the groundhog day project

With action movies, it's easy. With courtroom dramas. Even with romances. If--and if they had, this movie would have probably been quite forgettable--they had gone ahead and filmed the scenes with Stephanie DeCastro , maybe it would have been easier. But, what makes Phil's situation so hard is there is not clear victory to be had, no simple solution. Chasing after Rita is not dictated by some Fairy Godmother or Magic Mirror. Phil's situation is both entirely his own doing and entirely not. It's simple. It's complex. It's unsolvable. And, eventually, it solves itself. Like life. If you're lucky. If the social and cultural and political and ethnic and racial rolls go in your favor and circumstance doesn't set you as an example for everybody else. The thing is, however silly bullshit American Dream lines feel all too often-- you can accomplish anything if you just put your mind to it , you can be anything you want to be and all the similar lies we tell...

I Obvious time loop markers right away: the alarm clock at 6:17, the bird in the window, tripping over the gun, looking outside to not only see the garbage truck but two joggers running by it. Oh, I'm watching the first episode of Day Break . It's like Groundhog Day: The Series , if Phil Connors were played by Taye Diggs and was a cop, and Rita was played by Moon Bloodgood. Cuts himself shaving--hard to repeat, but I think I remember that's going to repeat at least once. Breaks a soapdish; that'll repeat. Newspaper headline about a dead District Attorney (with rather obvious closeups on a few phrases and a name, Garza). Getting coffee, a woman bumps into him, then comes the biggest marker: a bus smashing into a parked car. Ransacked apartment when he goes home--he believes his dog did it, because rowdy dogs usually open drawers. Nine phone messages waiting, including 6 hangups from his sister. And, he's arrested for killing Garza--hey, I recognize that name fr...

I mentioned "phallic narcissism" once before . And, that's the next tab--a purple one--in Benesh (2011). Page 35/36, a purple tab labeled "phallic narcissism." Benesh references Christopher Lasch's (1991) book, The Culture of Narcissism which my copy seems to have been lost in one of my moves this past year. Benesh (2011) says, ...our current culture is overtly phallic-narcissistic and that Groundhog Day cleverly exploits this stage in our development. It shows us ourselves in not only the figure of Phil Connors but also in those who must relate to him, and it points us to a hopeful future. (p. 35) Then the part that I actually highlighted: Clinically, phallic-narcissism is a mild character disorder typified by a man's preoccupation with his sexual image and need to seduce women (Lowen, 1985). Metaphorically, it can describe an entire immature and overly agentic culture where feminine and communal values are suppressed and devalued. (Benesh, 2011...

Von Franz (1980) states that redemption in fairy tales should not be viewed as having "religious" connotations, but has to do with becoming "restored" after having been cursed" (p. 7). Such fairy tales do not dwell on the problem, but on the redemption process, making them relevant in therapy and healing (p. 8). The process is reminiscent of Phil Connors' situation, which is never overtly explained, his story focusing on his process of recovering his humanness and fellow-feeling which appears to lead his "curse" being lifted. (Benesh, 2011, p. 33) This is why I put a pink tab labeled "self-cursed"--just in case you're paying attention, I think I said the tab was on page 34, so I'll explain: I printed Benesh's dissertation two pages per sheet. I mean, the things 131 pages long. If I could cut the paper count in half, I would. Similarly, the second revision of the screenplay is printed two pages per sheet... I mention this no...

The description for the book Think Thin, Be Thin: 101 Psychological Ways to Lose Weight on Amazon has this to say about its advice: Old standards like keeping a food diary and finding simple ways to burn calories (like gardening or taking the stairs at work) are mixed with creative ideas like becoming your own advice columnist for a day and watching specific comedy movies that also offer encouragement for change (think Groundhog's Day ). Aside from getting the title of the film wrong, it's a nice positive reference to Groundhog Day . But, Groundhog Day is not just a nice encouraging film for folks trying to lose weight. It's also occasionally a metaphor for the way people struggle with weight loss. For example, Certified Personal Trainer John Kent mentions the film in an interview with PanacheVue' . He says: The combination of the habit-based nutrition coaching and our science based exercise program, is our recipe for your long-term success. This way your weight...