The False Promise of Suicide in “Groundhog Day”

Phil Connors commits suicide several times in this American classic, but what purpose does suicide serve his sorrow?

Groundhog Day had many people rolling in laughter when it came out in 1993, just as it does today. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of this film is the brand of comedy embodied by Bill Murray’s character Phil Connors. The comedy of this film is markedly different from joke-telling and gag-humor, instead it’s based on boredom of (or the monotony of) life and work. It is a humor based on selfishness and a shockingly persistent rudeness on Connors’ part.

Phil Connors’ discontent with his own life is the main humor of the film. His unhappiness with his life not only fuels the laughs, but it drives the plot, too. I suspect that for many viewers the attempts and ideation of suicide in the film are troubling to watch.

How do we make sense of the suicidal thoughts and attempts in this film when the despair of its main character drives its humor?

Suicide and Despair in Contemporary Comedy

This movie is funny. Phil Connors is funny to viewers of varying convictions. The humor of his selfishness isn’t too far removed from the humor of Michael Scott in “The Office.” The humor of his apparent bad luck is reminiscent of Joey Tribbiani from “Friends” and the resulting despair is similar to that of George Costanza from “Seinfeld.” The humor of the film appealed to audiences as much in 1993 as it does today.

Aspects such as selfishness and snobbery and apparent bad luck are staples of contemporary comedy that most everyone appreciates. Phil Connors is different from Michael Scott and George Costanza, though, in a significant way. Phil Connors commits suicide multiple times- on screen. I must say, if Michael Scott actually attempted suicide (and not just “Dwight, you ignorant slut”) in an episode of “The Office,” his troubles wouldn’t be nearly as easy to laugh at.

While it should be noted that many comedic figures within this strand of contemporary comedy shows and movies do joke about suicide and, in some cases fake attempts, there is something qualitatively different in Groundhog Day.

What Makes Groundhog Day Different

“I’ve come to the end of me, Rita. There’s no way out now,” utters the broken man, “Just remember we had a beautiful day together once.” This is the moment he decides to kidnap Punxsatawney Phil, the celebrated quadruped of the holiday Connors hates, and do something rash. He steals a truck leading authorities, groundhog keepers and Rita and Larry’s news van on a high speed chase to the town’s quarry. This chase is concluded by Phil Connors’ first suicide.

He drives the truck off of the cliff and viewers see it in slow motion. Watching the old chevy descending, floating in slow-motion to the bottom of that pit is, eerie. The truck achieves contact with ground again, but this time upside down. There’s no denying the Phils are dead, crushed between the truck and the earth. Then the explosion, just to guarantee the outcome of the suicidal decision.

It is a successful attempt, as morbid as that sounds, because his time in that day actually ends. The next scene is an abrupt awakening of Connors in his bed and the memorable “grab your booties cuz it’s coooooooold out there, folks” greets him as it did every other time he’s relived Groundhog Day.

After begrudgingly waking to the same day after his suicide, he becomes even more suicidal. He commits suicide, immediately waking at the infamous 6:00 a.m. several times throughout the next few days. This suicide montage is the plot point before he goes on to test out personal piety, piano, and patronizing Rita into having sex with him to break the time loop or at least make it worth while, all unsuccessful. While he does recover from the slump of suicidal thoughts and actions, the presence of suicide is weighty.

It’s unsettling to see the face of Phil Connors wake up just moments after killing himself.

Phil Connors is a mean man unsatisfied with life, bored by his job and his peers, who truly dreads traveling to Punxsatawney to cover Groundhog Day. He is disenchanted and existentially bored. There are two things that take him out of this disenchantment, though: his feelings for Rita, and his epiphany about true love at the end. Perhaps the parts of the movie most memorable are Phil’s mastery of the piano, his obnoxious breakfast, the nursing home stay, the jazz performance at the dance, but he doesn’t find meaningful joy in any of these. These are all either nihilistic attempts to make a “new game” or him attempting piety to answer his inner and cosmic riddle.

After the many failed attempts to break the time loop, including the suicides, he tests his hypothesis that virtuous behavior will end the loop. Presumably this doesn’t work at first because he’s doing this for himself rather than genuinely caring for others. And finally, he becomes a kind and selfless man, breaking the time loop and bringing him and Rita together. He becomes virtuous and the loop ends, along with him landing love with Rita, but it’s not actually clear why the loop ends.

What (specifically, Who) controlled the loop? What was the purpose of Phil Connors experiencing this day on repeat? Is all of this guided by a god? These are questions worth asking, which is why they’re discussed in most reviews of the film.

How is it that we move past his suicides, though? The ending is nice regardless of the answers to those questions, but what happens to all of the sorrow of Phil Connors?

The Good Truth of a New Day

He takes a way out of sorrow; he exits his time loop of life the only way he knows for sure can end his suffering- by ending it. His suicides can show audiences truth about the real harms of suicide and how precious life is.

Suicide is often the result of immense despair and anxiety, intense feelings of hopelessness and isolation. Suicide doesn’t take away these pains of living, but transfers them to those left behind, to a brother, to a friend. Phil Connors’ decision to end his life didn’t take away the pain of living. For him, this was due to the time loop, but for us, it’s not fictional; it’s human connection.

Suicide in “Groundhog Day” is not the answer to suffering, but one block in the city of Phil Connors’ suffering. His life’s struggle with monotony and work and loneliness are relatable, and many are driven to suicidal ideation and even attempts today. But suicide doesn’t nullify suffering, it transfers it. For Phil Connors, it is being virtuous and finding romantic love with Rita which makes it all worth it, but for many of us it’s not so cinematic.

Real monotonous life doesn’t always end like “Groundhog Day,” but not every day is a genuine time loop even if it feels that way. We see different people in drive-thru lanes and different bird-songs float in windows and the wind feels new in the morning. Our lives may feel monotonous, but we can find peace in the small things, in the truth that each day is new.

Phil Connors’ love with Rita at the end is sweet and fulfilling, although he will go back to work and there will be a Groundhog Day the next year. Suicide isn’t the answer to Phil Connors’ trouble, but finding a genuine joy in love is. He finds that his selfishness was a waste of energy and that his job expertise couldn’t give him reason to keep living through tough times, but that something bigger than just him, love, human connection and relationship, can.

Unlike the true time loop of “Groundhog Day” our lives are new each morning. Each day has its own share of worries and tasks and awkward dates and diaper changes, but it is simply and truly good that each day is new. This is a truth good enough to help us keep going through hard days and if the breakthrough came for Phil Connors, it can come for you, too.