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Essay / Living an authentic life in the film "Groundhog Day"
Analysis of the film Groundhog DayWhat would you do if you had the chance to relive the same day over and over again? In the movie Groundhog Day, a man named Phil Connors relives the same day every time he wakes up. Phil, who is a meteorologist for a Pittsburgh news station, travels to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover Groundhog Day. He is accompanied by his producer Rita and cameraman Larry, who both think Phil is an uptight, arrogant and rude man. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay From the moment we meet Phil Connors, it's clear that he's a fool who believes his job is a waste talent and time. . In the morning, Phil wakes up to his alarm with radios announcing that it is Groundhog Day. After breakfast, it then heads to the Groundhog Day festivities. Phil then gives an insincere and heartless report, and immediately insists on returning to Pittsburgh, even though Rita wanted to continue filming and enjoy the atmosphere. On the way back to Pittsburgh, snow fell heavily and the roads became covered in snow. a thick white sheet. Due to the blizzard, the roads are closed and Phil is stuck in Punxsutawney. To his surprise, the next day he wakes up to the same radio show and the same song. He then discovers that he is reliving the same day. Thinking he is going crazy at first, Phil panics his way out of the time loop. However, once Phil discovers that he is trapped and no one is aware of it, he begins to do whatever he wants because his actions have no consequences. This film can be closely related to themes of existentialism. Existentialism was a term coined by Gabriel Marcel and applied to Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. It is the philosophical idea that reality is characterized by change. Existentialists believe that reality is change and that as a human you are in a constant process of becoming who you are. Our intentions and life plans are essential to this theory. Although your daily life shapes who you are, we are subject to fundamental illusions. We tend to live our lives poorly and, as a result, we live inauthentically. To be inauthentic means to be alienated from ourselves and others. But one of the major themes of existentialism is that we are radically free. Jean Sartre underlines this idea by saying: “there is nothing constructed, over time, we construct our essence. The choices we make shape us, we create ourselves.” Our individual choices affect everyone around us, and we experience anxiety about recognizing our freedom. That being said, the theme that we are radically free is represented several times throughout the film Groundhog Day. This can be demonstrated through the main character Phil. Once Phil discovers that he has the ability to do whatever he wants, he is radically free, since he has no consequences. For example, during the car scene, Phil drives into a mailbox and drives up the train tracks while being chased by police cars. He has total freedom and no hesitation in his actions because even if he gets into trouble with the law, the next day, everything is forgotten. Despite this, Phil wants to break the curse of reliving Groundhog Day. He begins to realize that life has meaning and purpose, but it is he who must give it that purpose and value. As he progresses through the days, you can see his attitude become more positive and he is living a moral life. He tries to do.