Post by Alec on Jan 8, 2006 15:37:21 GMT -5
Hello everyone. I'm new to the message board and would like to start off by just saying hi. My name is Alec (obviously) and I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I saw Donnie Darko about a year ago and it has been my number one favourite movie ever since.
Anyway after much thought, I have completely finished my personal theory as to what happened in this film.
I would like you to keep in mind I haven’t seen the directors cut and refuse to watch because it apparently answers everyone’s questions regarding the film. The biggest reason I love this movie is because it is so open to personal interpretation and that no matter how good of an explanation you can come up with, more questions will always remain. So here's my theory:
To begin, I would like to point all the references to God in the film. It's very rare that a film will contain so many references to God without having them be significant to the plot of the film. When Donnie is talking to Proffessor Monotoff, he states that time travel may be an act of God, and that nothing about it has to make sense according to our perceptions since it is an act of God and in God's channel. That being said, it's pretty clear that in Donnie's case, time travel is instigated by some sort of higher entity, if not God him/her/them/itself. Now Frank orchestrates all the significant events that happen in the film on some level. He also seems to have knowledge of past, present and future and the moment when the world will end. Therefore, if time travel is an act of God, I believe Frank is the Messiah since he represents God's will and actions, and has come to save the world from ending. Throughout this analysis I will be comparing Frank to Jesus Christ, however, please understand that I am doing it strictly for the sake of comparison; I am not saying that Frank is Jesus, nor am I placing any specific religious significance in the film. Anyway, Jesus also came to represent God's will and his actions, and he came to save the world and humanity by sacrificing himself.
Donnie kills Frank in the end; he kills the Messiah, and therefore brings the end of the world. I see Donnie as the anti-Christ and compare him to Judas, the man who betrayed Jesus and caused his crucifixion. Realizing what he has done, Donnie decides to travel back in time and kill himself in order for all the events that happened in the film which created a chain reaction and eventually lead to Franks death to never take place. I'm sure part of you is wondering how much crack I was smoking when I came up with this theory, but it's not over yet, I still have a lot more to say. Another reason I compare Donnie to Judas is because of the fact that they both killed themselves after realizing what they had done.
Now I will specifically describe exactly how Donnie saved the world. First off, the end of the world is a repeat in time, it is never ending loop. If time kept repeating itself, the world would come to an end since it would not exist in the way it is meant to. I believe that before it all began, and before the time loop was created, both Frank and Donnie were destined to die. Just like Christ had to die, Frank had to as well in order to save the world. And just like Judas killed himself, so did Donnie. Now here’s the thing: Frank had to die first, in order to sacrifice himself and save the world, while Donnie would remain alive. Then Donnie had to die during the next repeat of the time loop in order for Frank to stay alive and become resurrected, again like Christ. Christ’s resurrection was just as significant as his death, this is why the loop had to be repeated and Frank had to stay alive. I understand that his resurrection is very different from the way we normally think of a resurrection, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a resurrection. If these events did not occur the continuity of destiny would be broken and therefore time could not continue flowing properly. An important aspect about God is that we can never understand God’s actions. Our human perceptions are pathetic, while we are on Earth we can never truly understand God’s plan and the reasons he/she/them/it/whatever has for doing the things that happen. Simple solutions and seemingly perfect answers aren’t necessarily true; they are only true according to human perceptions, but not God’s. The best answer I can think of in regards to God’s reason for creating the time loop is again in comparison to what happened with Christ, that’s what reinforces my theory. It was a test for humanity to see if our world deserves to continue existing. Humanity would have been doomed if Christ did not sacrifice himself in order for our sins to be forgiven, the same way it would have been doomed if the events concerning Donnie and Frank did not occur. If they did not occur, the time loop would continue and the world would never exist properly because time would repeat itself over and over again. In case you are not following what the time loop was, I will elaborate:
Donnie meets Frank. Frank tells Donnie world is coming to an end. Frank gets Donnie to break a water pipe. Break in water pipe gets school-day cancelled which leads to Donnie talking to Gretchen and asking her out. Donnie and Gretchen go to movies where Donnie encounters Frank. Frank tells Donnie about portals and also tells him to burn down Jim Cunningham’s house. After the house is burned down, Cunningham’s “kiddy porn dungeon” is discovered. Because Cunningham gets arrested, Mrs. Farmsworth asks Donnie’s mother to take her place when going to the dance competition finals. Having both parents out of town, Donnie has a party. During the party Donnie and Gretchen form an even stronger emotional bond and make love. Donnie also begins having visions and gets more anxious about the fact that Franks prediction is so near. Donnie realizes that he must go to Roberta Sparrows cellar door because there may be answers for him there. This event leads to Gretchen’s death and to Donnie killing Frank. This leads to the loop starting again so that Donnie would die instead and Frank would be resurrected. That loop is caused by God creating a tear in the fabric of time and space, opening up a portal and sending the engine through it. The loop itself only occurred twice, which was the way it was meant to. If the events in Donnie Darko did not take place, then humanities test would have been failed and the loop would have continued forever, destroying the continuity of destiny and ending the world. The first time it happened; Donnie survived in order to kill Frank and then kill himself during the second loop so Frank would be resurrected. The second time it happened Donnie did kill himself for the reason I just stated. The reason for the plane crash was because it was simply an act of God in order to instigate these events. If it was an act of God, it didn’t have to make sense, even if it seemed to completely contradict itself, since it was in God’s channel. This is backed up by my earlier statement as to the fact that what seems like a contradiction to us only seems that way because of our perceptions, but not necessarily Gods.
