Discuss Donnie Darko
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Ending EXPLAINED - without any outside knowledge about the moive
posted by HAL 9010'STAFFMOD on April 7, 2017 at 4:17 AM
- * S P O I L E R A L E R T * *
I have not read the movie websites nor listens to the comments from the Director or even seen the director’s cut. I have read many attempts to explain the plot, but I feel they fail as one cannot come to those conclusions without digging deep into the background material or knowing something the movie does not tell.
I have however watched the movie many times, and I think I have an interpretation that can explain everything based on the movie alone, and everything fits pretty well.
The Premise : The universe is as we know it; it is ruled by causality, and we all play our parts in the schemes of everything. Cause and effect equal balance. But sometimes an anomaly happens that should not have happened. In the movie this is the falling engine from a future not yet written - it is an effect without a cause. When these anomalies occur, the universe will try and fix it. The universe will try to create or establish the missing cause - whatever it may be. Whether it is the mechanics of the universe, God, other advanced beings, time travelers or whatever matters not. Personally, I like to think of it as Destiny, and I will use this reference henceforth. Destiny is the player, and we are the pawns.
The point is really to grasp that we are not seeing a bunch of strange and inexplicable and random events taking place: We see a careful mastered game of manipulation played by Destiny. Nothing is by chance, and all for the cold, calculative purpose of creating a cause in a yet unwritten future.
The Anomaly : When the plane engine from an_ unwritten future_ falls through the present sky
The Plan to Fix the Anomaly : Something beeped up, it is unexplained, and we just have to take it as $hit happens. All we need to understand is that when it happens Destiny has to fix it somehow to keep balance. So, to make sense of this event Destiny has to make sure that the future (which has not yet happened) will cause an engine to fall off a plane and hit a wormhole to the past. In a world where everything is relative, the engine falling from the future re-establishes order to the universe. If there is no future where this engine falls, there is no sense to the present, and this will destroy the universe as we know it. Destiny has merely to make sure the universe makes sense.
The Strategy to Fix the Anomaly : Grant powers to someone, who will eventually help in making the future event happen in such a way so there will be order in the universe once again.
The Tactics are like This :
1 : Choose One, who is emotionally connected with the event.
2 : The Chosen One must learn the truth about the universe so he will use his powers when needed.
3 : Grant powers to the Chosen One, so he can fix when fixing needs to be done.
4 : The Chosen One must be manipulated strongly to do what Destiny wants and thus be emotionally pushed to the limit.
By 1, Donnie fits the bill; thus Destiny wakes him up and saves him before the crash. We have a connection.
By 2, The Ms. Sparrow story, the watery spears out of the chests makes him understand all is predetermined by Destiny and thus his own importance later on, and also that there is no need to resist. He learns he has a role, as he says “it cannot be a coincidence.”
By 3, Understanding Smurfs and their existential contradiction (power of insight). Seeing the watery spears out of the chests (power of foresight), making him realize he sees a wormhole forming at the end of the movie (power of knowledge), and his power to make or envision the engine ripping off the plane (power of... hmmm, let’s call it “power of playing his part in the universe”; at this point he sees this as his ultimate purpose)
By 4, All the little and strange events around him, and of course Frank is this manipulation happening. E.g., Ms. Karen Pomeroy is manipulated to be the catalyst for the connection between Donnie and Gretchen, and also the catalyst to the Cellar Door, etc. The School Principal firing Ms. Pomeroy is everything but fair, but again it makes her a catalyst to the Cellar Door reference. Each of these strange encounters serves a purpose in the scheme of manipulation by Destiny; Destiny is playing the game.
Donnie must fall in love and must feel fear. The strongest of human's emotions, like the movie teaches us.
By flooding the school, he meets his love, which was ignited by Ms. Pomeroy earlier.
By burning the house, his mother has to leave them home alone so they can have a party where he and Gretchen will make love and strengthen the bond between them.
By getting connected to Ms. Sparrow he learns about the universe, and he gets to the Cellar Door where his love will be snatched from him (the two emotions are now joined; his love and fear of dying alone).
By showing Frank as the messenger, he reacts strongly when he sees the real Frank as the killer. Who is only there because of the party. And all this pushes him to the limit, where Destiny needs him to be. Now and only now does he understand his powers of insight, foresight, knowledge and his ultimate part in the universe!
One open question is why his mother and sister are on the plane. I think this is connected to his power of insight and foresight. His whole world is destroyed, he felt love, and he lost love. The two most important emotions to the human spirit. When he sees the wormhole forming in the fabric of space, then he envisions his mother and sister on the plane, and it connects everything for him, he suddenly understands that he has to break the engine off to save everybody he loves (power of will or power by playing his part in the universe) .
