The Groundhog is Jesus

Or so says a film critic in this article from The New York Times on the surprising popularity of Groundhog Day among religious scholars.

Michael Bronski, a film critic for The Forward who teaches a course in Jewish film history at Dartmouth, said he sees strong elements of not only Jewish but also Christian theology. "The groundhog is clearly the resurrected Christ, the ever hopeful renewal of life at springtime, at a time of pagan-Christian holidays," he said, adding: "And when I say that the groundhog is Jesus, I say that with great respect."

But before you dismiss the whole article as claptrap, you should read it and see how neatly the message of the film (the way the scholars interpret the message, anyway) fits into the beliefs of so many different faiths. Maybe it says more about the similarities of the world religions than it does about the movie, but it's still an interesting read. It would be fantabulous if you worked a reaction to this article into your post (4th and 6th hour students, that is).