Tag: groundhog day

Phil Connors (ESTP) and Rita Hanson (ENFP) from Groundhog Day

by Rebecca

ESTP: Se Ti Fe Ni

ENFP: Ne Fi Te Si

Throughout seemingly endless loops, Phil’s growing affection for Rita – and her returned feelings, whether good or bad – help to drive Groundhog Day. Their individual differences are reflected in their MBTI types, and this contrast helps to characterize their initial clashes and inevitable love.

As their dominant functions, Rita and Phil both have extroverted perceiving functions – extroverted sensing (Se) for Phil and extroverted intuition (Ne) for Rita. Each of them are primarily interested in interacting with the outside world, but in very different ways. Rita deals more with abstract possibilities, finding excitement in a variety of places and thrills through opportunity alone. Phil thinks about what he can do in the moment, acting on impulse to gain pleasure. He sometimes struggles with finding greater depth, whereas Rita is looking for good behind the surface. His almost hedonistic approach to life repels Rita, but once he begins to see her love of possibility and change she begins to find feelings for him.

Rita, with introverted feeling (Fi) as her auxiliary function, has quite a few issues with Phil and his auxiliary introverted thinking (Ti). She is focused on personal ideals and emotion, he is interested in doing what makes sense to him no matter what else happens. Rita prizes genuine behavior and personal connections, something which Phil struggles to conjure up especially when he first starts to pursue her. On the other hand, Phil’s internal logic sometimes makes him callous to the feelings of others, which Rita dislikes. The resolution of these aspects of Phil’s personality are vital for Rita finding that she does have feelings for him, and ending the loop once and for all.

The series of parallels yet contrasts within Phil and Rita’s personalities continues with their tertiary functions, extroverted feeling (Fe) and extroverted thinking (Te) respectively. Phil is able to ooze charm, and sometimes this gets to Rita – but when she realizes this is not genuine she pulls away (a facet of her auxiliary Fi). Rita tries to exercise her leadership skills as an associate producer, but sometimes falters especially when it comes to headstrong Phil. Each of them have their faults when trying to have some control over the outside world, but they also exercise these functions for strengths.

Rita struggles sometimes with looking back (inferior introverted sensing, or Si), while Phil struggles sometimes with looking forward (inferior introverted intuition, or Ni). This is shown particularly well during “If I Had My Time Again” – Rita refuses the idea of repeating the same things over and over again, while Phil doesn’t seem to find any interest in the future of his loop. Each of them find growth within their inferior functions towards the end of the show, as they find genuine feelings for one another. Rita is able to break her personal cycle of struggling to find love in a sea of bad men, and Phil is able to find depth and connection in a way that was impossible prior to the loops. Their feelings for one another provides personal growth and understanding on some of their biggest weaknesses.

image

Rita Hanson from Groundhog Day
ENFP
by Rebecca
requested by anonymous

Extroverted Intuition (Ne)
“If I had my time again, I would do it all the same, they claim, but that’s ridiculous – surely you’d want to make a couple of fixes.”

When Rita hears about Phil’s looping through Groundhog Day, she gets excited thinking of all the possibilities of what she could do. Her spiraling thoughts reveal her natural ability to see different opportunities and find value in them. She dreams of “One Day” where she will be able to find love, and looks to the future much of the time. The way things have always been don’t interest her as much as the promise of the new and exciting the future. She is interested in changing and learning from the past, such as when she talks about the girl she once knew in “One Day.”

Introverted Feeling (Fi)
“And I’d rather be lonely than sit on my fanny waiting for my prince to come…”

Rita is a bit quirky, but she also seems comfortable with her eccentricities and stays true to herself. She is interested in the unusual, such as her former major in French poetry. She has her insecurities, but as a whole she is able to move past them and be kind to others. She may not be entirely sure what she’s looking for in a man when it comes for the details, but when she realizes that Phil is messing with her she immediately shuts himself out. She seems to prize people who are genuine, holding them to same standard that she holds herself.

