Ursula asks
Where to put the comma in that second weatherman? I was taught that a sentence should read smoothly around what is included between commas. I can see a clumsy workaround, of course, that would honour the letter of that law, but at a cost. Where is Mrs. O'Brien when I need her?Phil, the weatherman, shares his name with the groundhog, Punxatawney Phil. If Phil, the Groundhog, sees his shadow, there will be six more months of winter. Phil, the weatherman's, shadow could be seen as his impression of his importance in the world -- casting a long shadow and soforth. As long as he continues to see it, winter stays. It's only when he truly puts others first, no longerbasking in the sunshine (spotlight?) that creates his shadow, that he is freed from the endless winter day.
Perhaps a slight re-wording:If Phil, the weatherman, stops seeing himself as so important in the world, he would stop seeing only his own "shadow" all the time. As long as. . . .
By the way: I've used parts of this movie to illustrate Huston Smith's chapter on Hinduism in THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS. Smith says there are four things people want, and when they have enough of them, they move on to a 'higher' want. First: Pleasure. (Phil seeking out as many women as possible, Phil gorging himself on food without thought of the weight gain tomorrow because it never comes.) Second: Success. Phil lifting the money from the armored car, buying a fancy new auto and new clothing, etc.) Third: Making a contribution to society. (Phil saving the boy in the tree every day, trying to save the old man every day, saving the man choking, etc.) Fourth: Liberation from the finite. Only when he starts being connected to the larger world of reading, music, contemplation, and real love does he attain 'release' from the daily cycle of death and re-birth.) Even trying to kill himself doesn't work; he has to keep repeating the day till he learns his lessons.
I'm pretty sure that the film-makers had no thought of any of this, but it still fits.
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