The Green Screen
Phil is a TV weatherman who uses “green screen” effects to interact with optical imagery that is not actually there, requiring Phil to watch a TV monitor positioned on a wall at jutting out at a 90-degree angle from the plain blue wall against which he interacts with what is seen on the screen. This technology required of his career become the perfect symbol for the man: he can interact with an entire world without actually having to connect with it while also highlighting his fundamental personality trait of being there without actually being there when it comes to dealing people.
Radio/Alarm Clock
The song that plays as the alarm informing Phil it is time to get up on the clock/radio is by Sonny and Cher and the title “I Got You, Babe” seem to mock Phil with the taunt that he is trapped forever by the fates. A clock also figures prominently in the movie’s poster and media art. Not surprising, since clocks have long been symbols of attempts to place artificial construction on the dimension of time which becomes a subversive influence on the capacity of one to enjoy life and a psychological impediment to pursuing dreams.
The Groundhog
He is a big rodent named Phil who if he comes out and sees the world is still cold, unpleasant and demanding turns around and climbs back into his sanctuary of protection against to expose himself to known and unforeseen risks. Yeah, he’s a symbol.
Ned, the Insurance Salesman
The first description that Phil provides of the annoying insurance salesman that accosts him on the sidewalk first thing in the morning every day is that is a “giant leech.” Ned is thus invested with symbolic meaning as the personification of the very concept of insurance as a force with the ability to influence the course of one’s life. Some people look at insurance as guarantee of loss when taking a risk. For others, the very consideration of needing insurance against undertaking something is merely a confirmation that the risk is too great to attempt. Still others reject the risk and still buy the insurance anyway because, after all, one never knows what tomorrow brings. The insurance knowing every day will start anew impacts in Phil in variously different ways over the course of the movie, suggesting that one’s philosophical perspective on the subject may vary according to circumstances.
Jeopardy!
When the emotional cycle of Phil’s response to the waking up every situates him at the depressive and disconsolate end of the spectrum reflecting a lack of hope, there is a short scene showing him at the bed and breakfast watching an episode of the TV game show Jeopardy! And impressing all the other residents by answering every question correctly—even at one point providing an answer to a question not yet asked. Of course, the explanation behind his masterful display of knowledge is that he has watched the episode every day until it has been memorized. The symbolism here is subtly suggestive: accumulation of knowledge is not synonymous with wisdom, indicating that Phil could potentially be stuck in the loop until he has literally accumulated every single known fact in the universe, but still lack the wisdom that might help him that knowledge to free himself.
