Around Christmas I promised to explain why I think Groundhog Day is so much better than A Christmas Carol.
I should also add that one of the signs that Groundhog Day is a really good movie is that so many different kinds of people relate to it at so many different levels. Accustomed as we are to thinking of time as linear, many people obviously related to an expression of time as cyclical; in fact, Groundhog Day has taken on a new meaning as an expression of cyclical time. Soldiers identified with it as expressing the endless slog of an overseas semi-combat deployment. Economists have used it to illustrate the impossibility of perfect information. The National Review listed it in the top conservative movies because of its rejection of self-indulgence and hedonism. Feminists like it because the main character learns to respect, rather than manipulate, women. And many religions* have applauded its moral and spiritual message. To Christians it is the tale of a sinner redeemed. To Jews, it vindicates a this-worldly spirituality. And to Buddhists, it is an illustration of people being trapped in an endless cycle of repetition until they reach the stage of spiritual development to be released. The people of Puxatwaney, of course, love the movie because it promotes their tourist industry. It's also original, extremely funny, heartwarming without being maudlin, and teaches a moral lesson without being preachy.
I like it as an illustration of A Christmas Carol done right.
It should be needless to recap the plot, but here goes. Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, an obnoxious, overbearing jerk of a TV weatherman in Pittsburgh. He gets sent to Puxatawney to report on their annual Groundhog Day celebration. He despises Puxatawney and its people as a bunch of ignorant hicks, but is happy at the chance to hit on his beautiful producer, Rita. At first he doesn't see this as much more than a chance to notch up another score with a beautiful woman. She responds appropriately. Then, of course, he gets stuck on Groundhog Day, reliving the same day over and over. He is understandably horrified until a couple of drunks at the bowling alley point out that this would mean life without consequences -- he can get away with anything he wants. So for a while he parties like there's no tomorrow because there isn't, but after a while this loses its charm. He learns enough about women on one day to seduce them on the next, but realizes that it is really Rita he wants.
So he starts to work on her. What starts with an attempt to score with a beautiful woman turns into more. The more he gets to know her, the more he sees of her character and comes to genuinely love her. To her, on the other hand, it is merely a pleasant date that might develop into something in time, but it's way to early to commit/sleep with him.** And what she sees, after all, isn't really him, it is a deception he is putting on to manipulate her. Invariably she senses it and ends up slapping him. The unspoken subtext is that if she ever agrees, it will break the spell.
Unable to score with Rita, Phil despairs and kills himself. Again and again, all in vain. Then he resorts to the radical measure (and in his case, it really is radical) of telling her the truth. And it gets him further with her than ever before -- to genuine and sincere friendship. She even spends that night -- but as a friend only. Not good enough. She also suggests that instead of considering this a curse, maybe he should treat it as a blessing. Since he has an unlimited number of lives, why not put them to good use.
He starts just by being nice to people. Then he moves on to learning and art. (He learns to play piano and make ice sculptures). Then, when he tries to help an old beggar, but he dies, Phil learns that even on Groundhog Day, there are consequences. Nothing he does can keep the old man from dying, but Phil starts looking for other things that can make a difference and learns that the joy of a good deed never gets old. On his final go-round, he never even attempts to seduce Rita. She sees, without his making any effort, what a great guy he has become. She finally agrees to sleep with him. The spell is broken, and he resumes normal time.
So, how does it get right everything A Christmas Carol gets wrong?
It makes the protagonist an active participant in his own redemption instead of a passive spectator. He learns the only way anyone ever really learns anything -- by doing, again and again and again.
He begins as a credible, human jerk, not a cardboard cutout caricature. He ends as a credible human artist and nice guy, not a cardboard cutout caricature. And he has many credible human intermediate steps, each reasonably flowing from the one before.
It allows him to develop gradually over time, with resistance to learning, setbacks, and relapses, just the way everyone's moral and spiritual development takes place in the real world. Apparently [can't find link] people debate what event in the movie is Phil's turning point. But the beauty of the movie is that he doesn't have definable turning point, just as real world people often don't. To the extent there is a turning point, it is probably when he tells Rita what is happening to him and she tells him that having an infinite number of lifetimes can be a blessing, not a curse.
It isn't preachy. It lets the audience see the message instead of hammering them over the head with it. Yes, Phil gets two pieces of advice. First the drunks at the bowling alley point out that if there is no tomorrow, there are no consequences and he can do anything he wants. Later Rita tells him what a gift this can be. Both have an immense effect on him. But both are a single line. Otherwise it shows rather than tells. It doesn't say that hedonism gets old, but the joy of a good deed never fades. It shows him tiring of hedonism, but not of good deeds.
It stays funny and therefore avoids the trap of sentimentality.
And besides getting right what A Christmas Carol gets wrong, it is a much better guide to healthy love than your average romantic comedy. Most romantic comedies either show the man and woman bickering until they end up kissing, or have the man overcome the woman's resistance by sheer perseverance. Anyone who takes either approach as a guide to actual romance is headed for trouble. Groundhog Day shows true love as working only when the lovers appreciate each other for who they really are.
So, ghost of Charles Dickens, if you can read my blog where ever your are, take my advice on how to write a better and more convincing story of a mean guy turning nice.
______________________________
*Though presumably not their more conservative members. After all, the movie not only condones sex outside marriage, it strongly implies that it holds the keys to salvation.
**Rita is the modern version of a pure and chaste woman. She has no objection to sex outside of marriage, but only with a man she truly loves.
No comments:
Post a Comment