the groundhog day project

Warning: I am in the mood for meaning, apparently. Predictions show a steady low, You’re feeling just the same. But seasons come and seasons go. I’ll make you smile again. If you don’t believe take me by the hand, Can’t you feel you’re warming up? Yeah, I’m your weatherman. They say it’s gone, say winter’s done That don’t mean a thing. ‘Cause I’m the one that moves the sun For you I’d turn it into spring So when you’re feeling lonely, try to understand, Baby, I can warm you up ‘cause I’m your weatherman. The lyrics to Weatherman heard just before and after the bit inside the van on the ride to Punxsutawney. Benesh (2011) says it just "masquerades as a pop romantic love song" (p. 90). She thinks there's more to it. Obviously, the lyrics themselves give us a metaphor, winter for a low mood, spring for being happy. Benesh's take is interesting, since if we choose to link the song to the characters, we would presume this is Phil talking to Rita; he's the weatherm...

Speaking of religion... well, I was a couple entries ago . Speaking of religion, the use of angels in Groundhog Day makes for an interesting take on things... maybe more interesting than the mention of Joyce Kilmer's "Trees" but why harp on that again? (And, no I did not intend a pun there with the harp bit.) Anyway, first angel: there's an angel statue in the front lawn of the bed and breakfast. I think Michael Foley would see that as evidence that Phil has a guardian angel watching over him from the start of the time loop all the way to February 3rd. I hope it's a fox... (And, that will perhaps be the most dated reference in this whole blog when historians study it in the future. [Seriously, reading this entry again nearly two years later, it took me a moment to figure it out.]) And, that angel is visible again right before Rita goes into the bed and breakfast on date night. And, again at the end of the film. Second angel: well, in dialogue, Phil tells...

Groundhog Day wasn’t the first exploration of the day-on-repeat phenomena, or its technical term per Star Trek : a temporal causality loop. Though, we shouldn’t confuse this with the causality loop of a “predestination paradox.” And, now that we’ve lost the non sci-fi fans, let’s discuss these loops as represented in a handful of relatively recent (one of these actually predates the release of, though not the writing of, Groundhog Day ) television shows. And, they are all genre shows. And, I watched all seven of these yesterday, declaring on Twitter that it was time loop day. Just to get the list out of the way (and there are more episodes like this left from other shows (and movies) so I may have to do this again sometime ), the seven episodes are: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - “Life Serial” Angel - “Time Bomb” Stargate SG-1 - “Window of Opportunity” Star Trek: The Next Generation - “Cause and Effect” The X-Files - “Monday” Supernatural - “Mystery Spot” Fringe - “White Tulip...