(Not from the movie)
It probably won’t surprise you much when I inform you that I passed up the opportunity to listen to my president’s State of the Union address last night.
Instead I popped my DVD of Groundhog Day into the player, and watched it for the eleventy-second time. It was almost shorter than the president’s speech, and definitely less repetitious, from what I’ve read.
And it’s the right time of year.
I think Groundhog Day is my It’s a Wonderful Life. As I’ve mentioned before, IaWL just depresses me. The only message I get from it is “George Bailey has a wonderful life, BUT YOU’RE NOT GEORGE BAILEY!”
Groundhog Day, on the other hand, presents a lesson I can agree with—“If I had the chance to do my life over about a million times, I might eventually figure something out.”
I understand the original script was written by a Buddhist, and that the filmmakers cut out some of the more explicitly Buddhist elements. I suppose, to be consistent with myself, I ought to reject the film for the merest taint of Buddhism.
But what kind of theology does It’s a Wonderful Life present? Salvation by good works and self-esteem. “You may think you’re a miserable sinner, George Bailey, but they think very highly of you in heaven!” Not exactly Christian law and gospel.
What I like about Groundhog Day is the non-theological material—the simple moral journey of a man who does actually come to realize that he’s a sinner, and then works to become somebody whose life contributes. It’s not a saving knowledge, but it’s a good thing for the people who have to live with him.
To a large degree, it’s about humility. I could name some prominent people who seem to think that humility is for their country, but not for them as individuals. Such people need to wake up and see their own shadows.
(Crossposted at Mere Comments)
I love how you connected the end of the piece to the beginning – cool trick!
That just goes to show you how the mind of a great writer works………………….uh-huh……
I really like Groundhog Day, but had a weird reaction to it the first time I saw it: When he woke up, and discovered it was Feb 3rd, my fear was that at the end of that day, he would wake up and it would be the 2nd again, and that ever there after the 3rd would be a memory he could never recapture.
No one else seems to look at it that way. But what evidence does he have that the cycle is actually broken?
You realize you’ve just spoiled the movie for me forever?
Just kidding. Interesting thought.