So that’s my theory as to what happened in Donnie Darko. Again I would like you to keep in mind that the references to Christ were not literal in any way. I used them simply as a comparison to reinforce my theory. This theory is a very different view on what the Messiah could necessarily be; in this case saving the world without anybody even realizing it. Frank is definitely not a Messiah in the classical sense, and perhaps I could have picked a better word to describe him, but this is the best one I could think of.
Lastly, I understand that my theory still leaves many questions and even creates new ones, and that’s the way I like it. In the first paragraph I mentioned that the greatest thing about this film is not only how open to personal interpretation it is, but also how no matter how good of an explanation you can come up with, more questions will always remain. This is especially true if you believe in the saying that answers only breed new questions. A completely definitive answer for anything in the world will never be found. For example: Why can I put my hand through water? Because it is a liquid. Why is it a liquid? Because of it’s elemental properties that make it a liquid. Why do the elemental properties make it a liquid…? You could keep going on and on like that. Even if there were a thousand more questions you could ask and also have them answered, you will eventually get to a point where there would be absolutely no logical way to answer the next question. Therefore, I do not want a definitive answer for what happened in Donnie Darko, I love this movie because you can never stop thinking about it, and having that definitive answer would ruin the film and stop the thought-process.
That is all I have to say. If you took the time to read this extremely long analysis I thank you and greatly appreciate it. I look forward to hearing comments.
Anyway after much thought, I have completely finished my personal theory as to what happened in this film.
I would like you to keep in mind I haven’t seen the directors cut and refuse to watch because it apparently answers everyone’s questions regarding the film. The biggest reason I love this movie is because it is so open to personal interpretation and that no matter how good of an explanation you can come up with, more questions will always remain. So here's my theory:
To begin, I would like to point all the references to God in the film. It's very rare that a film will contain so many references to God without having them be significant to the plot of the film. When Donnie is talking to Proffessor Monotoff, he states that time travel may be an act of God, and that nothing about it has to make sense according to our perceptions since it is an act of God and in God's channel. That being said, it's pretty clear that in Donnie's case, time travel is instigated by some sort of higher entity, if not God him/her/them/itself. Now Frank orchestrates all the significant events that happen in the film on some level. He also seems to have knowledge of past, present and future and the moment when the world will end. Therefore, if time travel is an act of God, I believe Frank is the Messiah since he represents God's will and actions, and has come to save the world from ending. Throughout this analysis I will be comparing Frank to Jesus Christ, however, please understand that I am doing it strictly for the sake of comparison; I am not saying that Frank is Jesus, nor am I placing any specific religious significance in the film. Anyway, Jesus also came to represent God's will and his actions, and he came to save the world and humanity by sacrificing himself.
Donnie kills Frank in the end; he kills the Messiah, and therefore brings the end of the world. I see Donnie as the anti-Christ and compare him to Judas, the man who betrayed Jesus and caused his crucifixion. Realizing what he has done, Donnie decides to travel back in time and kill himself in order for all the events that happened in the film which created a chain reaction and eventually lead to Franks death to never take place. I'm sure part of you is wondering how much crack I was smoking when I came up with this theory, but it's not over yet, I still have a lot more to say. Another reason I compare Donnie to Judas is because of the fact that they both killed themselves after realizing what they had done.
