The film is about a weatherman called Phil. He initially is a pride man with big dreams. Every year on Feb. 2, Phil has to go to Punxsutawney to cover the festivities of Groundhog Day, which Phil hats the most. This year, Phil is stuck in the Groundhog Day over and over again. The first reaction Phil has when he realize he cannot go out of the Groundhog Day is to do whatever he wants without any rule or social norms. However, after a few days, he realizes that he cannot fulfill his current life. He just want to die. Unfortunately, he suicide a few times but he is still alive and wakes up every day on Feb. 2. Then he decides to learn many things such as piano to help other people. EndFragment
From this film, I generate one significant theme, which is the internal change. We as human beings are keep complaining about our current lives. In the movie, Phil aims to be a celebrity. He disdains “stupid” people around him and maintains his own beliefs. However, at the end, he realizes that the only thing he can do is to change himself, his own mind and behavior, to have a happy and valuable life. Internal change is demonstrated throughout the movie. This theme makes me think about our real lives. In many culture and educational systems, we are taught to conquer the world, fix the world, and change the world. Those are external changes. Sometimes we unconsciously desire to change others’ behaviors when we meet a problem. External change becomes a cultural trend. That is a big problem! I’m not saying that external change is a bad idea. But we need a balance. Everything need a balance in order to live in a happy and absurd world.
I agree that there should be a balancing between influencing others and changing oneself. In order to influence others, changing oneself would be a good start since it is easy ( as long as one is conscious about one's weak points). Changes in oneself will ultimately reflects on surrounding people, as it is demonstrates by Phil.
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting you state that people should change themselves first instead of always thinking to change others to solve the problem. When we face a problem, we need to think what ourselves could do instead of letting other to change. We need to change our own attitude to face the problem.
ReplyDeleteI love the theme of internal change that you reflected on. I too agree that we must find a balance between the external and internal to achieve happiness. The external can sometimes overwhelm and obscure what should truly be important.
ReplyDeleteEalan, I think you spend too much on analyzing the effect of external change, which out off you thesis of reflecting the internal change. However, I agree that people need to find a balance between fulfilling one's dream and following the status quo.
ReplyDeleteI really like the theme of internal change. I also agree with you that when we are trying to change others behavior we should also think about ourselves. The balance of external and internal is really hard and sometimes will lead us into a wrong direction. But just like you wrote, we need to find the balance in order to live in a happy world.
ReplyDeleteI really agree that people focus more on external change than internal change, and I also believe that internal changes can truly make a person completely different because it is our inner voice, instead of our appearances, can motivate our action and change our mind.
ReplyDeleteI agree that internal change should be focused on more than external change. In my opinion you must change yourself in order to change the world.
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