11 Distressed Movie Characters Who Couldn't Kill Themselves To End Their Pain
2. Phil Connors - Groundhog Day
Once you learn just how long Phil Connor (the inimitable Bill Murray) spends trapped in the perpetual nightmarish loop of Groundhog Day (and we've done the maths,) it is understandable why he would have chosen to attempt to kill himself. Phil is self-centred, believing the world revolves around him and that he is above the small-time gig that he is forced to go on every year: basically, he believes himself a big fish in a small pond, and quickly marks himself as a morality tale waiting to happen. That he crumbles at the first hint that he is stuck in his trials forever and attempts to end it all says everything you need to know about his personality and his perseverance before he has his moment of epiphany and dedicated decades to having the perfect, selfless day. But thanks to the cruel reality of his entrapment, Connors cannot kill himself, and he is forced to live out every time he attempts to kill himself, before waking up the next day. He knows ultimate pain, both emotionally and because he's taken a bath with a toaster, and yet he is denied the sweet release of death, despite the fact that when he does die, he's probably going to Hell for committing the mortal sin of suicide.
Once you learn just how long Phil Connor (the inimitable Bill Murray) spends trapped in the perpetual nightmarish loop of Groundhog Day (and we've done the maths,) it is understandable why he would have chosen to attempt to kill himself. Phil is self-centred, believing the world revolves around him and that he is above the small-time gig that he is forced to go on every year: basically, he believes himself a big fish in a small pond, and quickly marks himself as a morality tale waiting to happen. That he crumbles at the first hint that he is stuck in his trials forever and attempts to end it all says everything you need to know about his personality and his perseverance before he has his moment of epiphany and dedicated decades to having the perfect, selfless day. But thanks to the cruel reality of his entrapment, Connors cannot kill himself, and he is forced to live out every time he attempts to kill himself, before waking up the next day. He knows ultimate pain, both emotionally and because he's taken a bath with a toaster, and yet he is denied the sweet release of death, despite the fact that when he does die, he's probably going to Hell for committing the mortal sin of suicide. 