The Powerful Effects Of Love In The Movie Groundhog Day

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"To love deeply in one direction makes us more loving in all others."(Anne-Sophie Swetchine). As a result Love has the power to cast vital effects on a person’s perceptions and attitudes towards other people and life. The same thing happens with Phil in the movie Groundhog Day. He is an egocentric man, too conscious of his self-importance and has no regard for others. As a weather man, he goes to Punxsutawney to cover Groundhog Day festivities and gets trapped in a time loop and relives the same day again and again. He never had regards for love and other people, their emotions, needs desires and importance; however his experience of reliving the same day impacts on his perceptions and practices of love. This movie depicts the three phases …show more content…

Agape is the love in its purest form. It is the spiritual form of love. It is the love for God for mankind. It is different from philia love because it has a self sacrificing nature of love. One loves others and does not demand and expect anything in return. (What is the meaning of agape love?) In the beginning of the movie, it is quite clear that Phil does not have any regard for agape form of love at all. He is unkind, ruthless and selfish. But when he gets trapped in the Groundhog Day, he eventually gets connected to people at a deeper level. For instance, Phil woos Rita just to get her seduced sexually but when he gets to know more about her goodness and kindness, he feels that he does not deserve her. Rita has been an object of eros and agape love for Phil but “right before Phil is liberated from the seemingly endless loop of the repeating day, he makes it clear that he has given up the pursuit of Rita entirely, and immersed himself in his love for her instead.” (Valentine’s Day). This happened because Phil learned through this time loop to love unconditionally. This entrapment makes Phil kind, merciful, unconditional, selfless and helpful towards others. This point is evident from the example of an old homeless man. In the beginning of the film, Phil totally ignores the man and does not give him a single coin. But when he gets trapped in the time loop he repetitively passes by the same man and eventually towards the end of the movie he gave all his money to the homeless old man and takes him to a hospital (Ciscell). When Phil gets to know that the old man would not survive, he makes his last day of life a pleasant one by providing him food and comfort. This portrays the love for mankind, a spiritual aspect of agape. The strongest effects of Phil being trapped in the time loop are on his perception, belief, attitude and practice of agape

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