DannyBoyinExile

The movie Groundhog Day became so widely known that it actually became a part of our culture. It’s common knowledge now that when you refer to something as being like Groundhog Day, you mean something that happens the same way, over and over again. Yet I’d never actually seen the movie until recently.
I’ve never been much of a TV watcher – especially in TDCJ, where the dayrooms are so loud that concentrating on ANY movie is practically impossible. That’s why we stick to things like sports, which you don’t need the sound to understand! Plus there are so many things going on (such as in-and-outs, chow, showers, etc.) that focusing on a two hour movie without missing huge chunks of it is also practically impossible. Maybe that’s why they play reruns of a movie so many times within a short period of time: that way you miss a different chunk of it each time, and can eventually see the whole movie!
Some movies are famous in TDCJ (derisively), for how many times we’ve seen them in the dayroom. Saving Private Ryan. The Scorpion King. The 300. In fact, I don’t know why they don’t rename Saving Private Ryan to The 300, because it’s been on TV at least 300 times!
But I’ve never heard of Groundhog Day being on TV, though I’m very familiar with the term. So when they had a Back To The 90s sale on the tablets, and I saw that it was one of them, I invested the $4.99 to see what all the hoopla was about.
I’ll admit that I’d have rather had five dollars worth of junk food than the movie, but I’ll also admit that I enjoyed it. More importantly, it made me think, and I appreciate the moral to it. If you do find yourself in a situation that is hopelessly monotonous, and seemingly will never change – it’s up to you to change it.
There are times when it seems that every day is the same – especially in prison. And even if things don’t change, it’s up to me to make each day the best that it can possibly be. That’s the one thing I CAN control, and the choices that I make can make my situation more tolerable – and eventually accumulate until I change my situation entirely.
We should never just give up, and accept that things will always be the way they are today. We CAN make changes, even if we have to change ourselves first. That’s the conclusion I came to after watching Groundhog Day – and the idea is just as powerful on your side of the fence as it is on mine. So says DannyBoy.