Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day is a movie that can be related to ritual. Ritual is a defining part of Religion. Ritual is defined by Webster’s as “a
religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions preformed
according to a prescribed order.” In
this movie, ritual is highly stressed.
In fact the movie’s theme revolves around the idea of a ritual, namely
Groundhog’s Day. Every year, the people
of Punxsutawney come together in festival to celebrate the coming spring, using
a groundhog to determine when Spring will actually arrive. In a like manner, every day Phil wakes up and
realizes it is the same exact day. As
the movie progresses, he begins to form more and more rituals for what he will
do. He begins fine-tuning his
interactions with people in an effort to satisfy himself the most. But this ritual grows old for him and after
an undisclosed amount of time, he begins focusing on others instead. As he begins this selfless type of ritual, he
begins to appreciate each day more and more, and in fact is happier in the long
run. The movie ends by him making the
most out of the day in the most selfless way possible. Although this is a good film overall, the
philosophy does not sit well with me. In
my eyes, Phil started to change because of two reasons. First, he did not have much of a choice. He was to either be completely miserable,
living the same day for the rest of his life, unable to die. Or actually change and have the potential for
a life with a promised death at the end.
Second, he would benefit more from the change. These seemingly contradict the whole idea of
selflessness. In my eyes selflessness
should be done not begrudgingly or for chance of reward. Rather it should be done ultimately in the
interest of others.
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