Joe Rogan, Mel Gibson, Bernie Sanders, Groundhog Day, Evolution, and the Meaning of Life
- Jan Schenk Grosskopf
- Oct 3
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 5
As the flames of the LA fires engulfed Mel Gibson’s house, Gibson calmly managed hours of wide-ranging conversation with Joe Rogan. When Rogan asked Christian creationist Gibson how he explained evidence for evolution, Mel simply replied that he couldn’t. How refreshing! None of us has a provable first cause answer and are often unwilling to admit that all of our conclusions are based on faith of one kind or another.
Actor Bill Murray’s less than dynamic interview with Joe suggested that maybe too much backstage fun over the decades have taken a toll. Nevertheless, Murray’s opus covers a wide span from the egregious “Caddy Shack” - why do men like to inflict that movie on loving wives - to serious Indy films. I’ve watched a lot of them, and probably his most underrated movie is - you guessed it - “Groundhog Day.”
For those of you who haven’t seen it, a quick synopsis. Obnoxious, shallow weatherman Phil Connors relives one Groundhog Day over and over. And over. Thousands of times. At first selfish Connors indulges in food, sex, booze, smoking, money, cars, and acting out fantasies. Eventually depressed by indulgence, a disheveled Phil wants out and kills himself every day by various methods, only to wake each morning to the same radio show playing “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher. Eventually, having no one and no meaning, Phil throws himself into the life of the town, rescuing the same people every day from falling or choking, changing tires for the same old ladies, talking to people, learning to play a killer piano, reading and thinking, taking up ice sculpting, trying every day and failing to save his father's life, and learning how to court the woman he once lusted after, but now loves. After winning her, he wakes up to a new day.
Critics didn’t get it. They harped on Phil’s shallowness, seeming especially angered by his gorging and smoking - the high crimes of modern America - while ignoring his desperate attempts to save his father's life. In other words, critics completely missed Conners’ journey. Critics didn’t get that meaning comes from love and that a settled inner life allows us to express outer love. It’s something learned from the trials and errors of life. Of course, the movie only goes so far. Eros, sexual love, rescues Phil Connors, but the larger truth is implied. The truth that all love - that great mysterious force - has a cosmic source, and that the love from that source, God, transcends all human loves and has the power to reform us.
Joe’s last guest on the list, Bernie Sanders, either didn’t see “Groundhog Day,” or didn’t understand it if he did see it. Bernie can point out the problems and weaknesses of modern life and economics. He has a proven early track record of what was once called “good” works. But when Rogan pushed larger questions, such as the meaning of life, elderly communist and evolutionist Bernie shut down the interview. His thousands of days have not borne the fruit that Phil Conners’ did.
Bernie needs to watch Groundhog Day.
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