Did you know that the “fear and love” health thing is a real teaching method? Scary, huh?
I was wondering about that too, but i wouldn’t put it past some places to teach that crud.
Frank is part of Donnie, so in “Frank” telling him to get up, it could be viewed as his way of denying death. But like people say, this movie is over analyzed, its best to leave it as a good flick, cause thats what it is.
Wasn’t Frank a giant bunny rabbit in addition to being a part of Donnie’s mind?
Actually, from what I’ve heard, if you watch the directors ccommentary on the special edition DVD, the director describes Frank being an angel, or some other denzien of God.
but when most of that mass following loves the movie because it is pure mindfuck is ridiculous.
Are you shitting me? Donnie Darko wasn’t even close to mindfuck. It was closer to comedy than anything else. The dinner table scene for example, the scene where his dad giggles because he told the teacher to shove an excercise card up her ass, the smurf conversation. There was nothing deep whatsoever about DD. Even the time travelling stuff was pretty basic.
If you’re saying you hate the people who praise the false theories in the movie (such as the orb thing) then yeah, I understand. But no one likes DD for being something it’s not. It is not a mindfucking movie.
Anyways, I think the big part of the “hero” thing is because the character of Donnie is a teen idol or something. He wants to get laid, he’s doing poor in school, he’s rebellious, he tries to talk to girls, he has annoying sisters, he gets beat up in school-etc.
Actually, he was doing extremely well in school. The principal said his test scores were “intimidating.” He was really kinda nerdy except for the excercise card thing, and when he stood up and told off Jim Cunningham.
It is a mindfuck of a movie, only because it makes no fucking sense on your first run through.
I understood it fine the first time through… Of course there’s little details you miss, but it’s not something with layers upon layers of hints of suggestions of clues. And clues to what? There wasn’t really any mystery. They told you everything flat out, in simple english. That’s where I disagree with you about execution. they didn’t hide ANYTHING from you, and that’s why it would’ve been extremely boring if not for the comedic bits.
What? They don’t tell you anything. Would you like me to start naming the unexplained portions of Donnie Darko?
In a word, “Yes.” And don’t name off non-canon “mysteries” that stupid people on forums made up.
I really don’t know what you mean by non-canon mysteries, but whatever.
-Frank is never actually explained. It is never visually or vocally told what Frank represents. Furthermore, nothing in the story actually explains Franks purpose beyond introducing Donnie to the tangent universe. Why is it Frank, his sister’s boyfriend, who delivers these messages to Donnie?
-The letter to Rebecca Sparrow (the freaky old lady). Unless you look it up on donniedarko.com then you won’t know what the whole thing says.
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Rebecca Sparrow in general. I mean, she really just wanders around and wrote the book.
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Cellar Door is never actually linked. I got the connotation between Cellar Door and Rebecca Sparrow’s basement, but as far as why everything happened outside her house instead of, say Donnie’s front yard or something, is never explained.
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The jet engine. I know that it came from the plane Donnie’s mother was on - but if you watched the movie you would have no clue that’s where it came from.
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Why Donnie Sleepwalks. I’m not too sure on this one, I guess it has something to do with his mental instability or something, but honestly - fuck if I know.
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What the purpose of flooding the school was. What, to get a day off? To spend with Gretchen?
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What was Gretchens purpose? To instill faith in Donnie that life was worth living, and then that when she was gone to show Donnie that it was ok to die? Or what? I mean seriously.
I can think of more.
-Frank is never actually explained. It is never visually or vocally told what Frank represents. Furthermore, nothing in the story actually explains Franks purpose beyond introducing Donnie to the tangent universe. Why is it Frank, his sister’s boyfriend, who delivers these messages to Donnie?
What does this have to do with the story it, and what part of it don’t you understand? Frank doesn’t represent anything. Frank is Frank. His purpose is to drive the plot. His motive for telling Donnie about time travel is to save himself. If Donnie dies before he shoots Frank in the head, voila. That much was easy to deduct the first time watching it. Frank also killed Gretchen, maybe he wanted to remove that guilt.
-The letter to Rebecca Sparrow (the freaky old lady). Unless you look it up on donniedarko.com then you won’t know what the whole thing says.
