Erikson's Stages In The Movie Groundhog Day

According to the one and only, Erik Erikson, there are 8 stages development throughout our life (Douglas P. Crowne, 2009). Although they are presented as stages, Erickson explains that they are not specifically timed. Someone can go through a stage poorly, have psychological trouble with themselves at the next stage and come back to work on what wasn’t worked on in the previous stage (Crowne, 2009). According the Erikson’s theory, successful completion of the stages leads to a happy, healthy, secure value in themselves and their life (Crowne, 2009). Phil Connors is quite the opposite of a successful completion of Erikson’s stages of development. The movie Groundhog Day is a good example of a man who has yet to successfully complete his stages of development. Groundhog Day is about a middle-aged weather newscaster named Phil Connors that is sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cast the famous groundhog (Albert & Ramis, 1993). Phil demonstrates over and over again with his sarcastic, rude remarks that he is not thrilled to be there (Albert & Ramis, 1993). The morning of Groundhog Day Phil ends up waking up on the same day over and over again (Albert & Ramis, 1993). With no choice but to go through the same day again and again Phil struggles to cope with his

identity and with the people surrounding him.
One of Erikson’s main focus in his theory is the relationship between the person’s ego and their social environment (Crowne, 2009). When the stages of development aren’t properly gone through, the ego can become weaker making the next step that much harder to complete (Crowne, 2009). In the beginning of the movie, we see a man whose ego is weak and it’s shown

through his unhealthy personality and selfish, self-inflated ways (Albert & Ramis, 1993). His character is inflated by him expressing his “greatness” in his ability as a weatherman that he thinks all the other networks are interested in him, meanwhile, his coworkers just laugh because they know he isn’t as great as he makes himself seem (Albert & Ramis, 1993). The way Phil sees himself is completely different from how other see him. A clear example of his inflated character is when they arrive to Pennsylvania he states over and over how important it is for him to stay at a 5 star hotel rather than where they were staying. Phil repeatedly calls himself “the talent” of the news crew (Albert & Ramis, 1993). His coworkers, Rita and Larry just laugh it off, again this shows the difference in how they see him verses how Phil sees himself (Albert & Ramis, 1993). These examples present how weak his ego really is.
During this time Mr. Connors finds himself in his middle aged adulthood crisis and turning point during his stage in generativity vs stagnation. According to Erikson, generativity focuses on behaviors of self-improvement in our careers and how to be proper model for the younger generations (Albert & Ramis, 1993). On the other hand, stagnation is when someone is dissatisfied and uninterested with their self-improvement or being of help to others (Albert & Ramis, 1993). Phil is full force in the stagnation stage. His stagnation is shown when he acts distant and cold with others. In order to heal this stage of his development, Phil would need to become vulnerable and be able to be open with people close to him. According to Erikson, when earlier stages of development aren’t properly gone through, their chance of successfully going through the next stages is slim (Albert & Ramis, 1993). In order for Phil to go from stagnant to

generative he would need to go back and work on his earlier crises that he struggled with (Albert & Ramis, 1993).
Phil’s first crisis in the movie was the following morning when he wakes up and it was Groundhog Day all over again (Albert & Ramis, 1993). He becomes extremely confused and even asks Rita to slap him (Albert & Ramis, 1993). He asks the question, “What if there’s no tomorrow” (Albert & Ramis, 1993)? On the third day he woke up Phil becomes even more distant and isolated with the people around him. He walked right out of his hotel without saying a word to Mrs. Lancaster and even shoves an old friend named Ned (Albert & Ramis, 1993). This is when it’s clear that Phil was moving backwards through Erikson’s stages of development. The stage before middle adulthood is young adulthood, which contains the crisis of intimacy vs isolation (Crowne, 2009). According to Erikson, intimacy doesn’t necessarily mean anything related to sexual relations but rather the ability to form personal, vulnerable relationships with other people (Crowne, 2009). On the contrary, isolation is looked at as being cold, distant and unable to have close relationships (Crowne, 2009). On Phil’s third night he ends up drinking alcohol at a bar and meets two local men with whom he spends the rest of the night with (Albert & Ramis, 1993). With alcohol in his system, it allowed Phil to slowly let his guard down and finds himself relating and connecting with the other two men (Albert & Ramis, 1993). This shows the beginning of Phil’s hallmark of vulnerability. Phil then transitions into the adolescence stage. In adolescence the person goes through the crisis of identity vs role confusion (Crowne, 2009). If a person doesn’t integrate to their true identity they take on the role of a negative identity (Crowne, 2009). Phil’s negative identity is shown when he brings up the question, “What

if there was no tomorrow’ (Albert & Ramis, 1993)?

He pretty much interpreted his crisis with a “screw it” attitude and it causes him to believe that he could do whatever he wanted. Phil breaks the law that night, and acts impulsively the next morning by kissing Mrs. Lancaster and punching Ned in the face (Albert & Ramis, 1993). During lunch with Rita, she tells him that egocentricity is his main characteristic (Albert & Ramis, 1993). That sparked an identity crisis concern in Phil, causing him to try out different identities through out the next couple of days (Albert & Ramis, 1993). He tries to become a thief when he steals money and a seducer when he tries to seduce Rita and Nancy (Albert & Ramis,

1993).
After failing miserably at trying to win over Rita over with his fake personas, he falls into a depression that eventually leads to despair (Albert & Ramis, 1993). Many people who are stuck in this stage can feel this sense of hopelessness(Crowne, 2009) On the other hand, people who have not lived selfishly and have found meaning in their lives go through what is referred to as ego integrity (Crowne, 2009). Since that was far away from where Phil was, he goes through his adulthood crisis and wonders if his life has any meaning. Phil then has several attempts at committing suicide (Albert & Ramis, 1993). When his attempts fail he turns to Rita and begins to let her in by explaining the craziness he has endured these past few days (Albert & Ramis, 1993). This is the first time that Phil connects with Rita on a more vulnerable, deeper level and is even able to tell her how he truly feels at the end of their night (Albert & Ramis, 1993). After learning who Rita really genuinely is and who he may be as well, he picks up this positive mindset and spreads it to the people around him (Albert & Ramis, 1993). He stepped outside of his comfort zone by trying to take on an identity of a man who was nothing but positive. He showed

off his new positive identity the next morning by doing kind “hero-like” acts such as saving a boy in a tree, fixing an old lady’s flat tire and helping the mayor who was choking on his food (Albert & Ramis, 1993). After a lot of self-discovery, Phil came out with a more developed, strong-willed ego.

Phil’s process of self-improvement helped him resolve his adolescent crisis of identity vs role confusion. Rita contributed tremendously to Phil’s ability to be vulnerable, she was a clear example of a self-fulfilled, self-developed person. In a way, Phil was the ground hog that people were waiting for and would just poke his head out then retreat because of his inability to become close to people. He now came out of his comfort zone and blossomed into a self-driven, vulnerable human being with a strong ego.