Now I will specifically describe exactly how Donnie saved the world. First off, the end of the world is a repeat in time, it is never ending loop. If time kept repeating itself, the world would come to an end since it would not exist in the way it is meant to. I believe that before it all began, and before the time loop was created, both Frank and Donnie were destined to die. Just like Christ had to die, Frank had to as well in order to save the world. And just like Judas killed himself, so did Donnie. Now here’s the thing: Frank had to die first, in order to sacrifice himself and save the world, while Donnie would remain alive. Then Donnie had to die during the next repeat of the time loop in order for Frank to stay alive and become resurrected, again like Christ. Christ’s resurrection was just as significant as his death, this is why the loop had to be repeated and Frank had to stay alive. I understand that his resurrection is very different from the way we normally think of a resurrection, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a resurrection. If these events did not occur the continuity of destiny would be broken and therefore time could not continue flowing properly. An important aspect about God is that we can never understand God’s actions. Our human perceptions are pathetic, while we are on Earth we can never truly understand God’s plan and the reasons he/she/them/it/whatever has for doing the things that happen. Simple solutions and seemingly perfect answers aren’t necessarily true; they are only true according to human perceptions, but not God’s. The best answer I can think of in regards to God’s reason for creating the time loop is again in comparison to what happened with Christ, that’s what reinforces my theory. It was a test for humanity to see if our world deserves to continue existing. Humanity would have been doomed if Christ did not sacrifice himself in order for our sins to be forgiven, the same way it would have been doomed if the events concerning Donnie and Frank did not occur. If they did not occur, the time loop would continue and the world would never exist properly because time would repeat itself over and over again. In case you are not following what the time loop was, I will elaborate:
Donnie meets Frank. Frank tells Donnie world is coming to an end. Frank gets Donnie to break a water pipe. Break in water pipe gets school-day cancelled which leads to Donnie talking to Gretchen and asking her out. Donnie and Gretchen go to movies where Donnie encounters Frank. Frank tells Donnie about portals and also tells him to burn down Jim Cunningham’s house. After the house is burned down, Cunningham’s “kiddy porn dungeon” is discovered. Because Cunningham gets arrested, Mrs. Farmsworth asks Donnie’s mother to take her place when going to the dance competition finals. Having both parents out of town, Donnie has a party. During the party Donnie and Gretchen form an even stronger emotional bond and make love. Donnie also begins having visions and gets more anxious about the fact that Franks prediction is so near. Donnie realizes that he must go to Roberta Sparrows cellar door because there may be answers for him there. This event leads to Gretchen’s death and to Donnie killing Frank. This leads to the loop starting again so that Donnie would die instead and Frank would be resurrected. That loop is caused by God creating a tear in the fabric of time and space, opening up a portal and sending the engine through it. The loop itself only occurred twice, which was the way it was meant to. If the events in Donnie Darko did not take place, then humanities test would have been failed and the loop would have continued forever, destroying the continuity of destiny and ending the world. The first time it happened; Donnie survived in order to kill Frank and then kill himself during the second loop so Frank would be resurrected. The second time it happened Donnie did kill himself for the reason I just stated. The reason for the plane crash was because it was simply an act of God in order to instigate these events. If it was an act of God, it didn’t have to make sense, even if it seemed to completely contradict itself, since it was in God’s channel. This is backed up by my earlier statement as to the fact that what seems like a contradiction to us only seems that way because of our perceptions, but not necessarily Gods.
So that’s my theory as to what happened in Donnie Darko. Again I would like you to keep in mind that the references to Christ were not literal in any way. I used them simply as a comparison to reinforce my theory. This theory is a very different view on what the Messiah could necessarily be; in this case saving the world without anybody even realizing it. Frank is definitely not a Messiah in the classical sense, and perhaps I could have picked a better word to describe him, but this is the best one I could think of.
Lastly, I understand that my theory still leaves many questions and even creates new ones, and that’s the way I like it. In the first paragraph I mentioned that the greatest thing about this film is not only how open to personal interpretation it is, but also how no matter how good of an explanation you can come up with, more questions will always remain. This is especially true if you believe in the saying that answers only breed new questions. A completely definitive answer for anything in the world will never be found. For example: Why can I put my hand through water? Because it is a liquid. Why is it a liquid? Because of it’s elemental properties that make it a liquid. Why do the elemental properties make it a liquid…? You could keep going on and on like that. Even if there were a thousand more questions you could ask and also have them answered, you will eventually get to a point where there would be absolutely no logical way to answer the next question. Therefore, I do not want a definitive answer for what happened in Donnie Darko, I love this movie because you can never stop thinking about it, and having that definitive answer would ruin the film and stop the thought-process.
That is all I have to say. If you took the time to read this extremely long analysis I thank you and greatly appreciate it. I look forward to hearing comments.
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