Groundhog Day

Zoom-in analysis looks into movies, as you know, beyond the simple, obvious and surface of the film and takes even the most common, everyday films and 'zooms-in' past the everyday critique. Groundhog day may appear on the surface to be Harold Ramis's classic comedy about a man who continues to live the same day over and over again until he finds peace with himself and those around him; however, this hysterical, yet profound concept is reminiscent of and contains archetypes from the religion of Buddhism. This zoom-in review will be arguing that the entire film is a metaphor for the religion itself.

First, the religion of Buddhism itself needs to be explored before explaining its parallels, a simple explanation is found on Wikipedia:

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices, considered by many to be a religion. A Buddhist is one who takes refuge in The Three Jewels: the Buddha (the Awakened One), the Dharma (the Teaching of the Buddha) and the Sangha (the Community of Buddhists).

Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" (of our era), who lived in the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent. Buddhists recognize him as an awakened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end their suffering by understanding the true nature of phenomena, thereby escaping the cycle of rebirths with suffering (saṃsāra).

The Four Noble Truths were the first teaching of Gautama Buddha after attaining Nirvana:

1. Life as we know it ultimately is or leads to suffering (dukkha) in one way or another.
2. Suffering is caused by craving or attachments to worldly pleasures of all kinds. This is often expressed as a deluded clinging to a certain sense of existence, to selfhood, or to the things or people that we consider the cause of happiness or unhappiness.
3. Suffering ends when craving ends, when one is freed from desire. This is achieved by eliminating all delusion, thereby reaching a liberated state of Enlightenment (bodhi);
4. Reaching this liberated state is achieved by following the path laid out by the Buddha.

If the parallels haven't made themselves manifest to you already, allow me to point them out for you, with the help from an excellent essay I have read on the subject (Romeril, 2008).

The film demonstrates the wonder of living each moment as a totally new event. It follows a day in the life of weatherman Phil Connors, a sarcastic curmudgeon. He wakes upon the same day, Groundhog Day, again, and again, and again. His namesake, Phil the groundhog (himself a weatherman), sees his shadow, is frightened and goes back into his burrow, thus predicating six more weeks of Winter. Phil Connors is frustrated by living the same day over and over again. He wants to get somewhere else, find new circumstances, he tries to escape each day with the scenarios of his life. He pursues sex, but after a while it is a dead end. Crime is exciting but becomes tiresome. Drinking, therapy, suicide, finding a love relationship, all are explored. The habits and shadows of his life are found wanting.

Each action has consequences. This is the law of karma: he has a choice, but each choice leads to a new reality. Perhaps the turning point of the movie is when he tries to save a homeless man day after day after day, and, no matter what he does, the man dies. He really wants something and is powerless to insure its happening. We have freedom, but within limits. This is "samsara" in Buddhism, the cycle of becoming driven by our karmic intentional activity. We have desires and wants but we may never reach them. Eventually, through many days [lifetimes] he chooses a life of service, works through his demons, and breaks the cycle of Groundhog Day.

Each moment becomes a new opportunity, so the same situation is brand new and his unique response leads to a unique result.

If we recognize what is driving us, and clarify our true intention, the unexamined shadows are no longer about some solely external reality or objective weather, but about us. Each moment is a new beginning. Our projections and stance in the world can cast a long shadow on our lives, and the Spring of each moment is postponed for a long Winter. If you examine and test your perceptions, each moment brings forth a new world. If we lead an unexamined life, we feel each day is different, but it is really a rerun of our habits. If we examine a disciplined life closely, each instant can blossom into a unique flower.

This film parallels Buddhist practice. In a training temple, the wake-up bell rings the same time every day. You go to the same place, wear the same clothes, and follow the same routine, and yet each moment is unique. Not distracted by your desire for changed conditions, you can live each moment not knowing what it will bring, seeing the familiar landscape with new eyes.

On this last day Phil is Awakened, becomes a Bodhisattva, and finally awakes to February 3rd. The same is playing and "I Got You Babe" has a complete different meaning than from the "first time" he heard it on Groundhog's Day. As he ran outside with Rita he declared that Punxsutawney was a beautiful town and that they would stay; true to a Mahayana tradition once enlightened stay with the people and teach them the dharma until the escape samsara. He even stayed true to the principle of annica and opted to first rent a house as to avoid attachment and evade the consequences of dhukka.

Phil Connors in the end "wins the girl." He gives up trying to possess her, so that true intimacy, true participation, can occur. Affecting and being affected by each other and each thing is the true interpenetration of self and other.

The cycle of samara is broken, his shadows are seen through, and each moment blossoms.

As in the tenth ox-herding picture, Phil Connors comes out of his burrow to the market place with gift bestowing hands. He sees the shadow of his reflections and bows to it, as it must to him.

CONSENSUS:

Rotten Tomatoes has no rating for this film

Zoom In Analysis will give it a 7 out of 10

The film Groundhog Day is more than just a romantic comedy, it's about self-improvement, becoming further connected with the people and things around you (including yourself). It begs the question is there anything that can save you besides you. In the end Phil didn't sell out and become Arhat, but instead stayed with the people he had already spent eternity with. He stayed true to the principle of annica and opted to first rent as to avoid attachment from things that may not really exist. Nagarjuna was right in that "samsara is nirvana and nirvana is samsara" (Wikipedia, 2007). Phil learned the four noble truths traversed the noble eightfold path, quit being a weatherman, and finally lived in the moment of now.