Bob McLaughlin

Great insights, everyone!

I think the biggest clue that they drop us in the movie is the movie marquis that reads "Last Temptation of Christ".

Anyone who has seen that movie knows that Donnie Darko is perhaps faced with a similar decision, and the bulk of the movie explores this alternate path. Donnie gets the opportunity to see how his decision to save himself plays out, and then he uses this information to make a more informed decsion at the end of the movie.

At least, that's my interpretation, and another layer of confusion to add on top of everything else!

Joseph Young

The film is open ended enough to even analyze that, although my impression is, the film opens a day prior to the jet engine incident (October 1st I believe). Donnie is already in the habit of going out at night prior to the accident. His grin as he turns to face the camera in the first moments of the film is either establishing the character's irreverence, or could be seen as a prophetic acknowledgment of the events to transpire in the next 28 days.


Donnie is not dying alone and he knows this, and he is laughing because he has found proof and several lives have been saved in his sacrifice. I am the last person to actively seek quasi-Christian ethos running through the film, but it's made pretty clear through the various conversations with his therapist that Donnie has stopped debating the search for God for most of the film.

It bums me out, too. It's really hard for me to feel an uplifting message at the end of the film, especially after (Malone's character) Gretchen and Donnie find this connection. But the theme runs way deeper than the simple melodramatic trappings of a 'love gone awry' scenario. This film is about a boy's search for meaning and the rite of passage that leads him to it.

I have not listened to either commentary yet, and I'm sure the director has a much more literal deconstruction of the plot elements (significance of the spiral in the jet engine, the symbolism of the mailbox, et cetera). But this is my take on the film so far, albeit somewhat esoteric.

Cheers,

Joseph

JohnRice

Seems like a pretty accurate observation, Bob. This even fits in with the double feature of The Last Temptation of Christ and Evil Dead.

No kidding Todd. I quite literally related to this. I'm so glad you used the word "cult."

They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.

JohnRice

I agree. I think it sells the film short to get too wrapped up in the search of "what happened."


I also wonder if it shows that he thinks he tricked fate. That he somehow knows he was supposed to die, but avoided it. Through the course of the film, he starts seeing the predestination the film presents (the worms coming out of people's chests) and reads Roberta Sparrow's book. By the end, he has accepted the "need" for him to die. Could the bottom line here be the lesson that many things are not how we would like them to be? It is necessary for bad things to happen. The LOVE - FEAR polarization is just too simple. That real answers are difficult and painful to understand and accept.


**********SPOILER**********

After reading some of the text of the A Philosophy of Time Travel book, I have tended to find a not too symbolic answer for this. The book tells about basically what is happening in the film, which includes an individual who, essentially, is on a journey back to the correct time line. I think Roberta Sparrow somehow knows Donnie (or someone) will be writing to her about her book, which Donnie does at the end of the film, and she is impatiently waiting for the letter. She may be impatient because she knows she is supposed to be dead (Grandma Death) but will live until she has fulfilled her destiny of guiding Donnie back. This also might be why she is unconcerned with being run over, since she knows she can't die until she has guided Donnie back. There may also be some Biblical significance to this that I don't know about.

I had asked earlier about the scene with Noah Wyle and Drew Barrymore, when she said "Donnie Darko" and they both kind of chuckled. The book told about a possibly fictional incidence of what was essentially happening in the film. Since Noah Wyle had read the book and I am assuming Drew Barrymore had also, they were marveling that it was Donnie Darko who was the person in the book.

Joseph Young

No surprise then; I have also had very direct and personal experience with this subject. I am currently writing a book about the phenomenon of the modern-day 'cult.' But obviously, the religous and political implications of discussing this further would not be wise at the Forum.

To quote Noah Wyle's character...
"I am not going to be able to continue this conversation... I could lose my [HTF Privileges].."



Joseph

JohnRice

Joseph,

That is a topic of great interest to me.

Ted Lee

good points. so, maybe it was more of "good thing"...at least for donnie.

it's pretty clear that he is aware of the whole time-travel thing...it also seemed hat he knew "something" was going to happen on the 31st and all his actions leading up to that point would somehow come "full circle" for him.

hmm...guess i'll have to watch it again. i'm sure i'm going to have more questions!

this is my dvd collection. there are many like it, but this is my own ...

Todd Terwilliger

This message ends with Todd.

Hey kid you got no class. Hit the bums, kid. Run like the devil. Get a tin can and take up mooching. Knock on back doors for a nickel.
Tell them your story. Make \'em weep. You could have been a meat-eater, kid. But you didn\'t listen to me when I laid it down.
Stay off the tracks. Forget it. Its a bum\'s world for a bum. You\'ll never be Emperor of the North Pole, kid. You had the juice, kid, but not the heart and they go together.
You\'re all gas and no feel, and nobody can teach you that, not even A-No.1. So stay off the train, she\'ll throw you under for sure. Remember me for that. So long, kid. -A-No.1

JohnRice

Good point. This is also where we start going around in circles if we try to make "conventional" sense of it. The only reason Frank (Dead Frank) exists at all is because Donnie met Gretchen, who was killed by Frank, who was then killed by Donnie. Donnie was also "directed" to the gun in the first place, and not by Frank.


BTW, discussion of religion actually is permitted here when in the context of a film, but I agree it is best to stay away from it since it will most likely get out of hand.

They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.

Bob McLaughlin

Here's another line that took on additional meaning upon a second viewing (forgive me if I paraphrase or otherwise botch the script):



This was a big hint of things to come, wouldn't you agree?



This movie just has so much going on in it, so many layers, no wonder it's so misunderstood.