i thought we were going back
In "Gender, ethnicity and cultural crisis in Falling Down and Groundhog Day " ( Screen 36:3 (Autumn 1995), Jude Davies suggests a symbolic importance to the news piece that follows Phil's weather report in the opening scene of the film. The line we get from Nan, AKA Hairdo , is "up next, entertainment reporter Diane Kingman looks at sex and violence in the movies." (If I wanted to look for extra meaning that probably isn't there, I would suggest that the juxtaposition of Diane and Kingman bears further exploration. Diane is a variation of Diana-- --Jude Davies, by the way, published Diana, A Cultural History about Princess Diana-- --perhaps a reference to the goddess of the hunt (surely a feminist icon). The name Diane means "divine," with Kingman, King (masculine) Man (masculine). Perhaps the sex and violence are both male on female, and what the line is really setting up is the battle of the sexes, Phil vs. Rita, no holds barred-- Jude...