Austin Magruder - Groundhog Day

Every day, Phil Conners wakes up at 6am, in the same
room to the same song. This constant cycle of the same day
repeating itself allows Phil to live each day as he pleases. In the
beginning, when he realizes that nothing he does matters, he begins
to live very selfishly, in profane time. He drives recklessly, seduces
women, and robs an armored truck. He does all of this for himself,
and after a while, he realizes that he has nothing to live for and
begins to repeatedly kill himself.
Phil eventually transcends profane time and enters sacred
time when he realizes life has no meaning if you are only out to help
yourself. The scene when he is talking to Rita in the restaurant, and
tells her not to let the cameraman take her away is his cry for help.
He can not live like this anymore and wants that real human
interaction. He later uses his ‘power’ to help the community of the
town he once hated. He helps old ladies with their flat tire, catches a
boy falling from a tree, and takes the homeless man out for dinner.
Phil has transcended profane time into sacred time, and he is no
longer living for himself, Rita really helped him with that change. The
scene when Phil finally realizes he has transcended is after the date
auction when he and Rita are outside and it starts snowing at a time
it never had before. This change in the weather signified a change in
Phil’s life.
Groundhog Day has always been a great comedy and I
have seen it many times. I have never thought that much into it but
now I see there is a very serious underlying message. If you only
live to better yourself, then what is the point of living? Is there really
any meaning to life if you are only living to serve oneself?