They Made Me Do IT... The Donnie Darko discussion thread- might be spoilers

[Gamma_Winstead]

Donnie Darko (2001) has to be one of the most complex and layered films of the decade. It inspires many thoughts and emotions in its viewers. Whats your thought on it? Did you not get it? Go ahead and PM me if you dont i'll try to explain it.

[Penitus]

Time travel superheroes and schizophrenia oh my!

[Josh]

Well, I finally sat down with "Philosophy of Time Travel" for some time, and I think I have it all figured out. Its actually quite obvious when the book is involved. The director definitely did fans a service by making it available, since it explains everything.

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by gamma626

Donnie Darko (2001) has to be one of the most complex and layered films of the decade. It inspires many thoughts and emotions in its viewers. Whats your thought on it? Did you not get it? Go ahead and PM me if you dont i'll try to explain it.

id like to hear your theory on the movie....

[Josh]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

id like to hear your theory on the movie....

That's a little general. How bout a more specific question.

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by Josh

That's a little general. How bout a more specific question.

oh, i thought thats what you meant. ok, ive watched the movie a zillion times and it always leaves me thinking differently toward it. let me think, but one i know ive always been curious about is, what is the purpose of the Cherita Chen? And what about the Dudes who are following Donnie throughout the movie?

[Josh]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

oh, i thought thats what you meant. ok, ive watched the movie a zillion times and it always leaves me thinking differently toward it. let me think, but one i know ive always been curious about is, what is the purpose of the Cherita Chen? And what about the Dudes who are following Donnie throughout the movie?

Cherita Chen:

[Show spoiler]Its really only explained in the original script. Prior to the "Cellar Door" conversation, Ms. Pomeroy tells Donnie (not in the film) "It is up to the children to save themselves these days. Because the parents... they don't have a clue." Immediately after this scene is the one where Donnie grabs Charita and tells her "I promise that one day things will get better for you." He is essentially accepting his role as the Living Receiver and he is going to "save" her (and everyone else) from the impending doom that is coming.

Man in the Jogging Suit:

[Show spoiler]This person is essentially following Donnie because the FAA has no idea where the engine came from, and he is their only lead due to his direct involvement. Also, the "Philosophy of Time Travel" says that those who have contact with the Living Receiver (known as Manipulated Living) will "fear him and try to destroy him". So it is likely that the FAA had fear that Donnie knew more than he was sharing. I wouldn't go so far as to say they would destroy him, but they definitely were afraid.

[Pelican170]

Good stuff, Thanks. Lets see, what else... ok, maybe this is a stupid question, but is he really traveling back in time or is there an alternate universe, or are they one and the same? I mean, its a little confusing to think of the engine falling from another world, ya know. Am I making sense? And at the end, he rides his bike to where the begining of the movie takes place and he is starring at the swirling clouds. How does that work? is he about to travel, or waiting or what? Or is it made like that to keep the audience thinking and guessing?

[Pelican170]

Hope that made sense. It's been a little while since ive watched it since i was waiting to buy it on blu. It just seems that everytime i watch it i have different thoughts about the movie, which is why i love it so much...

[Josh]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

Good stuff, Thanks. Lets see, what else... ok, maybe this is a stupid question, but is he really traveling back in time or is there an alternate universe, or are they one and the same? I mean, its a little confusing to think of the engine falling from another world, ya know. Am I making sense? And at the end, he rides his bike to where the begining of the movie takes place and he is starring at the swirling clouds. How does that work? is he about to travel, or waiting or what? Or is it made like that to keep the audience thinking and guessing?

Tangent Universe

[Show spoiler]When the clock strikes midnight, a Tangent Universe intersects with Primary Universe, causing a Tangent Vortex. This is signed by, amongst other things, the existence of a Artifact (the jet engine) and the unexplained things happening to Donnie, such as his hallucination of Frank and his increased strength (drove the axe into the solid bronze statue), both affects of being in a Tangent Universe - according to the book. When the two universes meet, they form a Tangent Vortex. This Vortex occurs again when Tangent Universe collapses (28 days, 6 hours, ...) and the two Universes are whole again. That is what Donnie sees in the sky.

A Tangent Vortex can house a Time Portal, by which you can travel through time. Basically, the second vortex ripped the engine off the airplane which then got sucked into a Time Portal. This time portal connected to the first vortex and brought the engine back in time. Donnie's Journey (as the book puts it) is to bring the Artifact (aircraft engine) back to the Primary Universe to prevent the world from ending. At this point, its really not explained how he does that, but yes, he brings the engine back to the second vortex (which is actually forward in time), thus completing his Journey and saving the world.

[Pelican170]

wow good info. Thanks. Can i ask where your getting all this stuff from or are you typing it yourself?

[Josh]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

wow good info. Thanks. Can i ask where your getting all this stuff from or are you typing it yourself?

I'm typing myself, but the source comes from the Philosophy of Time Travel book that is available on the Donnie Darko website and reference in the film. There isn't more than a few pages of single line notes, but it really explains what is going on. Its extremely general, so you have to link what is written to what we know from the film in order to make a conclusion.

[Pelican170]

Ok, ill ask one more. This one took a while to pick up on, but im pretty sure that the male teacher and Drew Berrymore both seem to know something is up with Donnie. When they are in bed together, they look at each other and go, "boy that Donnie Darko" or something along those lines. Obviously Drew Berrymore's character in the movie is quite strange in the first place. is there any connection to them knowing whats going on? or that donnie is the chosen one? or anything?

