the groundhog day project

I was going to rage tonight, get political, get advantage on ability checks. But, weirdly stressful midday and my students bugged me this evening and I'm in the mood for something simpler. This morning I watched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and right now I'm watching Beginners again. And, I feel like some old fashioned Christ-Figuring. If you've been with this blog for a while, you know what that means. If you haven't, then maybe look back on the original Kozlovic Scale Christ-Figuring two-parter (Days 93 and 94 ) regarding Phil Connors in Groundhog Day or what I take as the inaugural Kozlovic-Black Scale*--when I Christ-Figured Rambo . * Yes, I gave myself partial naming rights. If Anton has a problem with that, he has yet to talk to me about it. Anton being Anton Karl Kozlovic, who published a few times on the subject of the cinematic Christ-Figure. And, I've done it several times here. Thing is, I'm going for a twofer tonight. I am going to Christ-Fi...

There's danger ahead. See, I want to run Hedwig through the Kozlovic-Black scale, but I know my arguments regarding 15.75 atonement might offend some. Or should . Anyway, let's just do this. Hedwig is quite 1 tangible and 2 central and an 3 outsider . 3/3 Regarding 4 divinely sourced , Kozlovic (2009) explains, "Christ-Figures usually arrive onto the scene through some form of deliberate outside intervention, sometimes by a distant God-figure" (p. 6). The stress there is mine because obviously Hedwig is not in America because of a distant God-figure. He's there because of Luther... who coincidentally shares a name with the founder of a branch of Christianity. There is outside intervention. 4/4 Hedwig's birth is not exactly a 4.5 miraculous birth but Hedwig is born from Hansel because of an accident. I'm driven to Merriam-Webster for what should be a basic concept-- miracle . The first definition is "an extraordinary event manifesting div...

That again. #1 - tangible... yes, John McClane is a real guy in the context of Die Hard . (1/1) #2 - central protagonist... most definitely. (2/2) #3 - outsider... McClane stayed in New York while his wife and kids moved to LA. On a visit for Christmas, he is definitely an outsider. As a cop at the Nakatomi Christmas Party, he is also an outsider. (3/3) #4 - arrives through outside intervention... not exactly, but his presence (and role as an outsider, noted above) certainly operates like outside intervention. But, I am feeling generous. (4/4) #5 - dual identity... this one works a little strangely. Gruber and his crew know who McClane is pretty early on [edit, as the movie continues, and I realize this isn't quite true], but the link between he and his wife with the maiden name thing--that makes this aspect of who he is--offering some leverage--more important. Plus, Powell knows him as Roy. (5/5) #6 - appear mundane but is special... before Powell and Gruber et al know wh...

I am not going to argue that Kevin McCallister is a Christ-Figure. Let us just get that out of the way right off. He’s closer to the Satan-Figure, really, but I’m not sure anyone has set criteria for that. Instead, I will be dealing with a character with a lot less screentime—Old Man Marley. Once again, I will be using Kozlovic ‘s scale... actually, I will probably deal with my Kozlovic-Black scale, taking into account Larsen’s (2013) insistence on a sense of atonement . Now, on with the Christ-Figuring. For those of you new to this process, Kozlovic lays out 25 structural elements for the cinematic Christ-Figure. I tally the Christ-Figure ness out of 25 (probably with a bonus point if Larsen’s atonement is present. 1. Christ-Figures must be tangible. Simple element, and Old Man Marley fits it. 1/1 2. Christ-Figures are the central protagonists of the story. Old Man Marley is not , so he’s already down a point. 1/2 3. Christ-Figures are outsiders. As a rumored mass murdered, Ol...

Edge of Tomorrow , as I pointed out yesterday , is like Groundhog Day but with guns and aliens and a lot more death. In case you don’t trust me: “If you've ever watched the film Groundhog Day , and thought that the only thing that could possibly make it more enjoyable was an alien invasion or some massive explosions, you're in luck.” – Julia Emmanuele, Hollywood.com “It's Groundhog Day for sci-fi nerds…” – Ben Child, The Guardian Film Blog “Like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day , Tom Cruise as officer Bill Cage in the upcoming sci-fi movie Edge of Tomorrow is reliving one hell of a day over and over again. Unlike Groundhog Day , this action thriller is a bloody and explosive time loop.” – Brian Anthony Hernandez, Mashable “…he finds himself waking up to face the same fate, much like Bill Murray's experience in ‘Groundhog Day.’” – Greg Gilman, The Wrap “he gets better and better at fighting, braver and braver,and more and more attractive to the imperious Rita. J...

I love that Bill Murray's Frank Cross in Scrooged seems not just misanthropic like Phil Connors, not just unlikable but almost belligerent to the point of being evil. When he watches his promo for Scrooge . And, they've got a phone code for when they fire people because, clearly it happens all the time--Code 9. And Frank times how long it takes for security to get Bobcat Goldthwait's Eliot Loudermilk out of the building. He is not a nice man. He won't even let Grace take her son to the doctor, on Christmas. And, in the alcove off his office where there's an exercise bike, it's got a definition on the wall (twice) for Cross: "A think they nail people to." Keep in mind, Cross is his last name. The name's a bit on-the-nose--Frank Cross. More on the names in a moment. Frank steals an old woman's cab, but does he act like it was accidental--something like how Phil Connors pats his pockets in Groundhog Day as he passed the Old Man the first cou...

In "How to Create a Hollywood Christ-Figure: Sacred Storytelling as Applied Theology" Anton Karl Kozlovic (2009) lays out 25 "structural elements of the cinematic Christ-figure." First, he defines the Christ-figure as "the cinematic transfiguration of Jesus Christ from page to projected image." Of the 25 elements, Kozlovic explains: Of course, not all of [them] must exist in the one character, or in the one film, or at any one time to qualify as a legitimate Christ-figure, but the more of them, the stronger the christic [sic] construction, the more profound the holy resonance and the better the sacred storytelling parallels. So, let's keep this simple, run down Kozlovic's list and see how Phil Connors matches up. 1: "Christ-figures are usually tangible, visible, and colourful characters..." Phil is definitely tangible and visible. And, it would be difficult to suggest that he's not colorful as well. His jokes and his antics make h...