Okay, I've viewed DD for the 7th time and now I seem to have even more questions that originally ... : )
1-How exactly does Donnie save the world? Was the world ever going to end? Was this because the tangent universe was going to collapse? I mean, by Donnie going back to sleep, he certainly saves Gretchen, Frank, and everyone on the plane, but the world ... ? And how exactly does he do this?
2- When Donnie is watching that spiral cloud up on top of Carpathian Ridge, at the end, is he creating that?
3 - Okay. If all the things that happened in teh tangent universe (IE, mainly the whoel movie) lead Donnie toward being able to fix the past, isn't this contradictory/mutually exclusive? So that Gretchen dying, Frank dying, everything happening is happening so Donnie can reverse it all? That doesn't make sense ...
4 - What is the dif b/w a wormhole and a portal? That was a portal that Frank showed Donnie in the movie theater ... does that allow him to travel back in time?
5 - Why can/does Frank and Donnie conjure up water? Like when Donnie and Frank are in the bathroom, and Frank tells Donnie he can do anything he wants (incl. cnojuring up water).
6 - Why does Donnie say "I've got the power to build a time machine" to Dr. Thurman? I guess I still don't get how Donnie travels back in time from the scene where he is sitting on top of the station wagon watching the spiral cloud to the point where he is back in bed ... is he creating a portal or something to go back?
Umm hopefully I didn't turn everyone off by a million questions. But I'm still confused. So answer anyways.
emily
1-How exactly does Donnie save the world?
Either A), he used his "powers" after the tangent universe engine went through the portal and before the tangent universe ended, or B) the reason the portal was created was a direct end result of Gretchen dieing, and after Donnie died, Gretchen wouldn't die, therefore, the wormhole would not exist anymore, and the universe was saved (POTT says the womrhole can destroy the universe if it exists for too long). I think it's B because I think God made the wormhole so Donnie would die to save Gretchen and Frank and so he could lose his fear of dieing because he'd know God exists (because of the very strange dream he had. he even says he believes there will be "so much to look forward to" in the letter). POTT also says the only logical explanation for the appearance of a wormhole is "divine intervention."
Was the world ever going to end?
It did....sorta. Most of the movie was the "tangent universe" which according to POTT only lasts "several weeks." Kinda like...28 days, 6 hours, 48 minutes, and 12 seconds? Heh.
Was this because the tangent universe was going to collapse?
If you're talking about the primary universe ending, POTT says it would end if the wormhole existed too long. Donnie got rid of it somehow.
I mean, by Donnie going back to sleep, he certainly saves Gretchen, Frank, and everyone on the plane, but the world ... ?
Yep.
And how exactly does he do this?
That was the first question.
2- When Donnie is watching that spiral cloud up on top of Carpathian Ridge, at the end, is he creating that?
I don't think so. Manipulated Frank told Donnie the world was coming to and end, and Donnie was like "...why?" also, in the director's cut, after Gretchen and Frank die, Sparrow goes up to Donnie and says that the storm is coming soon and Donnie had better hurry. Because she says the storm is coming after Gretchen dies, this backs up my God theory that God made the wormhole as a direct result of Gretchen dieing. However, she tells him that there isn't much time, which could have meant that Donnie had to hurry to stop the wormhole with his powers. If this is true, then Donnie cannot destroy the wormhole simply by dieing, and that the wormhole's creation was NOT a result of Gretchen dieing. However, the statement is vague, and can work in the God theory.
However, she could have just meant that the storm was coming because she figured out what was going on (so the storm wasn't necessarily starting at that moment), and that would mean that her talking to Donnie doesn't back up the God theory. However, the only way she could know the storm was coming at that exact moment was if she knew the wormhole IS divine intervention. She says in POTT that it's the only "logical explanation," so we can assume therefore that the film believes in God, but you don't HAVE to have God in this movie for it to work.
3 - Okay. If all the things that happened in teh tangent universe (IE, mainly the whoel movie) lead Donnie toward being able to fix the past, isn't this contradictory/mutually exclusive? So that Gretchen dying, Frank dying, everything happening is happening so Donnie can reverse it all? That doesn't make sense ...
Why not? Maybe God wanted Donnie to lost his fear of death and save two peoples lives. If Donnie had to stop the wormhole with his powers, then there is no God in this movie. However, this would mean that Donnie chose to die to save two people, and not to the save universe. Therefore, the question is not why Donnie would die to reverse the events of the primary universe (not the tangent universe), but whether or not he did to so to save the universe, or to save two people. The answer to that question answers the question as to whether or not there is a God in this movie.
4 - What is the dif b/w a wormhole and a portal? That was a portal that Frank showed Donnie in the movie theater ... does that allow him to travel back in time?
A wormhole is how you can take an object into another universe. In the case of the one in the movie, it goes from Oct 30 to Oct 2 both ways. The portal does not allow you to go back in time. The portal Frank referred to is a portal showing God's path (how can burning down Cunningham's house be the future if you have to see the future to do it--it must be "God's Path"). The "dimensional portal" is how the Manipulated Dead communicates with the living receiver, according to POTT.
5 - Why can/does Frank and Donnie conjure up water? Like when Donnie and Frank are in the bathroom, and Frank tells Donnie he can do anything he wants (incl. cnojuring up water).
They didn't conjure that. The dimensional portal, according to POTT is made of water. If MD Frank is walking around, he uses moisture in the air. If MD Frank is talking through a mirror, then the mirror must be a mixture of glass and water (which explains the consistensy when they both thump it).
The living receiver can conjure water, etc. because...well just cuz he's the living receiver i guess. The LR can also conjure fire, which also explains where Donnie's petrol came from when he burned down Cunningham's house.
6 - Why does Donnie say "I've got the power to build a time machine" to Dr. Thurman? I guess I still don't get how Donnie travels back in time from the scene where he is sitting on top of the station wagon watching the spiral cloud to the point where he is back in bed ... is he creating a portal or something to go back?
I think he didn't know what he was talking about. He knew Frank was going to kill someone, and he saw the school flooded in a dream. POTT says the LR is "haunted by dreams" so I guess Donnie also knew that he would (sort of) travel through time when he dreamed about the tangent universe. Retroactively, it's like traveling through time 28 days back. As for him saying it in the movie...I don't see why that had to be. In the director's cut, the voice over about a craft traveling at the speed of light when the tangent universe plane lost it's engine was cut from the movie. I'm glad it was that way in the director's cut, because the plane wasn't traveling at the speed of light. I think it's just a line that shouldn't have existed and we should ignore.
btw, I've only seen the movie four times and the director's cut once. I strongly suggest that you visit these interpretations of the film:
www.tonystuff.co.uk/darko-spoilers.htmwww.mjyoung.net/time/darko.htmlwww.cinereporter.com.br/downloads/DDarko.pdfwww.stainlesssteelrat.net/ddfaq.htmwww.tangent-universe.org/dump/time_travel.htmlwhich are found here:
darkomovie.proboards24.com/index.cgi?board=links&action=display&thread=1090564852