[Pelican170]

ok sorry, i got more lol. they just keep coming to me. Ok, now what is the real purpose of donnie killing frank (the person) after he runs over his girlfriend and what is the point of her dying. I ask because obviously in the movie when those things come out of their chests, its trying to explain that everything has a pre-determined path in life, correct? so, if so, one of those worms comes out of his chest and leads him to his fathers gun, meaning that he was meant to kill Frank the person. What is the real point of that? it doesnt seem to have anything to do with him saving the world or the tangent universes, unless its to mean that Frank, who was killed, is the ghost that donnie is seeing as frank the bunny? does that make sense?

[Josh]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

Ok, ill ask one more. This one took a while to pick up on, but im pretty sure that the male teacher and Drew Berrymore both seem to know something is up with Donnie. When they are in bed together, they look at each other and go, "boy that Donnie Darko" or something along those lines. Obviously Drew Berrymore's character in the movie is quite strange in the first place. is there any connection to them knowing whats going on? or that donnie is the chosen one? or anything?

[Show spoiler]They are both part of the large Manipulated Living group which is supposed to help the Living Receiver (Donnie) complete his journey. They don't necessarily know what is going on, or that what they are doing is helping him, but it does seem they may be more aware than everyone else. But no, they don't know what is happening.

[Josh]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

ok sorry, i got more lol. they just keep coming to me. Ok, now what is the real purpose of donnie killing frank (the person) after he runs over his girlfriend and what is the point of her dying. I ask because obviously in the movie when those things come out of their chests, its trying to explain that everything has a pre-determined path in life, correct? so, if so, one of those worms comes out of his chest and leads him to his fathers gun, meaning that he was meant to kill Frank the person. What is the real point of that? it doesnt seem to have anything to do with him saving the world or the tangent universes, unless its to mean that Frank, who was killed, is the ghost that donnie is seeing as frank the bunny? does that make sense?

[Show spoiler]Both Frank and Gretchen are part of the Manipulated Dead, which gives them much more play in Donnie's journey. Their main job is to set "Ensurance Traps" for Donnie so that he has no choice but to complete his journey. Its difficult to say how much influence either of them had in the events leading to Donnie's understanding, but you can make some connections. Obviously, Frank was his main source of information, and had some very strong powers (conjured a portal). Gretchen's role may have just to make Donnie fall in love with her, so that when she was killed, he would react emotionally and kill Frank - who needed to be killed in order to tell Donnie all this stuff.

Frank is not a ghost, but rather a hallucination of Donnie. But it wasn't Donnie's brain that developed Frank, it was Frank who inserted himself into Donnie's mind. And Frank (who we already now is powerful being a Manipulated Dead) could have easily changed the "worms" to direct Donnie in the correct direction - which is his purpose anyway.

In the end, both needed to die so that Donnie would understand his Journey.

[Pelican170]

Very interesting and very good. Ok, how bout 2 more, these are smaller and maybe not as meaningful. First, Patrick Swayze's role... whats the main purpose of that, besides for entertainment purposes. i mean, its obvious that he is full of BS because he does the opposite of what he preaches when behind the scenes (making rude gesture's toward donnie when he wakes up on the golf course, and the main thing which he gets caught out for) but is there any real meaning to the purpose of the movie?

2nd - lol, whats up with Sparkle Motion?

Sorry if im looking a little too deeply into this. oh, also, how do you do spoiler tags? i figured i didnt need them for this thread cuz its for people who have seen the movie, but just curious..

[Josh]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

Very interesting and very good. Ok, how bout 2 more, these are smaller and maybe not as meaningful. First, Patrick Swayze's role... whats the main purpose of that, besides for entertainment purposes. i mean, its obvious that he is full of BS because he does the opposite of what he preaches when behind the scenes (making rude gesture's toward donnie when he wakes up on the golf course, and the main thing which he gets caught out for) but is there any real meaning to the purpose of the movie?

2nd - lol, whats up with Sparkle Motion?

Sorry if im looking a little too deeply into this. oh, also, how do you do spoiler tags? i figured i didnt need them for this thread cuz its for people who have seen the movie, but just curious..

Spoiler Tag: [ spoiler ]Hidden Text[/ spoiler ] (remove spaces)

[Show spoiler]Nothing directly related. Jim Cunningham is a means for Donnie to demonstrate his ability to "conjure fire", which is an identifying power of the Living Receiver. He is also the means by which Donnie's mom has to take his sister to New York. If he isn't charged, Ms. Farmer can go to New York, and the whole end of the story isn't possible (no party, no Gretchen or Frank death). Similar with Sparkle Motion. They are a means to the end.

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by Josh

Spoiler Tag: [ spoiler ]Hidden Text[/ spoiler ] (remove spaces)

[Show spoiler]Nothing directly related. Jim Cunningham is a means for Donnie to demonstrate his ability to "conjure fire", which is an identifying power of the Living Receiver. He is also the means by which Donnie's mom has to take his sister to New York. If he isn't charged, Ms. Farmer can go to New York, and the whole end of the story isn't possible (no party, no Gretchen or Frank death). Similar with Sparkle Motion. They are a means to the end.

Ok i understand. Awesome, good stuff. now im going to watch it 20 more times this weekend!

[jkwest]

Thank you for linking to this thread!!! These are great answers!!

I need to go find this book.