wakes up to the same day, alive and well. He decides to share his suffering and desperation with his colleague, Rita, whom he had tried to seduce earlier in the film. Her care and concern for him and her compassion for his anguish touch him so deeply that when he next wakes up on February 2nd, he no longer makes a plan to die, but instead, begins to live. He learns to make ice sculptures and play the piano, among other things. He begins to use the knowledge of the day to help others and to attempt to save lives, symbolically as well as literally. This can be seen in our own lives. When we manage to come out of the other side of pain and depression, through compassion for ourselves, and authentic and vulnerable communication with others—we find a new life for ourselves. The movie is considered a classic because it symbolically depicts so eloquently the cycles of life and death that we go through in our existence.
What are your groundhog days? What aspects of your life have you been reliving and wishing to transform? How are you like Phil? How are you like Rita?
If you are not sure and would like some inspiration to answer these questions, go watch the movie again in celebration of Groundhog Day, and in celebration of new days to come! In any event, you will wake up to a new tomorrow. Or will you?
