Help with Donnie Darko

[Evan3]

What the hell, the end wen t totally over my head. Please like give me even a hint as to what the hell happened.

[Andrew]

One possibility here is that, like a few other movies have touched on, Donnie was supposed to die from the accident near the beginning.  The result of him not dying was a sort of alternate reality, which caused all the strangeness.  In some ways, he was outside reality because he was not really supposed to be there.

 When he finally did die, everything snapped back to where it should have been in the first place.

Now, another way to look at it is to remember "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce.  Everything happened in Donnie's mind, between the time that he saw certain death coming and the moment that it land on top of him.

Neat film.  It surpised the other Marines (and myself) when we watched it.

[Skaboi]

Andrew, I was just going to mention An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge.  Quite possibly the explanation of the film.

Also if you watch the film, pay close attention to EVERYTHING that is said.  At one point it is mentioned that if you had the chance to change to the future and see what could happen, would you go along with it?  My guess is that after Donnie saw all that happened if he lived, he decided to go back in time and die.

[Andrew Crow]

The two best explanations I've heard have been "Donnie saw all of the bad things that has happened, and travelled back in time during the wormhole to ensure he died so that they wouldn't happen," and "Donnie saw the future moments before his death, and decided to fulfill his destiny by dying to prevent the alternate future that would only exist if he lived."

This movie is also the only movie to make me shed a tear in the last 10 years. Of course, it doesn't help that the only times I've actually watched it have been around the times of deaths to those close to me...

[Evan3]

Hmmm, I like all those responses, but it seems to me that the bunny Franki must also know of the wormholes and perhaps it means anyone can change their futures, Frank came back to ensure that his future would be changed.

One last question, the psychologist called, and said Donnie I need to talk to you now, but they never followed up on it. What did she want to say???

[Susan]

Somethign that got on my nerves was someone sent me several nasty e-mails because of my review of the movie. Apparently they thought I didn't get it. I thought that was the point. Who wants to get a movie? The fun is a movie that challenges your intellect, I think somewhere it is completely explained by the director what the film is about - that in itself is a letdown to viewers. Who wants to be walked through an explanation which takes away your own conclusions and ideas.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I do believe that the phone call was actually for Donnie's parents.  The psychologist wanted to speak with them to warn them that Donnie was going to possibly have a psychological break with reality if not treated soon.  The call was made after the final hypnotisim(sp?) was performed.  I guess the psych heard too much and wanted to warn the family before something bad happened.

[Susan]

Maybe she should have taken him off the meds, notice that he only seems to hallucinate and see his bunny friend when he's on the meds? Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease

[Mr_Vindictive]

I had noticed that as well Susan.  But wasn't he seening phophecies(sp?) rather than hallucinations?  :o)

[Mofo Rising]

I think it can be clearly established that Donnie has entered into an alternate timeline by avoiding his freakish death.  That seems to be a precept.

But why did that jet engine fall at all?  It's not from any plane that exists in the "regular" reality.  (This can be established from the movie, but is spelled out explicitly on the webpage.)  In fact, I believe it was the "vessel" through which the whole alternate continuity was reached.  (For further information, look at the webpage and the pages from Roberta's Sparrow's book on the DVD.)  So Donnie avoiding his death was the cause of the alternate timeline, but the alternate timeline was the cause of Donnie's death.  Circular, but why?

In most of the extras on the DVD, the director states how this movie was an example of divine intervention.  That's God, folks.  (I assume Judeo-Christian, but that can be argued.)  But what does that mean?

I think the "Owl's Creek" interpretation holds water.  Donnie is dead but doesn't realize it, as he can't embrace his death.  Most of the people around him are caricatures.  (This would explain the two-dimensional characters like Swayze and the indignant teacher.)  Like JACOB'S LADDER, they're demons, meant to pull him down to indignant death, instead of heaven.

Now if you look at one of the core emotional statement's of the movie, where Donnie laments that nothing means anything if "everybody dies alone", it points to this interpretation.  Instead of dying alone, Donnie lives an alternate timeline, a sort of "cosmic reinterpretation" for the SOLE BENEFIT of Donnie, where he can see the error of his thinking.  He is not, nor was he ever, alone.  He has lived in the reality of human life, along with a/the divine reality.  His life was not existential meaningless.  The script he is put through, horrific though it is, helps him to realize this, and he can finally let go with joy in his heart, or something like it.  (Look at how he ends up back in his bed laughing before his deathblow falls from above.)

He can die realizing he is not alone, describing a relationship with humanity in general, but also God (however you want to describe that concept).

Something of an interpretation, but it falls apart anyway.  Why did Donnie die?  The whole thing was circular anyway.  It's reasons for happening would never have happened if it didn't happen.

I would stick with my original thoughts, which were that it was a treatise on teenage alienation.  It proved for me that not every movie about teenage angst had to suck.

Which is just my way of saying, "I don't know, man, I didn't do it."

[Johnny Blister]

Anyone knows if this movie is gonna be released in South America?