I don’t even know what any part of it says, and that didn’t inhibit me from understanding the plot thoroughly the first time through. I assure you, her letter doesn’t hold the secret of eternal youth in it.
- Rebecca Sparrow in general. I mean, she really just wanders around and wrote the book.
So? What’s not to understand about that? It’s what she does. The movie is called “Donnie Darko,” not “Rebecca Sparrow.” Do her antics somehow suggest that she’s done something big, something important at one point in her life? It’s not mentioned in the movie, any speculation is meaningless. As far as anyone is concerned, she’s just what you called her, a creepy old lady.
- Cellar Door is never actually linked. I got the connotation between Cellar Door and Rebecca Sparrow’s basement, but as far as why everything happened outside her house instead of, say Donnie’s front yard or something, is never explained.
It happens there because that’s where Donnie was at the time he was jumped by that punk with the knife. As for the Cellar Door thing, Donnie actually mutters those words before he goes in. You didn’t “get” anything that wasn’t bluntly given to you.
- The jet engine. I know that it came from the plane Donnie’s mother was on - but if you watched the movie you would have no clue that’s where it came from.
Uh, are you kidding? Yes you would, you would, completely. How could you not? It was the most basic part of the entire movie. I got this part before I even sat down and watched it beginning to end.
- Why Donnie Sleepwalks. I’m not too sure on this one, I guess it has something to do with his mental instability or something, but honestly - fuck if I know.
Why does anyone sleepwalk? I don’t see where you’re going with this. Are you looking for connections between his sleepwalking and his supernatural abilities? I really don’t think there is one, it wasn’t even implied in the movie. Any link between them is fanboy forum theory.
- What the purpose of flooding the school was. What, to get a day off? To spend with Gretchen?
There was no purpose. Frank made him do it. Donnie even wrote that on the ground in big letters after the job was done. Why did Frank make him do it? Probably to prove that his predictions about Donnie’s death were accurate (by knowing that Donnie couldn’t be caught, and demonstrating that knowledge), and he wasn’t just an imaginary friend of Donnie’s. He was always trying to convince Donnie that he could get away with anything.
- What was Gretchens purpose? To instill faith in Donnie that life was worth living, and then that when she was gone to show Donnie that it was ok to die? Or what? I mean seriously.
Uh, she was his girlfriend. When a guy likes a girl, he asks her out. Not every character has some kind of super-intense philosophical representation. You’re just thinking WAY too hard.
Questions like these are pretty easy to answer with a little insight, even after only 2 or 3 times seeing it… I’ve only watched the entire thing twice.
See, you must not know a lot about literature. Because in literature, everything is supposed to have a purpose. Everything from your word choice to your characterization. Kind of like chess in that every move is supposed to have a purpose. If it doesn’t, you aren’t playing good chess. With a movie like Donnie Darko, then everything should have a purpose, because there are some pretty significant things that I mentioned that you neglected. Specifically Rebecca Sparrow - who is relevent, because not only does she exist in the movie without any incident, one of the final scenes in the movie takes place at her house, she writes the book that explains time travel, Donnie writes her a letter, and they almost hit her with the car. This isn’t random - it has a point, and if you deny that then you are denying part of the movie - which in essence means you don’t understand it any more than I do.
You attack my knowledge of literature instead of my arguments. Can I assume I won?
And when I write stories, I certainly don’t give everything a purpose. Have you ever read anything by any good author? Clavell uses shit like “a dog barked.” to fill space. Does that dog have a purpose? No, it’s just to convey mood. Just like Rebecca Sparrow is only there to write a book and be creepy. If you’re looking for a “why,” I can probably guess her discoveries about time travel just blew her mind and made her crazy or something. Keep in mind I’m talking about the actual movie here, not theories some self-titled intellectual made up to make Rebecca Sparrow look like an excessively intense, important character. She’s really not.
By the way, I think her name is Roberta, not Rebecca.
Hades darling, I actually agree with Sorceror. They don’t tell you anything. The things you are noticing are things you see because you are a good observer. Most people don’t get that shit during their first watch. But-
The Tangent Universe, the primary universe, the Manipulated Living/Dead, the living Reciever, Donnie’s 4th dimensional powers, the artifact and the catalysts, such as metal (the knife) and water are NOT explained AT ALL. And they are all official terms in understanding the movie.
