Happy Groundhog Day!

Every so often I’m reminded of how majestic, complex, and nuanced film is capable of being. While I'd like to sit here and say I first noticed film as an art form while watching some underground avant-garde or devilishly obscure independent film, I can't.?

I first noticed film as an art form during my junior year of high school while a whistling polar vortex howled and beat against the side of my poorly insulated bedroom. (This is back when I still lived with my grandmother in northern Indiana.) Now, you may be wondering what film could have kept me distracted from the fact my teeth were chattering. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari? Hardly. Hiroshima mon amour? Nope.?

It was Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.?

Most film majors, industry connoisseurs, or even part-time film buffs would find the mere suggestion of this title laughable, and this isn't necessarily unwarranted. It isn't recognized for its cinematography, script, performances, mise en scene, symbolism, color, score, or even interesting shots. No, it is simply a quality, often overlooked film about the mundane.?

In it, Phil, a self-absorbed television weatherman played by Bill Murry, finds himself reliving the same day over and over again. No matter what he tries, the cycle repeats itself from the moment “I Got You Babe'' plays on his radio promptly at 6:00 a.m. to the moment he shuts his eyes at night.?

Uncoincidentally, this is eerily similar to his regular life in which he performs routine bland tasks not in order to reach some goal but sheerly out of habit.?

According to the film, the most important constituent in breaking this cycle is love. It is only when our protagonist is forced to revisit the dull moments at the local diner and woeful walks in the snow he is able to appreciate the small moments that quite frankly are more telling of what life is all about.?

This is not his first instinct though.?

He parallels the many stages we often take for granted on our way to understanding what life is all about. He first rebels when he realizes he cannot break this cycle. This is meant to mirror adolescence and the rejection of the institutions that claim our lives.?

He then is motivated to attract the heart of his co-worker Rita. Although, this newfound ambition is formed by the illest of intentions when we learn his primary goal is to get her into bed. This ambition is meant to resemble the next phase in life that usually snaps rebellion, which is climbing the career ladder, running after lust, or finding false substitutes for true happiness.?

Inevitably at some point or another, we meet a brick wall. We don't get the raise or recognition we were banking on, and so forth. It is at this point in the film when Rita rejects his advances causing him to subsequently turn to depression and even suicide. It isn't until he spends a full innocent day with Rita that he realizes some things are set in stone and some aren't.?

He couldn't save the life of the homeless man who was left in the snow and forgotten about by society. He couldn’t change the fact he was stuck in the same town due to road closures. He certainly couldn’t change the fact Rita didn’t have feelings for him or more likely, saw through his cheap advances.

Although in realizing the hand he was dealt, he soon learned how to operate and even master the realm of what was in his control. It was then, and only then, he started working with those around him to create positive change.

This further echoes how 'change' in modern society is actually brought about in the first place. Very rarely is someone in a position of power to enact positive change with the snap of their fingers. Furthermore, with this generation arguably feeling more powerless than any generation that preceded it, this movie highlights the blueprint we can all use to inspire change.?

By reliving the same day over and over again, Phil didn’t gain some God-like wisdom that elevated him above his fellow townspeople. Interestingly enough, he embraced his minute and minuscule position in modern society.?

As Phil puts it, “What would you do if you were stuck in one place, and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?”?

He is the greatest example of a single grain of sand on the world’s largest beach. Alone he cannot do much, however, when he works with others and is not distracted by his own selfish tendencies, he is able to do things that matter to the people around him thus making him and his actions truly selfless. Oh, and he also ended up getting the girl in the end.