Existentialism and

Groundhog Day
Written by James Perlas
Professor Mulberry
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“Existence precedes essence.” This is one of the central themes in Existentialist thinking.

Human beings do not decide one day to come into being, but rather they simply come into being with

no explanation at all. In this essay, I will be exploring the movie ‘Groundhog Day’ (1993) and looking at

the existentialist themes like bad faith and dasein that are present in the movie.

In this movie, the main character Phil Connors is a weatherman who is very sarcastic and selfish.

He goes to the Groundhog Festival which takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Connors finds his

job annoying and tedious and wants to get it over with as soon as he can. He is working with his

cameraman and attractive producer named Rita. After completing his work for the day, he wakes up the

next morning only to find that it is still February 2 nd on Groundhog Day. The whole day starts over again

such as what he talks about with people, what happens around him, how the same people walk around,

and having the same blizzard that blocks him in. Certain scenes in the movie are played exactly the

same way as the first time. The question starts to build up as to how Connors can leave this endless

time loop. Then Connors finds out that even though the other characters are doing the same thing over

and over again, he is able to remember what happens when the day repeats itself. This is where he

attempts to seize the situation for his own pleasures such as finding out which pick-up lines work with

the opposite sex, as well as drinking to his limit to the point of getting a heart attack, and still waking up

at six in the morning on Groundhog Day. This frustrates him and puts him into despair. He tries to kill

himself multiple times by jumping off a building, electrocuting himself in the bathtub, as well as driving

over a cliff with a car; all of this to no avail since he still wakes up the next morning on Groundhog Day.

With all his failed attempts on his life, Connors starts reflecting on how he can flourish as a person. He

starts asking questions as to how he can add meaning to a life of repetition. He then learns to take a

more positive approach when he wakes up every morning. Connors starts to live more authentically by

doing activities that are more meaningful. For example, he starts learning music from an instructor

which allows him to retain the information for the next identical day he wakes up to. He then extends
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his activities to doing act of kindness towards an elder man that will die the same day. He tries to save

the old man’s life and seeing how that is not a possibility, he spreads his acts of kindness to people who

will live like saving a child who is supposed to fall from a tree at a certain time on Groundhog day. There

is no reward for him in doing this because this good deed will be forgotten in the next twenty four

hours. Due to this, it is possible that Connor develops as a better person because he begins to realize

that even though there is no end reward for doing good deeds, similar actions are the only ones with a

real meaning and significance. His acts of goodness do have an effect on others such as his producer

Rita, who was not impressed with his previous attempts at her. After Connor turns away from his

selfishness, Rita falls in love with him and they spend a night together. The first instance of this

happening results in Connor waking up to his identical day. The second time this happens, he finds that

Rita is still with him and he was finally able to move on to the next legitimate day. The best part of it all

was how Rita and Connor still decided to stay in Punxsutawney after all those identical days that he

spent there during Groundhog Day.

At first glance, our lives do not look to be as confined as the main character in the movie. But by

looking closer, some of us may be stuck in a life of repetition and routine. We might even go through

life without thinking about what we do in a mechanical way. Even if we lived everyday like Connor’s

endless time loop, it can still be enriching and full of meaning. Existentialist Philosopher Albert Camus

writes about this same situation in his book the Myth of Sisyphus. In that story, Sispyhus was punished

by the gods to roll a boulder up a hill only to find it rolling back down and repeating that for eternity.

Instead of being put into despair, Sisphyus took charge of his own life and knew that the boulder will

ultimately roll back down so he might as well be as content as he possibly could for his own pleasure.

Just like Sispyhus, Connors simply accepted the absurdity of the endless time loop and sought to add

meaning to his identical days. It might just take a shock like waking up on Groundhog Day repeatedly for

us to realize and appreciate the things that are inherently valuable such as the kind act of catching a
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child falling from a tree or comforting a man about to die. Existentialism seeks to answer the question

of how one should live their life.

“Existence precedes essence,” a quote by one of the greatest Existentialist, Jean Paul Sartre,

talks about how a person needs to accept that they exist in life without a role or purpose except for the

one they make for themselves. There is no inherent core for a human being. For example, if humans

were instinctual predators, then each person would have the role of surviving which in itself becomes

their destiny. However, this is not the case and human beings are so different from each other. While

some may seem confident and decisive, there are others who doubt their whole life and struggle with

trying to figure out their purpose which may lead them to be willing to follow those in power such as

dictators. If the dictators end up being what is considered evil, then at least the person following is able

to lessen their part in making a choice and leaving them to be free. Sartre would argue on which basis

someone can say that the individual is free. Is it the freedom to endure hardships under a leader?

