# Groundhog's Day - what's really happening? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549 "2011-08-21T17:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/1 "2011-08-21T17:52:21Z")
Just a fun thread to discuss one of my favorite movies… I just re-watched this movie this week while on a sewing binge, and remembered all the crazy theories my mother, brother and I, as well as my group of friends, have come up with to explain why Phil Conners gets stuck in a Groundhog’s Day-repeating-loop, and why it suddenly breaks. My favorite theory remains that the bartender did it. What’s yours? Can be anything from quantum physics to an angel forcing him to redeem himself like “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Since it an explanation never even really hinted at in the movie, it’s always fun to see what folks come up with. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/2 "2011-08-21T17:53:27Z")
He’s caught in a time loop. Happens all the time to me. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/3 "2011-08-21T17:56:10Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > He’s caught in a time loop. Happens all the time to me. Whoa, deja vu. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/4 "2011-08-21T17:56:14Z")
He’s caught in a time loop. Happens all the time to me. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/5 "2011-08-21T17:59:28Z")
> [@Feyrat](#): > > Since it an explanation never even really hinted at in the movie, it’s always fun to see what folks come up with. IIRC, the original script had it as a curse cast by an ex-girlfriend dabbling in witchcraft. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/6 "2011-08-21T18:00:44Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > He’s caught in a time loop. Happens all the time to me. Whoa, deja vu. ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/7 "2011-08-21T18:03:29Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Whoa, deja vu. I don’t think we ever have deja vu, but I could check with the kitchen… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/8 "2011-08-21T18:11:36Z")
> [@Feyrat](#): > > I don’t think we ever have deja vu, but I could check with the kitchen… You know you had it before. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/9 "2011-08-21T18:27:18Z")
A wizard did it. Joe ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/10 "2011-08-21T18:30:04Z")
Magic. Whatever was influencing the loops, it stopped once he finally stopped being an arse. Capraesque? Dickensesque? The cause wasn’t as important as the character’s redemption. BTW, the movie was believed to have been inspired (influenced) by the novel, [Replay](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92131281) which is a fine read. In the novel, instead of a 24 hour loop, the protag experiences decades long loops. If you are any kind of a fan of GD or time travel stories in general, you should read this novel. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/11 "2011-08-21T18:30:59Z")
It isn’t important why it happens ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/12 "2011-08-21T18:34:16Z")
First of all, it’s _ **Groundhog Day** _, not _Groundhog_\*'s \*_Day_. How dare you misname one of my top 3 movies of all time! 😃 As to what’s really happening … it’s strictly a metaphysical thing. No other explanation required unless you want to get into multiverses and all. How did Phil break out of it? I always thought it was because his transformation into a “good” person was complete, which was symbolized by Rita’s acceptance of the new Phil. For some reason, I can watch the movie over and over again and not get tired of it! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/13 "2011-08-21T18:54:38Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > First of all, it’s _ **Groundhog Day** _, not _Groundhog_\*'s \*_Day_. How dare you misname one of my top 3 movies of all time! 😃 > > As to what’s really happening … it’s strictly a metaphysical thing. No other explanation required unless you want to get into multiverses and all. How did Phil break out of it? I always thought it was because his transformation into a “good” person was complete, which was symbolized by Rita’s acceptance of the new Phil. This, on all points, incl the spelling. I think that people who feel the need to theorize/debate the _how_ just don’t get the movie in general, no matter how much they profess to like it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/14 "2011-08-21T19:01:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Early drafts of the script explained the cause of Phil Connors’ weird experience: a disaffected ex-lover called Stephanie cast a spell on him to teach him a lesson. I’m fairly sure the director and screenwriter agreed that it worked better with no explanation, though. I agree. The quote is from the IMDB entry. ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/15 "2011-08-21T19:09:20Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > This, on all points, incl the spelling. > > I think that people who feel the need to theorize/debate the _how_ just don’t get the movie in general, no matter how much they profess to like it. You can theorize on how a time loop like that could happen, and still know that it’s not important to the story. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/16 "2011-08-21T19:13:36Z")
**Claire** ’s dismissive sniffing notwithstanding, it is possible to “get” the movie and still have fun speculating about it. Wild speculation is entertaining in its own right; it doesn’t mean we think the movie would be better with an “explanation”. Here’s one off the cuff: A time traveler inadvertently interfered with Phil Connors’ childhood by somehow humiliating the boy, setting in motion a chain of events that produced Phil-the-jerk. Without this interference, Phil would have grown up to be a nice guy and a natural match for Rita. They would have fallen in love on Groundhog Day–the first day they actually spent a lot of time together. They would have married, had children, and one of their descendents would have been the time traveler. Groundhog Day is the last possible time to correct history and avoid the paradox. The looping is actually the paradox “resetting” each time events cause the time traveler to have never existed. Phil remembers the loops because he interacted directly with the time traveler, causing his personal timeline to be offset slightly from the natural course of history. Phil’s doesn’t just save himself through his redemption. He saves the _universe_. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/17 "2011-08-21T19:31:34Z")
The directors wanted to see what would happen if somebody was exposed to Andie McDowell’s acting day after day for several years. Clearly, it unhinged Bill Murray, if his subsequent films are any indication. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/18 "2011-08-21T19:56:40Z")
Could you explain the ‘Bartender Did It’ theory? ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/19 "2011-08-21T20:05:32Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Could you explain the ‘Bartender Did It’ theory? The Magical Negro, a la Bagger Vance and the Green Mile. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549/20 "2011-08-21T20:22:42Z")
My favorite off the wall theory is that it’s actually Ol’ Needle nose Ned the head that’s in the time loop and Phil the weatherman is the only one besides Ned that knows it’s looping. When Ned finally sells Phil a bunch of insurance, they both get out of the loop. There’s also some karmic rule that Ned can’t just tell Phil, “Buy insurance from me and it’ll stop the loop.” if you watch the movie with that in mind, it may change your viewpoint, especially in the Ned scenes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groundhogs-day-whats-really-happening/593549.md?page=2)