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Aug 30, 2004 02:33


Alrighty then, I recommend reading the philosophy of time travel (from the Donnie Darko dvd, www.donniedarko.com, OR many other sites, search google) and perhaps even completing the Donnie Darko website before or after you finish reading this. The following is as i've heard the most common theory and the one Richard Kelly (writer/director) was following. Although he left the story open for any interpretations and your own personal opinions, this one seems to put everything together. If you want to take the easy way out and simply say "it was all a dreeeaaammm of Donnie's" then go straight ahead. And so here it is, Donnie Darko explained (as clear as possible).

The jet engine comes from nowhere and causes a corruption in time. It doesn't make any sense. A total screw-up in time and the universe. What's that do? It causes what is called "The Tangent Universe". Basically the whole film takes place in this Tangent Universe, from the moment the engine crashes into Donnie's room the first time, to the moment it crashes into it the second time. Everything happens for a reason, eh?

In this Tangent universe, a "Living receiver" is randomly selected. Donnie plays the role of the living receiver. His task is to give the artifact (engine) a meaning for it's appearance. If he fails to do so, the tangent universe will collapse into itself, ending itself and the primary universe (ours).

Just about every other character in the film (excluding Donnie, Frank and Gretchen) are what is called "The manipulated living". Their job is to guide Donnie to fulfill his objective. For example there's Roberta Sparrow and her book, Donnie's science teacher..etc. You can come up with examples for all of them. Examples of how they somehow helped him.

Frank and Gretchen are what is called "The manipulated dead". They're called this because they, at some point, die in the Tangent Universe. Due to this, they are given the power to contact Donnie at any other time within the tangent universe, even BEFORE they die. This explains why Donnie sees Frank's ghost-like figure. Why didn't Donnie see a ghost-like figure of Gretchen? Well really, there was no need. Frank seemed to have it under control, and Gretchen was an actual friend of Donnie so she was already there for him.

Another quick fact. As the living receiver, Donnie is gifted with special abilities. The ability to conjure fire and water (comes in handy when he's setting fire to Jim Cunningham's house, and when he's flooding the school), telekinesis (this helps when he's placing the jet engine into the hole in the ending), mind control (not sure where this was used..guess it wasn't necessary) and increased strength (the axe in the solid bronze school statue, "The Mongrel"). There had been a shot that Richard decided to cut from the movie and DVD of Donnie elevating from the ground and slamming the axe into the statue, just so you can go with your imagination.

Think about it people. If Donnie hadn't done just about every single thing in the film, if he hadn't listened to the manipulated, he would never have put the engine into the hole in the end. If he hadn't done this, it would have never travelled back in time and crashed into his house, giving the universe a massive "brain-overload", causing the universe to be destroyed.

What else? Remember in the ending where many characters from the film are shown waking up? Well this is because after the tangent universe is over with (it was over with once Donnie sent the engine back through time), some of the manipulated will have haunting dreams and memories of their journey through it. As you can see, they all have mixed feelings about what they remember. Cherita for example, is laying quietly down with a soft smile, but then Jim Cunningham on the other hand ends up committing suicide because he remembers too much and it drives him mad (this info found on the donnie darko website). This also explains the ending scene. Gretchen feels she knows or remembers Donnie from somewhere. Both her and Donnie's mother feel it too, like they know or remember eachother from somewhere. They don't know why or how. This is why Jena Malone gives her character that amazingly acted puzzled look on her face, then a slow wave, out of instinct I guess
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