Sartre writes how freedom is an individual’s power to make a choice. When one decides not to choose,

they knowingly do so. They choose not to choose which makes them just as responsible as voting for

the evil dictator. With this in mind, that means that there is no such thing as an accident. If an

individual is put into a war, then it becomes their war and they deserve to be put there. This is because

they could always get out of it by leaving or committing suicide. Since that particular individual did not

attempt to get out of it, they inherently have chosen to be a part of that war. Another way to look at

the existentialist view on freedom is by knowing how some people mechanically follow what their

parents does, being the successor for a business or pursuing something that has been handed down

from the previous generation. Sartre would say that this is an inauthentic way of living. This is because

that these individuals are turning away from choice by not accepting their freedom. Sartre argues that

they do this because it is easier. An individual being able to deeply reflect on their actions, making

moral decisions, and focusing on one’s life requires a great deal of effort in paying attention to what one
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is doing. This is the reason Sartre writes on why many human beings decide to live inauthentically and

make automated decisions.

Bad faith is another way that Jean Paul says human beings can behave. There are two aspects to

it that clearly marks it as bad faith. The first aspect is when an individual tries to find an excuse in how

they act by accusing others for influencing them to act in a negative way and refuses to take

responsibility for their own actions which in turn results in them denying their own freedom. An

example is how a man who beats his wife tries to justify his actions by saying that his father used to beat

his own mother when he was growing up. This way puts the blame on the subconscious mind and uses

it as a scapegoat. Sartre argues against this and says that people do not act insincerely because there

are subconscious forces at work, but rather they do so because it is the easier decision. People choose

to act dishonestly. The second kind of bad faith is by an individual limiting themselves. A waiter who

denies himself the potential to develop himself further as a person in other areas of his life is a prime

example because the waiter is saying that all they are and exist for is to be a waiter. Relating this to

Groundhog Day, had Connors decided to go about his selfish ways and choose the easier route, he

would not fully develop as a human being and would limit himself to reaching his potential which he was

able to successfully achieve when he started doing acts of kindness and self-enrichment.

Moving from Sartre and into German philosopher martin Heidegger’s views on dasein and

abandonment, it is important to recognize the fact that human beings are simply put into the world that

has already been set up by other people. A child born is automatically included into a society which

bounds them to a system of rules and social structures. Being part of this world in society distracts us

from reflecting on existence itself. Heidegger writes that a human being is called the Dasein when they

are able to be aware of their own existence and also means ‘the being there’ and talks about how man

has lost their connection with nature. He needs to get this back, as well as his authenticity, which is
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different from other people. This is done by an individual realizing that they only have a limited amount

of time to live which could lead to them fulfilling their unique potential by living a more meaningful life

since they know that their life will ultimately come to an end. The problem comes afterwards when an

individual falls into fear and despair with the realization that death is inevitable which Heidegger calls

angst. By letting oneself to be overcome by angst, an individual essentially hides his own being.

Eventually, they must overcome their anxiety and live in a truly authentic way that embraces the

possibility that death will happen. An example of this is when Phil Connors from the movie loses his

sense of identity. Since Connors was a different person every day, he lost his specific personality that he

initially had. One day he could be a boring weatherman and the next he was a crazy madman who stole

the groundhog and drove off a clip with a truck. The realization that Connors no longer had any more

responsibilities is what triggered him losing his self-identity. Eventually, Connors decided that even

though he might never wake up to the next actual day, he might as well add more meaning to his life by

helping others. Coming out of selfish shell, Connors was able to help the poor and help those in need

and finding a more authentic way to live his life. This is what completes that individual as a being. With

this comes the advantage that the individual has for he is able to steer their course of life towards their

inevitable death by making choices that alter their future which essentially makes them free. Though in

their journey, there are other people present and even though their way is not the same as the

individual’s, one cannot blindly follow in the wake of other people. By blindly following other people, an

individual does not truly live authentically and thus wastes his being by not being true to themselves.

The movie was very existential in the sense that our life is as meaningful as we make it. Like Phil

Connors from the movie, we are all living in a situation with no meaning, but that should not mean that

we should be in despair. Rather, accepting the fact that we are alive and are able to take in the

pleasures of life is the way in living a more authentic life. As one inspirational quotes goes on to say,

“Life is too short not to enjoy.”