Philosophy In Groundhog Day

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The film Groundhog Day portrays some philosopher’s beliefs. One of the philosopher’s beliefs that the movie portrays would be Aristotle’s. In the film the main character is Phil Connor a meteorologist. Phil is given an assignment to go to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the Groundhog Day festival. Phil is accompanied by Rita the new producer, and Larry the cameraman. In the film Phil has to relive the same day over and over again. When Phil wakes up the next day he is a bit confused as to why it is still February 2nd. Phil tries to explain to Rita that he has already lived the same day before, but she doesn’t believe him. Phil tries to move on from the same day, but nothing won’t work; “So the soul of any living thing X is not a substance,…show more content…
Freud introduced three systems that are in the mind; “In the standard English translation these have been called “id, ego, super ego,” but Freud himself used the more ordinary German words “es, ich, uber-ich,” which literally translate as “it, I, higher I,” and relate more closely to everyday understanding…” (211). The id could be described as the desires of a person as well as being selfish. A person could want something and not think about the consequences. With every desire there is a consequence. Phil started to get used to reliving the same day. Each day he tried doing something different. In one of the scenes, Phil is drunk and decided that he was going to drive a car on the train tracks and get chased by the police. As Phil was driving he crashed into stores and put two people’s lives in danger. He was taken to jail, and the next day he appears back on the bed and breakfast that he was staying at. Phil was being selfish and only thinking about himself, he wasn’t sure if the next day would still be February 2nd. The ego is the one that controls or balances the id and superego. The ego keeps the other two in check and helps a person make the right decision. Phil starts to understand that he cannot continue on trying to seduce Rita into sleeping with him. Instead of pretending to be someone who he is not he decides to have a genuine conversation with Rita. Phil’s ego has taken…show more content…
Each of those beings has different meaning to them. As long as people are alive, they are going to be viewed as something else by others. People are going to be described differently; “He argues that one cannot just assert “I am shy” (or a great lover, or unfit for work) as if these were unchangeable facts about oneself like “I am male, or black, or six feet tall,” for the former descriptions depend on the way we behave differently” (235). Being-in-itself is the way something or someone looks and how they could be described. Being-in-itself is the way a person looks physically from the outside. In the film Phil Connor looks like a professional, height 5’6, early 40’s, is a meteorologist, wearing a long coat, and the list could go on. Phil could be described in many different ways by the other people he encountered throughout the film. Even though Phil is wearing the same clothes throughout the film, there are certain characteristics that are different about him. He could look happy and other times he looked angry or annoyed. Being-for-itself is when the person self defines themselves. A person is aware of who they are. Rita is describing her ideal date and Phil tells her that he is that person. In another scene Phil describes himself as a God because he does not die. The only reason he thinks he’s a God, is because every time Phil attempts to commit suicide, he comes

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