Groundhog Day, 1993

Feb. 14 2022 | JOHN PAPETTI

Phil Connors, a weatherman stationed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is assigned to do a report on the Groundhog Day festival in Punxsutawney. He is a self-centered man, who is very disrespectful to his coworkers who call him a “prima donna.” Additionally, when he seems to have a want for something, he acquires it with no questions asked. On the day of the festival, everything is normal for Phil. He wakes up at 6:00AM, records a sarcastic report about the festival, and attempts heads back to Pittsburgh. However, the roads are closed due to a blizzard, and he and his crew are forced to stay for the night. Phil wakes up normally at 6:00AM the next day, but he feels that something is very off. While listening to the radio, the hosts mentions that today was Groundhog Day, which has already happened. Everyone, except for Phil, seems to remember their own conversations they had. He gets confused by this strange repetition, but regardless, he continues his routine of giving his Groundhog Day report. He wakes up the next morning, only to realize it’s still Groundhog Day. He tries to tell his co-workers, but they think he is losing his mind and tells him to seek help (which was ironically unhelpful). He then realizes he can loop the day over and over again, but he can change the outcome and everything will be reset the next cycle. With this mindset, he becomes a thrill-seeker knowing he can do anything without punishment. With his cycles, he was able to manipulate the people around him, by asking information and using it to his advantage, especially for love. One such example was with his producer, Rita. With each cycle, he learned more and more about Rita in order for Rita to have feelings for him. However, this plan backfires as she gets creeped out, and rejects him at the end of each date. This starts a darker cycle, as Phil gets increasingly depressed. He has a new plan to kidnap the groundhog and drive off a cliff, which fails since he is in the loop. In his purgatory state, he is unable to die or leave the loop, so he starts to believe he is a god. With a lot of explanation and proof, he was able to prove to Rita that he was living in a time loop. Rita figures that since he knows what is going to happen, he can help a lot of people, which is something he hasn’t thought about before. Gifted with this knowledge, he tries to make good with the community, as he begins to support the people around him, which in turn gave him popularity. With his new capacity to care about others, and make a positive impact, he was able to break out of the loop.

Before the time loop, Phil Connors had the personality of a TV star: the looks, the communication, and the terrible attitude. While his self-moral values were high, his virtue toward others was not on par. When he was forced to relive Groundhog day over and over gain, he does show that he can positively change. At first, he foolishly believes that this time loop can bring him full immunity to perform actions that he does not normally do. This mindset is comparable to those seeking a life of pleasure. Connors is fulfilling his wants and desires, but he is not thinking about possible consequences that can occur. (What if he went to jail, and the loop unexpectedly stopped?) A few examples of this is how he is able to rob an armored truck, drive recklessly at night, and make out with one of the townspeople. He also tries to forge love by remembering every detail about his love interests to woo them. This behavior is deriving from his moral virtue, and how it was formed by habit and his environment. However, with time, he was able to realize that everything is not about him and he can learn from his mistakes. For instance, he accidentally stepped in a freezing deep puddle of water a few times. But after a few cycles, he remembers to avoid it. Once he started to care about the community, he finally understands that because he knows when things will happen and when, he could help many people. By helping them out, this caused his loop to break. The next day, Connors can be seen as a humble man helping out those around him, but it took 10 years to truly be this person and lose his bad habits.

Additional Resources

Papers:

Hickey, Kelly. "Aristotelian morality and groundhogs: the moral evolution of Phil Connors." Questions: Philosophy for Young People, no. 10, fall 2010, pp. 3+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A317589033/AONE?u=anon~1b5cb6aa&sid=googleScholar&xid=8a985277. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022.

Joseph Kupfer: Virtue and Happiness in Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day: A Perfect Symbiosis Between Philosophy and Filmmaking

Videos: