An EXTREMELY Long Incomplete, Yet Sensible Theory

[chenitaautumnangel]

DON'T WORRY! There's not much more after what's typed out, maybe jsut questions.

This is pretty much most theory of Donnie Darko -- forged as correctly as one can with such a paradoxical story -- with logic, knowledge, and Roberta Sparrow's book: Philosophy of Time Travel. (Do not confuse logic and knowledge.)
SORRY if it seems all out of order or repetitive in some way. Alas, I may have entered some typoes, sorry!

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A tangent universe is created by the Fourth Dimension (which has absolutely no sense of time, unlike the Third Dimension's Primary Universe, which is completely stable and involves time in a strict and uniform manner. Tangent universes are created when the fabric of time and space in the Fourth Dimension becomes corrupted. This event, albeit rare, does not go hand-in-hand with our sense of time, rather, it lacks the partnership of length of time and many tangent universes can be created in the Third Dimesion only centuries or millenia apart. Meanwhile the Fourth Dimension may only become corrupted once every eon or trilion years, according to it's different set of physics and such. BOTTOM LINE: The two dimensions do not share he same sense of timelength or passage (the course in which events occur). The tangent universe is a sort of hybrid creation of the two dimensions, so it lacks the stability of the Third Dimension's universe, the Primary Universe, and it carries with it the characteristics of the Fourth Dimension, such as a construct of water, vortexes, and the Manipulated Living and Dead. Think of the Tangent Universe as an alternate universe, but not a polar opposite as seen in Star Trek or in most sci-fi media dealing with the multiverse, a theoretical collection of more that one universe. In the Tangent Universe, Donnie eperiences encounters with the Manipulated Dead (Gretchen Ross and Frank (Anderson)) along with the more unobvious Maniplated Living (almost anyone around him who does not die by the time the Artifact is put into position for it's journey back to the Primary universe).

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The Artifact plays the largest non-human role in the movie: the mysterious plane engine (turbine) from the future of the tangent universe. An Artifact's existence in the Primary universe seems to defy all logical explanation and is deemed reasonable only by Divine Intervention. Intervention has to be the best word to describe the purpose of the Artifact. It is made of metal and often of religious lineography and attract much interest from the Living.

The arrival or acknowledgement of an Artifact signifies a tangent universe, such as the plane's turbine crushing Donnie's tangent house while he talks to Frank about something created later, the Black Hole. In the primary universe, the plane crash at the end never happened, as it has a DIFFERENT FUTURE THAT THE TANGENT! BUT the engine still appears and kills Donnie, (albeit, indirectly) because that is when the Living Receiver returns home! This means that none of those events in the movie affected any of the characters in the same way as they were in the tangent universe. Therefore, Ms. Karen Pomeroy (Drew Barrymore) (known as Mrs. Pomeroy in the Primary Universe ) was never fired and, instead, has 11 more years of happiness with Mr. Monnitoff (Noah Wiley) her husband and Donnie's science teacher. Chenita Chen is happy instead of her Tangent counterpart's depressed life, and so on with the rest of the cast. The only family taht the film doesn't show that has a different life is the Darko family as the ending scene plays. REMEMBER! THE TANGENT AND PRIMARY UNIVERSE SHARE THE SAME PHYSICAL ASPECTS AND EVERYONE IS IN THEIR EXACT POSITION AS THEIR TANGENT COUNTERPARTS AT THE POINT THE TANGENT IS CREATED! HOWEVER, THE PRIMARY UNIVERSE IS NEVER AFFECTED BY ANYTHING FROM THE TANGENT EXCEPT THE ARTIFACT (plane turbine/engine) AND THE LIVING RECEIVER (Donnie Darko)! The reason for this is that the tangent, when collapsing, will create a Black Hole in the Primary Universe that is capable of swallowing and destroying all existence. The Artifact is a duplicate of something that already exists in the tangent, but, in this case, when the turbine from the primary is introduced it, it creates a link between the two universes. This, in turn, links the destruction of the tangent to the primary, unless the Living Receiver brings it back to the primary and, therefore, discontinues the link between the two universes, saving the primary universe from the fate of the tangent. (Confused, yet? )


In the tangent universe, everything is copied exactly from the primary (stable and 3D) universe. However, after that point in which the tangent universe is created, it's future differs from the possibilities of the primary universe. Unfortunately, the tangent universe was created unnaturally by the Fourth Dimension to coincide with Third Dimensional rules (our dimension) and this causes the decay of such a universe. Because the tangent universe was not created by the primary universe (our's), it becomes unstable and shows no signs of self-destruction until several weeks pass. After that, a Black Hole is created. The Black Hole in the movie was created forom the sky, which Frank has been blatantly signifying for the few weeks before hand. The time given to Donnie at his first meeting with Frank is the time the tangent has until it begins to collapse. At this point, on the sixth hour of October 31st, Donnie realises exactly what to do and escapes the tangent with the artifact ripped from the 747 plane (the turbine) and successfuly carries out his duty. The Living Receiver is the only one to return to the primary universe, other than the Manipulated Undead, but has the opposite fate than they do.

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In a way, Donnie COULD be considered a hero, but his uniqueness would be a in the more unpopular heroic qualities: paradoxical story, psychological abnormalities, and an archaic and complex understanding of religion and science being related. Something completely off-course from the usual comic, cartoon, book, movie, or TV show quality hero.

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[chenitaautumnangel]

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A vortex is created when the tangent universe is being created. The Living Receiver is the person closest to the vortex (in the film's case, Donnie) gets placed in the Tangent Universe and is separated from the Primary universe. When Donnie awakens near the moutain at the very beginning, that is the area in which the vortex was. Another bit of the theory could be that the vortex is where Donnie's room is, which would change the whole logic, but still make sense, nonetheless. I don't think I want to type for another hour though, so I'll leave my Mountain Vortex theory solo.

Donnie, most likely actually on and riding his bike, was closest and the vortex automatically chose him to be the Living Receiver. ((If you have no clue what a Living Receiver is, still, here's a little more info))The Living Receiver experiences tormenting dreams, visions, and auditory illusions. Frank's voice and movement-- notice how he never moves anywhere kinetically and only appears beyond the camera? -- seem to emulate these illusions. Remeber that not all of Donnie's psychological problems are not caused by Frank. Also, Donnie consciously chooses not to use his powers until the end where Gretchen is killed, setting off an emotional Ensurance Trap, causing him to shoot Frank in the face through his eye. I'll talk more about this later.

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The Manipulated Living are not always EVERYONE around him, but only the people destined in the tangent to affect Donnie in a somewhat offensive or fearful way. They ARE human forms (well, at least for the movie), but they are all, in some way, affected by the Tangent's laws and host Liquid Spears htat deny them of their own free will, leaving them under the control of what Donnie concludes is God. His logic of spiritual belief, which is religion, is agnosticism. Agnotics believe there can and never was or will be any proof of God's existence and follow their own way of life and theory, but never rule out the possibility of God. This is what many non-agnostics are confused by -- his religious logic! Sadly, I am not the type of agnostic to explain agnosticism in full detail, so you would have to research it further

The Manipulated Living help the Living Receiver reach his goal: to position the Artifact so it can return to the Primary universe. This may even include alienating him so he focuses on his goal instead of societal issues. Their attempts to save themselves from the Oblivion of existence usually only creates MORE confusion, like when Donnie gets scolded and suspended by "Kittie", the evangelistic and Cunningham fanatical teacher. They are weaker than the Living Receiver and do not possess the enigmatic Fourth Dimensional powers that he and the Manipulated Dead do.

Roberta Sparrows is not to be considered an unsucessful Receiver, as, in her book, she warns the reader, supposedly the real Receiver, to contact her in case these events unfold. She is also listed in the Notes section, written by Donnie, to be a Manipulated Living at the end. She also knows of these things from before the tangent was created. Remember, the tangent has no past beyond it's point of creation, according to it's twisted timeline. the timeline has many elements of the later parts of the movie incorporated into the beginning and, therefore, puzzles the majority of viewers.

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On a different, yet familiar page than the Manipulated Living, the Manipulated Dead are more powerful that the Living Receiver and will do anything with their abilities to make sure he reaches his goal. They are destined to be killed before the Artifact is positioned, but are vitally important to the Receiver's progress, much more so then the Manipulated Living. The Dead are killed later in the TANGENT timeline, but, because the timeline is so twisted from the matrix of the Fourth Dimension, they are allowed to contact the Living Receiver and become physical apparitions in the Tangent. They use the Fourth Dimensional Construct to do this.

The first of the two Dead to appear is Frank Anderson, clad in his lie size, immensly disturbing "bunny rabbit" costume. His powers shown in the movie are telekinesis, and he successfully uses it to make Donnie use his Fourth Dimensional Powers. Gretchen, however never utilizes her Fourth Dimensional Powers, and no one's really sure if she IS blessed with Powers at all. Instead she forms a humanized emotional and spiritual bond so that when she is killed adn she sets off the Ensurance Trap, she causes Donnie to set off and save her, despite his own life's sacrifice. Gretchen is the complete opposite of Frank indeed because she uses lovig emotions to control Donnie. Finally, Jim Cunningham's not-so-keen observations come in handy.

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The Fourth Dimensional Powers, as written by Roberta Sparrows, "include increased strength, telekinesis, mind control, and the ability to conjure fire and water." Donnie and Gretchen do not utilize magic when using Fourth Dimensional powers, meaning they do not control or manipulate the spiritual world. In other words, they don't create energetic concentrations like those in games and such. The power s in this film are represented with a much more realistically achievable view. Donnie sets fire to the house using gasoline and floods the school when he botches the waterpipes in the boiler room with an axe. The film portrays the Fourth Dimensional Powers more humanely with Gretchen then Frank's enigmatic and forceful way. Frank uses fear and Liquid spears to control Donnie, while Gretchen partners with Donnie and forms a romantic relationship, knowing that is the opposite end of the generic spectrum of human emotion. The spectrum is the Fear/Love one Jim Cunningham uses, BTW.

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The most undiscussed element of the movie (no pun intended) is the effect on the Tangent from the two factors of transuniversal/-dimensional travel: water and metal. I will only proceed to talk about water because I find the factor of metal too straightforward to be covered here. It's only for the Artifact and the spacecraft, which is always made of metal and can be used to travel between the universes. (The only other way to travel between the tagent and primary is contact with a vortex.

Water is the most important visual representation of time and universal travel in the film. Water is the Fourth Dimensional Construct and, since the Construct is made of water, the Liquid Spears appear as water. Donnie's analysis of the liquid spears. They are forms of liquid protruding from the solar plexus and seen as translucient, blue, WATERY, serpent-like forms that, when followed, lead back to the "owner"'s starting destination. (I say owner to refer to the specified Manipulated Dead or Living hosting a Liquid Spear). ONLY the Manipulated Living hosts are affected, remember, and Donnie can plainly see them. It's unknown whether Frank can see them, but it's obvious he knows how to use them. One of the Manipulated Dead, Gretchen, even with Fourth Dimensional Powers, cannot see them, yet she has no visible Liquid Spear in her solar plexus during the movie, and Frank obviously defies the Third Dimensional laws of physics and time, ruling the Manipulated Dead out from this Water theory.

ANY ADDITIONAL PIECES OR QUESTIONS WILL BE ADDED SOON ENOUGH

[laggerific]

What would happen if an artifact occured, but no one was around to notice?

[chenitaautumnangel]

Guest-laggerific said:

What would happen if an artifact occured, but no one was around to notice?

An Artifact would always generate some sort of attention from the Living Manipulated. It's always found near someone with an opinion and deep interest, possibly even involving religious or spiritual belief in the Artifact. The Middlesex community is most likely Protestant because of its lowered level of strictness and unfrequent references to God, but it's Aircraft is explained by the townspeople in the Tangent as Roberta Sparrow explains it: a Divine Intervention, something seldom considered in Protestant belief. However, in the articles from the Primary universe, they refer to the turbine as a conspiracy or something governmental-related. I'm not really sure why that is, but maybe because the turbine doesn't really have an obvious or popular religious affiliation, it is immediately connected to an underground, Illuminati-type organization or motif. But, clearly, they're way off.

The Artifact and the Living Receiver always go hand in hand, so an Artifact will not exist without it's Living Receiver and vice versa. The Artifact is something taken in by the vortex and is made of metal. The Living Receiver, the person closest to the vortex, is chosen to lead the Artifact to the position it needs to be at so it can make it's journey back to the Primary universe. The vortex only returns when the Black Hole begins to appear.

Say there's a plane over Antarctica and the pilot dies, there's no one else on the continent at that time, and there's no one in the plane alive. Some one on another continent or the oceans, for example, would be chosen to be the Receiver. The Receiver, upon arrival, with may begin to experience Fourth Dimensional Powers, like conjuring water from nothing. Others around him, the Manipulated Living, who are destined to act bizarrely and irrational, will do anything they can to help the Receiver position the Artifact because that is what the Liquid Spears would MAKE them do. The Manipulated Living (see definitions in first posts) would have no choice but to help th Receiver and their free will to do otherwise is taken away from them by the controlling Liquid Spears.

NOTE: In the Primary Universe, the Manipulated Dead and Living do not exist, neither does the third copy of a singular object, the Artifact. The Artifact is the copy of something from the Primary that was ALREADY copied when the Tangent was created. The vortex swallows it up though, making it existent in the Tangent for a second time AND in the Primary a second time. The diference in the sense of time causes this to happen.
The plane in the movie exists in the Primary at first, then copied when the Tangent is created.

When in contact with the vortex in the Primary, the Living Receiver, Donnie, is transported into the Tangent. When Donnie goes to sleep in his bed on October 2nd, that's when it all happens. Then, the Artifact from the time the vortex is created at the end of the Tangent's timeline, transports the Artifact to the Primary and Tangent at the same time to the SAME location, which would actually mean it exists at the same place in the two universes (don't consider it duplicated though, remember, it's in two different existences!) When Donnie's room gets crushed in the Tangent, he's outside with Frank, but when he's in the Primary -- at the same exact time, I might add, he just travelled back through time when the Tangent collapses -- his room gets crushed with him in it.

So, basically, the turbine was ripped off the place at the end of the Tangent's time, sent back to Donnie's room in both universes (although we never see what would happen without Donnie in the Primary the first time, hmm...), then crushing his room. That is when Frank appears, the first citizen of the Fourth Dimension, the Gretchen, then the Liquid Spears make themselves known to Donnie. It's basically like the chaos theory in reverse: the whole of exisitence coincides in the Fourth and Third dimensions to help save existence in both universes. It's actually a really well-thought out plot.

The Tangent's instability is always the result of it's creation. You can't mix two dimensions together and make it based in just one. It's not a natural occurance anyways and the only reason it could possibly exist is that there is something wrong with the Fourth Dimension's fabric, as read in Miss Sparrow's book.

I forgot to mention! Anyone in or from The Fourth Dimension will do ANYTHING TO MAKE SURE THE RECEIVER POSITIONS THE ARTIFACT! This is where the Manipulated Dead and Liquid Spears come in. The Manipulated Dead, split between the Third and Fourth Dimenson, use fear (Frank's method) and/or love (Gretchen's method) to help the Receiver, as well as Ensurance Traps, like emotional rage and grievance (Gretchen's death, Frank's death, and teenage mood swings ;D ) and their Fourth Dimensional Powers. They're very smart and know how to fulfill their duties. They are dead in the Tangent, but alive in the Primary (Real) universe. The Liquid Spears I've explained before so...yah.

(Sorry for any mistakes, if there are any!)

[ProvidencePortal]

I want to be supportive and provide some useful coaching. First, Chenita, I really appreciate your enthusiasm -- it really shows through. I love that you took the time to provide all of us such a detailed consideration of the movie.

However, I want you to know that I have not read it all ... in fact, I've barely read the first part -- not because I don't think you have a contribution to make, but simply because this is far more content than I find useful in a message board format.

May I suggest that you break your posts down to the more specific questions and discussions that are going on around the board? That will be more accessible to most people who stop by and read and in chunks, and will facilitate more discussion (it's hard to read, think about and make a substantive response to such a massive set of posts all together).

Again, I want to thank you for your contribution and welcome you to the board ... but I also want to help you have a better experience, and help you help others have a better experience with you.

[cps]

OK, I'm new to this so sorry if this has been asked before.

What difference the the time line is made by Donnie either living or dieing when he's hit by the engine?

If he lives, we see what happens in the film, his mum and sister go off to LA in the plane that's struck by the wormhole, making the jet engine the artifact.

If he dies, then maybe his mum and sister might not go to LA because they're still grieving a month after his death. Maybe they do go anyway. Either way, that plane is still going to come back from LA with or without them, and hit the wormhole?

Am I missing something here?

[gretchen]

haha prov exactly why i haven't responded to this yet... screw all that reading!

basically cps, and i mean VERY BASICALLY, if donnie chooses to dodge the engine and live... he will live a life of solitude and regret. if he dies, he can be with god, and be happy and will never be alone.

basically.

donnie has closed the wormhole so no the plane won't run into it and lose an engine. 10/30 has not yet occured in the primary universe, and if mom and sam go to LA in the PU after donnie dies, there's no wormhole there anyway. it was in 10/02. and donnie closed it.

[rightfielder21]

I'm with Gretchen and Prov, I didn't read it either, it was too long...

[cps]

That's the bit that I don't get, if he's closed the wormhole and saved the world, how come he gets hit by an unidentified jet engine smashing through his room and crushing him?

[cps]

doesn't that mean that the wormhole's going to happen again anyway, on october 28th, like a time loop, otherwise there would be no jet engine to kill him if he successfully closed the rupture in space time.

[ProvidencePortal]

Guest-cps said:

doesn't that mean that the wormhole's going to happen again anyway, on october 28th, like a time loop, otherwise there would be no jet engine to kill him if he successfully closed the rupture in space time.

CPS -- love the questions, but I want to be fair to the rest of the forum, which means they shouldn't have to re-read answers to questions in this thread that have been discussed and posted elsewhere. I'd suggest reading through all the posts in this thread as a start, including "The answer - spoiler" and "Donnie's death saves noone!" ... and if you have the time, it's a good idea to catch up on ALL the posts in this forum before asking a clarifying question or presenting a theory.

Otherwise, every new person who stopped by would likely post the same questions we've all considered, and the board would be unmanageable for those who come here frequently looking for updates.

Thanks!

[cps]

OK, did a bit of a search and read, and all the threads leading to people opinions based on the film-what they see and persive about donnie and how they think the movie wraps up. but with all the jargon about artifacts, manipulated living/dead, donnie being the receiver, devine intervention, etc, I can't find the answer to the question about what seems to be a paradox - both in the film and from a viewers point of view. Am I missing something?

[chenitaautumnangel]

hahaha! I'm kinda shocked that you'd complain about the length! I had to CUT some stuff from it! oh my...

well, yes, I looked at it when I typed it and sent it and, yeah, it seemed way to long. Sorry about that!

Maybe a little bedtime reading, eh?

Anyways, sorry, but I don't think I can cut much more or else people will miss some stuff that links the events and philosophy. It's complicated, ugh! ;D

[ProvidencePortal]

Guest-cps said:

OK, did a bit of a search and read, and all the threads leading to people opinions based on the film-what they see and persive about donnie and how they think the movie wraps up. but with all the jargon about artifacts, manipulated living/dead, donnie being the receiver, devine intervention, etc, I can't find the answer to the question about what seems to be a paradox - both in the film and from a viewers point of view. Am I missing something?

There's a very definitive explanation of the movie's overall timeline -- including a deconstruction of why there is no "loop" -- in this very thread. It's authored by Gretchen; I don't have time to look for it today, but maybe a search will lead you to it, or perhaps Gretch will be willing to summarize her thoughts here.

edit: added missing word

[gretchen]

sure i'm willing... if someone could point me to what i said before so i can get my bearings... ha... i've spent the last 48 hours with my horses so to say i'm a little tired and braindead is an understatement. there needs to be a sleepy smiley.