🎬D.A.A.M Groundhog Day

Making dinner can become repetitive so easily. Honestly, it’s something of a thankless job. You make dinner for your family. They eat it, hopefully with as little complaining and moaning as possible, then everybody goes off to do their own thing. Tomorrow you repeat the process. It’s nearly impossible to avoid falling into a rut. Every day seems like the one before…repeating incessantly!

The movie Groundhog Day is a fascinating take on that sort of rut. Phil Connors is a weatherman from Pittsburgh sent to Punxsutawney, PA to cover the annual Groundhog Day spectacle. Phil comments that this is his fourth year of being sent there. This is the first level of cyclical repetition that we observe in the movie. Phil’s in a rut that he can’t escape…despite his dreams of moving to a larger TV station in a grander market. Yet here he is again, stuck in the little backwater town with it’s provincial folks covering a “rodent” who can ostensibly predict the weather.

The trip begins innocently enough, with Phil, his producer Rita, and cameraman Larry driving to their assignment. They have a rambling discussion that eventually wends its way to the tradition of Groundhog Day. Rita paints a picture of Punxsutawney as a quaint little town where this sweet tradition guides the annual cycle of life. Phil is far more cynical and says “…people like blood sausages too. People are morons.”

What’s interesting about the movie from a foodie perspective is that food pops up in many unexpected ways. Lots and lots of food. Just five minutes in and the cast is already talking about it! From the very first time I saw this movie, I knew I was going to be salivating at all the food references and images.

It’s funny too, as someone of Polish heritage, I remember making all kinds of sausages with my Grandmother. I would carefully turn the crank to chop and mix the various ingredients into the delectable conglomeration of sausage stuffing. I helped with every aspect of the process, but I adored the process of taking mounds of ingredients and mushing them together. It doesn’t get much better for a five year old. Just hearing about sausage brought back that amazing memory from the early 1960’s. Who says that movies are a waste of time? I’m on a nostalgic trip here…

I’ll also put your mind at ease. Despite my longing to be an English Teacher when I was in college, my life took me another direction. While I’m willing to delve into the metaphors and underlying meanings of almost anything, I’m not planning on doing that in this dinner and a movie series. I’ll leave those deeper, psychologically disturbing revelations for another place and time. In this series I’m going to be talking about food. So I watched Groundhog Day simply as a hungry person…not as a literature professor.

Yeah, I know you’re relieved. Now back to the movie…

Within the next ten minutes, the movie has established the premise: Phil is cursed to relive the same day in a painful time loop. He wakes up, exhibits what a pretentious jerk he is, has some coffee, continues being a jerk, ups his jerk game, belittles the people of Punxsutawney, and presents their quaint tradition as completely provincial. Day after day, it’s the same thing. Kind of like those dinners I mentioned at the top…boring and repetitive.

We see Phil as a cynical person who hates everything and everyone around him. He’s the worst of us. And he takes everything for granted. Especially food. See, I told you I’d bring it back to food!

Take coffee for instance. Yeah, it’s not quite a “food”, but it’s close enough.

Coffee plays a huge role in the movie. At the start of each of Phil’s recycled days he asks the proprietor of the Bed & Breakfast whether there’s any chance he could get an Espresso or Cappuccino…exhibiting his snobbery. He reluctantly settles for a cup of black coffee instead of his preferred uptown beverage. Through various rehashing of the day, Phil continues to be forced to forego his favored drink and assailed with the plainest of brews. After several iterations through the relived day, Phil asks Mrs. Lancaster (the Bed & Breakfast proprietor), “Do you ever have déjà vu?”. As a provincial, she predictably replies, “I don’t think so, but I can check with the kitchen.”

This movie is all about déjà vu, and our poor Mrs. Lancaster doesn’t even realize what that is. On the other hand, Phil thinks he does. Yet throughout the movie he discovers a much deeper meaning to life because of that very déjà vu. While he’s seen these people and events before, his reaction to them is what matters. He can control his own destiny through his mindset but it takes him the entire movie to determine that.

I have to admit it, every time I watch this movie it makes me feel guilty for the number of times I make the same meal over and over. Ironically, two of my go to meats are meatballs and kielbasa (Polish smoked sausage). Just a couple of weeks ago, after 31 years of marriage, Hectic-Mom informed me that she doesn’t like either. For all these years I’ve been in a rut of making those to meats…and my wife doesn’t even like them. What an awful case of déjà vu for her, eh?

From this point in the movie, the entire story is retold again and again. Slight variations occur with each day, but essentially Phil is rehashing the same events. Fortunately as foodies, we get to see different aspects of the day along with an amazing array of foods. At various times, our protagonists comment on specific foods.  Rita comments that “…these sticky buns are just heaven” when making small talk with the waitress at the Tip Top Diner. Phil waxes longingly for a  different day to be repeated, recounting a day he spent in the Virgin Islands “…eating lobster and drinking Piña Coladas”.

After a particularly rough night on the town, Phil, Gus, and Ralph are pulled over by the local Sheriff. Phil, being the prankster that he is, places a fast food order when the officer arrives at his window, “3 cheeseburgers, 2 large fries, 2 chocolate shakes, 1 large coke”, and Ralph adds “and some flapjacks”. It’s a funny moment that is actually part of the inspiration for this series. If you can’t enjoy yourself with some comfort food when rehashing the same day, why bother?

As the day repeats, Phil goes through a vast array of emotions. We see him grow as a person, but in a realistic way, not in some movie-induced linear progression from jerk-snob to lovable-goon. Rather he progresses like the rest of us, a small step forward followed by a stumble backwards. Sometimes moving ahead, often falling into old patterns. But little by little, repeated day after repeated Groundhog Day, Phil starts to become a better person. It’s a testament to the fact that making small changes adds up over time.

Probably the most iconic food scene appears after several dozen iterations of Groundhog Day. Phil decides he’s going to live each day to its fullest. What does he have to lose? He’s going to start all over again the next time the alarm goes off at 6:00am. So he goes to the Tip Top Diner and orders the most amazing breakfast spread I’ve ever seen. Rita joins him and comments “I like to see a man of advancing years throwing caution to the wind. It’s inspiring in a way!” Phil takes it in stride and is unabashed as he slowly stuffs an entire piece of Angel Food cake into his mouth. Rita is disgusted, but Phil is obviously enjoying himself at this point. And why not? Isn’t food supposed to be fun? Sure, it’s a functional part of life, we need to eat. But if you’re not enjoying what you eat aren’t you missing something. Phil seems to get it at this point.

Phil goes through many more iterations of the relived day. At times his fare is bleak…plain white toast and black coffee. Other times he imbibes in the blueberry waffles. He purchases fudge and white chocolate on a trip to the candy store with Rita. He drinks lots and lots of beer. He eats a salad at one point. He every brings a raspberry pastry and “…coffee and skim milk with 2 sugars…” to his cameraman Larry.

Throughout the movie the food mirrors the peaks and valleys of Phil’s emotional state. Sometimes the food helps him climb out of the valley, other times it causes him to topple from the peaks. And honestly, doesn’t that mirror our lives? Food can be an echo of what’s going on, comfort when things aren’t quite right, or the culmination of a celebration of the best parts of life.

While I freely admit that I often eat my emotions, it’s not necessarily a horrible thing. Sure, anything in excess isn’t good for you…but life’s all about being lived. Phil Connors has to live the same day repeatedly until he gets it right. Don’t waste your days living them exactly the same way. Shake things up. Be proactive.

Most of all, make it a great day in the kitchen!

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