One movie I've always had a hard time categorizing is Groundhog Day. I went through the 37 plots listed and still don't see a good match. Does achieving enlightenment count as a plot?
Something that really bugs me about most people's references to the movie is that they grossly miss the point. When most people reference it they refer to something about their dull repetitive life, or being stuck in a rut. But that's not what happens in the movie.
He literally experiences the same thing for hundreds of days to hundreds of years (depending on interpretation). But something happens, he realizes the numerous opportunities present in this same, repeated, "uneventful" day. Sure, the daily grind of wake, commute, work, commute, dinner, TV, sleep, repeat is dull and repetitive. But unlike Phil, we don't have an infinite number of times to do this before we learn our lesson and change our approach. We get 100 years on the outside, 60 productive years for most of us. Even if you're doing the same thing each day, how do you spend the rest of your time? If it's living for the weekend, that's 5 evenings a week you've wasted. Fill it with time with family, friends, learning, hobbies, something. Become the best person you can be, because one day the repetition will end.
What will you have to show for it? Will you have just worked yourself to death and memorized every line of Star Wars, or will you be making ice sculptures with a chainsaw?
That's a serious question; if I like working and enjoy memorising Star Wars, why shouldn't I do that? Why can't I focus my life around the things I enjoy doing, rather than concentrating on all the things which I could be doing (but can't do, because of any number of reasons) and end up miserable and feeling like I'm wasting my life?
Will you have just worked yourself to death making ice sculptures with a chainsaw, or will you memorize every line of Star Wars?
If Star Wars and your job are the things you want to be doing, do them. That's fantastic. If dancing or drawing or rebuilding a jeep are what you want to do, but can't because of work, find some other job or some better way to do your current job.
And don't feel beholden to others to do things or enjoy things because that's what they expect of you. I fucking hate the Star * franchises (or, more accurately, what they've become and their fanbases). But I work with people who love them (in their current incarnations). But in this field (computer programming), everyone thinks I'm weird. Same with video games, I enjoy them to an extent, but I've played them enough to know that I want to do other things. OTOH, don't listen to me if that's what you enjoy and I tell you to stop. If it's what you want to do, do it. But if it's what you want to do, and something in your life is holding you back that you want to change (as opposed to certain obligations, like an SO, that you shouldn't or don't want to change), then find a way to get that time back.
EDIT: Hell. If your work and Star Wars memorization are what you really want. Make that commute work for you. Ride a train and get more work done. Or listen to the movies on your drive. I'm doing that with my current attempt at learning Italian. That's one of the ways people miss the point. The time is there for you to do many (though not all) of the things you want to do now, you just have to realize it and take it back.
EDIT Further: And I guess, with regard to having something to "show" for it. At the end of your life, do you think that you will be happy with how you led it? Did you achieve all, most or even some of your goals? It's not just a result to show to others, but also an internal understanding of where you are and what you have achieved (or not) and why. If I get married and have kids, I probably won't achieve most of the travel I want to in this lifetime. But I'll probably be happy to have made that trade. But if I can't achieve that goal because I decided to work until I was 70, then, for me, that will have been a failure. So I've set myself on a course to avoid that.
That's because the threat in our economy is "If you don't work, you don't eat and you will go homeless." And that's a strong motivator to put up with shit at the workplace. Most people aren't wealthy.
A long time ago on a semi-obscure Internet bulletin board, a regular participant used this tagline to end his postings:
No apologies, no regrets.
Phil has several ambitions in Groundhog Day, some more closely related to each other than others:
1. get out of Punxsatawney (changes over the course of the film)
2. stop the repetition
3. sleep with Rita (when he finally gets this, the repetition stops!)
4. optimize the day
(3) and (4) are both given quite a lot of screen time and plot focus; (2) is the source of many jokes.
Some other thoughts on the list:
I was surprised to see "Struggle against God" categorized under DISASTROUS SITUATIONS PRECIPITATED WITH CRIMINAL INTENT. I would have put it under TRAGIC SITUATIONS OVER WHICH THE VICTIM HAS NO CONTROL.
"Possessed of an ambition", interpreted as a goal, includes a lot of the other elements (consider "love's obstacles").
The list makes a three-way distinction between "enmity between kinsmen", "vengeance", and "kindred avenged against kindred". A better-thought-out list couldn't do this.
Where's the criminal intent?
To the earlier discussion, it's probably worth noting that Polti's plot 30, "Ambition" involves a person, an object, and an adversary; the person seeks the object and is opposed by the adversary. Not applicable to Groundhog Day.
Self sacrifice for an ideal was dramatic in the case of catching the kid who fell from a tree, but also played for laughs.
Rocky was received pretty well.
Daring enterprise a bold leader; an object; an adversary
- (3) A miracle of god
- (5) Love's obstacles
- (14) Pursuit
- (23) Struggle against god
"God" being the situation he find himself in (both the miracle of it, and the struggle), pursuit being his overall progress, and of course the "main" love plot.
Depends how literally you take "god" for if those fit or not.
- a Mortal; an Immortal
- The Mortal and the Immortal enter a conflict.
28. Obstacles to love
- two Lovers; an Obstacle
- Two Lovers face an Obstacle together.
5. Pursuit
- punishment; a fugitive
- the fugitive flees punishment for a misunderstood conflict. Example: Les Misérables
That looks like it. The world around him is "immortal", and he was a "mortal" trapped in the "immortal" world. In the movie that is metaphorically represented by the day repeating, seemingly forever. The more the "mortal" tries to fight things, the further he is away from freedom. It was only by cooperating with the world he was finally free.
http://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-133-groundhog-day-...
This tells me the counterpoint to Groundhog Day is any Michael Bay movie, which are all (23) Struggle against God.
Subplot (f) - a union of lovers prevented by a lack of congeniality between them
Struggle against ones lesser self.
edit:
Existential doubt. Struggle against nihilism.