Editing Groundhog Day (film) (section)

===Thematic analysis===
[[File:Plaosan Bodhisattva 02.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A 9th-century [[bodhisattva]] bas-relief. The character of Phil Connors has been interpreted as a bodhisattva: someone who helps others reach [[nirvana]].]]
The film has been interpreted in many ways by different groups.<ref name="VultureRubin" /><ref name="new yorker" /> Rubin has said that he did not set out to write the film as a spiritual [[allegory]]. He simply wanted to tell a story about human life and periods when a person becomes trapped in a cycle that they cannot escape.<ref name="TheWrapToblowsky" /> He said it was not "just about a man repeating the same day but a story about how to live. Whose life isn't a series of days? Who doesn't feel stuck from time to time?"<ref name="telegraph interview" /> In the bowling alley scene, Phil asks two Punxsutawney residents if they understand what it is like to be stuck in a place where nothing they do matters. He is referring to his own situation, but the two men, trapped in their own small-town lives, know exactly what he means.<ref name="NYTReview" />

While Rubin and Ramis discussed several of the philosophical and spiritual aspects of the film, they "never intended [it] to be anything more than a good, heartfelt, entertaining story."<ref name="telegraph interview" /> Murray saw the original script as an interpretation of how people repeat the same day over and over because they are afraid of change.<ref name="PhillyBeast" /> Rubin added that at the start of the loop, it is the worst day of Phil's life. By being forced to change who he is, to embrace the world around him, and each moment of his day, it becomes the best day of his life; the day he falls in love.<ref name="bigthink rubin" /> In a 2017 interview, Murray said he believed ''Groundhog Day'' still resonated because it is about "the idea that we just have to try again... it's such a beautiful, powerful idea."<ref name="RollingStoneMusical" />

Rubin has been contacted throughout the years by different experts providing their own interpretations.<ref name="IndependentThemes" /> It has been seen as a Christian allegory with Punxsutawney Phil representing [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]],<ref name="IndependentThemes" /> an example of the [[Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche|Nietzschean]] concept of [[eternal return]], the spirit of Judaism, and the essence of homeopathy.<ref name="bigthink rubin" /><ref name="VultureRubin" /> It has also been interpreted as an adaptation of the Greek mythological figure [[Sisyphus]] who is also condemned to an eternal, daily punishment.<ref name="ConsequenceofSound" /><ref name="FieldsGHD" /> Others have found significance in the numbers present in the film.<ref name="VultureRubin" /> Ramis himself was fascinated by Rubin's original draft and its concepts of reincarnation.<ref name="TheWrapRubin" /> The date of Groundhog Day also has implications. It is set between the end of winter—characterized in the film as a period of satire and the end of things—and spring—a season represented by comedy and connected with themes of renewal and redemption.{{sfn|Glausser|2019|pp=3, 7}}

Buddhist leaders commended the representation of the ideologies of regeneration. Phil can be interpreted as a [[bodhisattvas|bodhisattva]], someone who has reached the brink of [[Nirvana]] and returns to Earth to help others to do the same. His loops can represent [[saṃsāra]], a cycle of suffering from which he must escape. In the Jewish faith, Phil's escape or reward can be seen as him being returned to Earth to perform moral deeds or ''[[mitzvah|mitzvot]]''—the precepts and commandments of God.<ref name="NYTSpiritual" /> In Christianity, his journey can be interpreted as a form of resurrection or a means of securing a place in heaven. In [[Falun Gong]] religious philosophy, the film has been interpreted as a message that the spiritual self cannot evolve until it learns from past mistakes.<ref name="IndependentThemes" /><ref name="TheWrapRubin" /><ref name="NYTSpiritual" /> In Catholicism, Phil's situation can be identified as a form of [[purgatory]], escaped only by embracing selflessness.<ref name="NationalReview" /> MacDowell said "Wouldn't it be great if we had that kind of experience and learn something from it? We go through life and are not always conscious of it... whatever religion you want to base yourself in, that's ultimately why we're here."<ref name="TheWrapRubin" /> ''Groundhog Day'' can also be interpreted as a secular tale in which Phil is experiencing an existential crisis where primal self-indulgence is no longer satisfying, causing him to fall into a depression that he escapes by taking ownership of his own self-improvement; he then uses his improved persona to benevolently help others.{{sfn|Glausser|2019|p=16}}

Phil initially compares himself to a god, declaring that as a weatherman, he makes the weather.<ref name="TheWrapRubin" /> After several loops, he comes to believe he is a god, asserting that omnipotence may be mistaken for having lived so long one simply knows everything.<ref name="NationalReview" /> Using his knowledge he is able to manipulate events in his favor.<ref name="LionsRoad" /> The repetition gives Phil an opportunity to escape from his own narcissistic self-confinement. Unwilling to change himself, the means to do so are forced upon him.<ref name="LionsRoad" /> After constant rejection by Rita and his idea of love, Phil hits an emotional low and repeatedly commits suicide. At one point, he suggests that he has killed himself enough times to no longer exist. It is at this point, Ramis suggests, that Phil becomes ready to change.<ref name="LionsRoad" /><ref name="ConsequenceofSound" />

It is only when Phil stops using the loops to indulge his own desires and instead uses them to selflessly help others that he is freed.<ref name="LATIMesRamis" /> In repeatedly failing to save the old homeless man, Phil is also forced to accept that he is not a god.<ref name="ThemesOldMan" /> Similarly, regardless of how much knowledge he gains about Rita, and despite his accomplishments learned throughout the loops, he is unable to impress her enough to earn her love. He wins her over only once he stops trying to do so, and instead demonstrates genuine care for others without fakery or self-interest, will likely reset, and it will have all been for naught. Only then does Rita return his affections.<ref name="new yorker" /><ref name="LATIMesRamis" /><ref name="ConsequenceofSound" /> The aspects of Rita that Phil mocked at the start of the film have become qualities he admires and respects, and in turn, Phil receives Rita's love not because he desires it, but because he has genuinely become the type of person that Rita could love.{{sfn|Racicot|2006|pp=194–195}} This demonstrates the redeeming power of love, something Ramis wanted to emphasize.<ref name="PhillyBeast" /><ref name="ConsequenceofSound" /> For him, ''Groundhog Day'' represents having the strength and knowledge to make a change when faced with the opportunity to repeat previous mistakes.<ref name="LionsRoad" />

Rick Brookhiser argues that it is because Phil fully appreciates every facet of the day that he is rewarded by the day being taken from him. He said, "loving life includes loving the fact that it goes."<ref name="NationalReview" /> [[John Seamon]] said that where other films use memory as a means of reflection or escape, Phil effectively lives within his memories, repeating them indefinitely; he has no hope for a future because everything will reset. By remembering and appreciating new details, Phil is able to grow as a person and becomes the agent of his own change.{{sfn|Seamon|2015|pp=51–54}} Rubin said Phil will not return to his old ways after his experiences, but might suffer disappointment that no day will ever live up to his final, perfect February{{nbsp}}2, after which he essentially loses his superpowers.{{sfn|Gilbey|2004|p=81}}