The most fantastical element of Groundhog Day isn’t Phil Connors’ time loop. It isn’t anything to do with Bill Murray’s character at all. It’s Andie MacDowell’s character (Rita Hanson) and her unfathomable college degree.
Love this. I take the hyper focus of her comment as meaning she likely did her thesis related to the topic and had multiple classes that included the topic as part of her broader major (
You're probably right! I'm still hung up on the delivery of information though. I haven't met too many English majors who are sheepish about their thesis. 😂 (If they even got to choose the topic themselves; we didn't really at my school.)
I’m never mad reading about Groundhog Day or really any time loop movie, but come on she says “studied.” She probably just got really into Rimbaud or Baudelaire and did her senior capstone essay on them.
Also there are plenty of schools that let you make up your own major. Eg UMass BDIC program.
Maybe that wasn't her major, but I think it's curious that she leads with something that specific! She doesn't seem the type to try and inflate her personality to impress a man.
The Belgian lyrics part is the thing that ruins it for me. I mean yeah he didn’t have the internet, but he should be reading everything in the library and memorizing the complete works of her favorite poet!
So you have successfully ruined the movie for me, but I would word the problem slightly differently!
I’ve always just thought her major was a Harold Ramis joke. Obscure and ridiculous and a setup to give Phil’s initial response credibility without being too mean. I think your reaction is exactly what he wanted. That’s what we all thought when she said it. We empathized with them both. He was that kind of genius.
The biggest problem with Groundhog Day is that when Phil wakes up at 6:00am and looks out the window, it’s daylight when in Punxatawney PA at 6:00am on Feb 2nd, it’s still pitch black out.
It could well have been the topic of her senior thesis as part of a Romance Languages or Comp Lit major. A senior thesis is a yearlong independent study project undertaken with a faculty advisor. It’s required at some schools, and required to be considered for honors at others.
Only the exteriors were filmed in Punxsy (Pennsylvania). I guess the producers or director didn’t like PA’s local actors, so they went to Indiana. Which I consider to be insulting.
For this year's annual viewing I did something I've been contemplating for a while, I watched it from Rita's timeline. Day one, then jump to the last day. I wanted to see if it was at least somewhat believable that she would fall for Phil.
My verdict...somewhat. We have to import some of what we know about Phil's other antics into the day, (assuming he probably brought coffee to Rita and Larry that day too....etc.)
FYI: in the spirit of accuracy, it’s Indiana University (not University of Indiana). Hoosiers are prickly about this. ✌️❤️ Enjoyed your post. One of my favorite rom-coms.
Love this. I take the hyper focus of her comment as meaning she likely did her thesis related to the topic and had multiple classes that included the topic as part of her broader major (
You're probably right! I'm still hung up on the delivery of information though. I haven't met too many English majors who are sheepish about their thesis. 😂 (If they even got to choose the topic themselves; we didn't really at my school.)
I’m never mad reading about Groundhog Day or really any time loop movie, but come on she says “studied.” She probably just got really into Rimbaud or Baudelaire and did her senior capstone essay on them.
Also there are plenty of schools that let you make up your own major. Eg UMass BDIC program.
Maybe that wasn't her major, but I think it's curious that she leads with something that specific! She doesn't seem the type to try and inflate her personality to impress a man.
The Belgian lyrics part is the thing that ruins it for me. I mean yeah he didn’t have the internet, but he should be reading everything in the library and memorizing the complete works of her favorite poet!
So you have successfully ruined the movie for me, but I would word the problem slightly differently!
Ha! I hope I never ruin movies for anyone. 😂 Take all of these weird opinions with a grain of salt!
I’ve always just thought her major was a Harold Ramis joke. Obscure and ridiculous and a setup to give Phil’s initial response credibility without being too mean. I think your reaction is exactly what he wanted. That’s what we all thought when she said it. We empathized with them both. He was that kind of genius.
You know what. That's a pretty good read on that line. I like your theory.
I had a huge crush on Andie MacDowell after this movie.
America's sweetheart in the early/mid 90s!
She even made Hugh Grant seem normal.
The biggest problem with Groundhog Day is that when Phil wakes up at 6:00am and looks out the window, it’s daylight when in Punxatawney PA at 6:00am on Feb 2nd, it’s still pitch black out.
You know what. I hadn't even thought about that. What an easy choice to make differently!
It could well have been the topic of her senior thesis as part of a Romance Languages or Comp Lit major. A senior thesis is a yearlong independent study project undertaken with a faculty advisor. It’s required at some schools, and required to be considered for honors at others.
Maybe so! Clarity would've helped.
Only the exteriors were filmed in Punxsy (Pennsylvania). I guess the producers or director didn’t like PA’s local actors, so they went to Indiana. Which I consider to be insulting.
Now you know how I feel when most movies about "Alabama" are shot in Georgia!
For this year's annual viewing I did something I've been contemplating for a while, I watched it from Rita's timeline. Day one, then jump to the last day. I wanted to see if it was at least somewhat believable that she would fall for Phil.
My verdict...somewhat. We have to import some of what we know about Phil's other antics into the day, (assuming he probably brought coffee to Rita and Larry that day too....etc.)
Oh damn, that's a good idea. So you basically just fast-forwarded through a large middle chunk of the film?
"Scene select" on the DVD.
Ah, yeah, that's easy enough!
FYI: in the spirit of accuracy, it’s Indiana University (not University of Indiana). Hoosiers are prickly about this. ✌️❤️ Enjoyed your post. One of my favorite rom-coms.
You know what. That's on me. 😂 I lived right across the river from Indiana for two years. I should've known that!
What did you think of Palm Springs? I thought it was pretty entertaining
Thought it was super fun! Doesn't get bogged down in the time travel logic and just tells a good love story.
Maybe she was trying to impress him?
Yeah, she seems like the kind of genuine person who wouldn't lie in that situation, but maybe she was playing her studies up a bit.
Classic Jeremy.
why_are_you_booing_me_im_right.gif