Extroverted Thinking (Te)
“I’ve always fancied learning how to climb, I’d study math and search for meaning and I’d run up hills…”

When she needs to be, Rita can be firm and direct, making plans and bypassing emotion. She needs to be convinced logically to believe that Phil is actually looping, basing her understanding on facts. By working as an associate producer, Rita has to use skills of planning and logic to do her job. However, she is mainly looking for emotional fulfillment in her life, rather than making things efficient or logical. She doesn’t settle for someone or something just because it’s easy and makes sense, preferring to stay true to her own beliefs.

Introverted Sensing (Si)
“I thought I knew everything there was to know about men like you.”

For the most part, Rita doesn’t want things to stay the same – she craves change and opportunity. In “If I Had My Time Again,” she finds the idea of doing everything exactly the same boring and silly. She learns from the mistakes of the past and then passes them by in favor of moving and improving.
However, she doesn’t seem too fazed by the idea of having time loop around…mainly because she knows within the repetition she can learn and grow. She also can get stuck with certain preconceptions, which she discusses as she falls for Phil in “Seeing You.”

image

Phil Connors from Groundhog Day
ESTP
by Rebecca
Note: This typing is based entirely off of the musical – some details and their interpretations may not line up with the original movie.

Extroverted Sensing (Se)
“But I’m here, and I’m fine, and I’m seeing you for the first time.”
For most of his life, Phil makes choices for whatever pleasure he can get out of it before it fades away. He initially appears extremely shallow, hating the “small town” of Punxsutawney and only finding interest in the attractive Nancy. When he realizes that there are no consequences for his actions in a past day, Phil begins “Philandering” about, doing whatever he finds interesting and exciting. Throughout his time in Punxsuatawney, he moves past getting easily bored in favor of finding enjoyment and fulfillment from the moment. Instead of trying to push through to a vague tomorrow, he finds he can get joy from helping others and making himself into a better person.

Introverted Thinking (Ti)
“I have been forecasting too many years to be talking to hicks about magical beavers.”
Caught up within his own inner logic, Phil is often rather callous to the people around him. His quips, as irritating or offensive as they might be to the people around him, reflect his internal thoughts and clever nature. He shows a great deal of flexibility in his logic during his Groundhog Day antics, using his inner thoughts to plan out and organize his endless days. As he begins to realize he is utterly stuck in Punxsutawney, he begins to delve into a variety of subjects to understand them completely, such as the people of the town or playing piano. He uses his in-depth understandings of just about everything to guide his actions, whether they’re for fun or for helping others.

Extroverted Feeling (Fe)
“…but it just doesn’t seem likely that I’m gonna get her to like me.”

Throughout the seemingly endless loop of Groundhog Days, Phil becomes a kind and conscientious person who understands and honors others’ feelings. Before this point, however, he cares little for others outside of wanting them to admire him. Indeed, many people do admire him, as he possesses a certain kind of charm that draws people in even though he is far from a kind person. But as he spends more time in Punxsutawney, he begins to develop a genuine care for the happiness and well-being of others. Even though people will forget about his actions when everything loops around, Phil goes out of his way to make everyone’s day as fantastic as possible, with his kindness leading to Rita falling for him.

Introverted Intuition (Ni)
“But I know there’s no point in denying that I will keep trying. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a quitter. I will never give up, never give up, never give up…”
It takes a great amount of time for Phil to seriously look at the future and consequences for his actions – especially when his actions seem to be without consequences in the loop. His planning is first limited to vague aspirations for the future and then to figuring out how to carry out whatever antics he sees fit. When he decides on a goal, he tends to stick to it for a great deal of time until he can accomplish it completely. This is seen most clearly when Phil, after spending a great deal of time doing whatever he wants, begins to fixate on the idea of getting Rita to like him. Without a proper tomorrow to speak of, these goals end up providing a needed structure to Phil’s life, even though he struggles with it for ages.