I was discussing this movie in class with other peers and I got laughed at for explaining what the movie was about, and then my friend had the fucking balls to say “Hey so and so, come over here and educate Ashley on Donnie Darko”. Asshole. I’m quite fluent in speaking Donnie Darko thanks, and I’ve read many theories as to what might be going on. DD is NOT a dream sequence, it’s the end of the world. When Donnie dies in the end (which he MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN) that’s when october 2nd is being played over the 2nd time. Why? because the tangent universe collapsed. How the fuck is anyone supposed to know that? They don’t. But it’s all over the site and the internet. When the movie starts and Frank wakes Donnie up for the first time, and when the engine crashes, that’s when the primary universe is shifted into the unstable tangent universe. Why is Donnie looking at the sky in the end of the movie after the party the morning after? Because he knows the tangent universe is collapsing, you can see it. Duhn duhn DUHN. Mystery solved. And in explaining that, no one accepted it at school. I was also told that Frank is God, which is pure bullshit, because he hardly mentions that. He hints at being some sort of follower of God (God loves his children) but he never comes right out and says it. That’s the whole underlying theme right there- the search for God. if Frank really was God then Donnie’s questions would have been meanigless the entire time, because he’d somehow know that Frank was God-which he ISN’T…because Frank is of the future and Donnie can NOT touch Frank, as seen in the bathroom when Donnie is stabbing at the barrier between them (since Frank’s ghost is of the future and Donnie’s is of the present…and the concept of God isn’t just of the future). Anyways, when the Manipulated Dead/Living all wake up, Frank touches his eye, as if remembering, but would he remember being God? Nuh uh. Ridiculous.
The Tangent Universe, the primary universe, the Manipulated Living/Dead, the living Reciever, Donnie’s 4th dimensional powers, the artifact and the catalysts, such as metal (the knife) and water are NOT explained AT ALL. And they are all official terms in understanding the movie.
See, this is what I was expecting Sorc to ask me about when I asked him what wasn’t explained, not the basic stuff he did, which was all given to you.
I actually don’t think this is a huge part of the movie at all. It explains a few things, and it’s interesting to compare where the ideas came from, but it’s not necessary to know anything about it to understand absolutely everything the movie was trying to convey.
And who exactly told you Frank is God? I hope it wasn’t your teacher, or I’ll have to pity the sub-nothing quality of the NS education system.
Edit: And you probably already know this, but I’m gonna say it anyway, Frank is a manipulated dead.
Thanks hades, I was so flustered at the thought of people challenging me on Donnie Darko that I didn’t come out and say he was a manipulated dead. And yes you’re right, no one has to no any of that stuff, but without it, you get a completely different confusing version of the movie that the director didn’t have in mind.
Yeah- I’d have to say that Hades is mostly right about this. It’s fairly easy to understand the first time around, if you’re not trying to overanalyze it.
Eva! Get your ass on MSN! Stop appearing offline! It hurts me ;_;
The Tangent Universe was actually relativly easy to understand. Because they keep a timeline in the movie, so when the timeline suddenly goes back to October 1st, I found it obvious that what had been going on in the movie was some kind of alternate universe or something. As far as what it was called or the reasoning behind it, eludes you. But yeah, if you don’t catch that then you really are stupid.
Donnie Darko, and movies like it, are very literary in nature, which is why I referenced Literature in my post. Not popular fiction, literature. Writers like John Milton, Shakespeare, T.H. White, James Joyce, Richard Wright, Mark Twain. Fiction and literature are different. My post should have been longer to pull this together better so that you’d get it. And you’re right, her name is Roberta. Roberta, Rebecca, whatever.
Further more, in your dog example, the dog did have a purpose - and it’s purpose was to convey the mood. Not that I see how your example conveys mood, but you get the point. I hope.
These writers don’t just throw shit in there for no reason, they put it there for a reason. Donnie Darko is a 2 hour movie where a number of events happen. So it can be assumed that each individual event has a purpose and a meaning that contributes to the overall meaning of the movie. The problem with Donnie Darko is that none of these events are explained in a manner that shows the viewer what that purpose was.