Now back in the present he is laughing hysterically in his bed because he now knows that balance is back in the universe, and therefore he saved his mother, his sister, Frank and his love, etc... he is not alone and by dying himself he also know that the future would not repeat itself as he was the catalyst to it all. His sacrifice is ultimate to him also his salvation.
Destiny is now happy because, in the timeline conundrum, the future engine has now a cause it did not have before. The timeline has looped back, and will now continue in whatever way Destiny wants. The present accident has now a timeline that caused it. Donnie is dead, but Destiny doesn't care. All is well.
** I am normally not a praying man, but if you are up there, please save me Superman **
Reply by Renovatio
on April 7, 2017 at 10:01 AM
interesting interpretation... i like it...
Reply by Jana
on April 28, 2017 at 10:08 AM
A very compelling interpretation, I will watch it again for the gazillionth time this weekend
Reply by Jetfire59
on April 23, 2018 at 4:05 AM
Not bad. Not perfect, but not bad.
Reply by Gary Lucas
on April 23, 2018 at 10:30 PM
Gee, kind of spooky. No replies for a year and then 2 on the same day. :/
Yes, quite the interesting movie. I used to have a link saved for Roberta Sparrow's book, 'The Philosophy of Time Travel'. It is a companion to the movie. And it sure explains some of the enigmas. I think it is interesting as philosophy as well. I like your ideas not having read this. On IMDb there are extensive notes about the movie in the trivia and quotes sections. I need to see it again. I actually gave my DVD to a friend who hadn't seen it. I want to see the director's cut although Richard Kelly say he likes the theatrical version just fine. But they wanted him to incorporate some unused footage into a special edition.
So in perusing the Google links I came across this PDF of the Sparrow book. One of the perennial questions, free will. I like David Lynch's theory that human are like spiders, we build a web with our thoughts and then travel along it. I thought, if you ever found whether or not you had free will it would affect your motivation, so the knowledge of that by nature is occult.
From imdb.com trivia for 'Donnie Darko' EASTER EGG: The DVD contains several Easter Eggs, or hidden items. Two are visible in the "Philosophy of Time Travel" book in the Special Features. On each of the appendix pages, press the up arrow on your remote and press enter. For Appendix A, the viewer gets a deleted scene about the flooding of the school, and Appendix B, the viewer gets a different trailer for the movie. Another can be found after selecting the "Cunning Visions" menu screen. At the bottom of the screen, highlight the Special Features menu entry, press the right arrow on your remote to highlight the icon, and press enter. This will allow you to enter a website gallery.
https://giama.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/the-philosophy-of-time-travel.pdf
Reply by HAL 9010'
on April 24, 2018 at 4:02 AM
I have not read your link yet. But thank you.
I have though a problem with it, in principle. Beside being interesting to dig deeper into the story and the character background, I find that it will not give me anything. Sparrow was an old women and according to my interpretation she was manipulated by Destiny as much as Donnie was. And so her thoughts have no validity in terms of true insight. In this movie her book was used to help push Donnie further in the greater schemes of things, and as such it was just a tool. And Sparrow was a tool to write this book etc. So in my mind it does not really have any authority above being used for a greater purpose. The book could have explained about the existence of superheroes or battles among gods or anything really. The purpose of this book in this story was to push Donnie, nothing more, nothing less. Anything goes, as they say. Of course, I suspect it is nor pure made up nonesnese as Ms Sparrow indeed has more insights than most in this universe, and it will have truths within it for this reason alone, but the Gospel it cannot be.
But as I said, I have not read the link yet. And, if it will support my explanation I will smile, if it will take the story in a completely different direction, it will not necessary mean anything.
[EDIT: I just read "The Philosophy of Time Travel". It is the ramblings of a lady who has been through something similar to Donnie. Her words are her own views and ideas. In general, I see nothing in her writings that goes against my interpretation, and in fact it supports it quite well at its core. I smile.]
Reply by Jetfire59
on April 24, 2018 at 4:16 AM
Sparrow was an old women and according to my interpretation she was manipulated by Destiny as much as Donnie was.
Thou art mistaken.
Reply by HAL 9010'
on April 24, 2018 at 4:26 AM
Enlighten me?
Reply by Jetfire59
on April 24, 2018 at 5:42 AM
Ms. Sparrow apparently witnessed events similar to those in the film when she was a nun. She then left her order, became a teacher and wrote "The Philosophy Of Time Travel". She was one of Manipulated Living, but not a Receiver as Donnie was. Perhaps because she was a nun, she received the knowledge to write the book. Additionally, also possibly because she was a nun, she was able to clearly remember the events that took place in the original Tangent Universe, where as the people in the film only had fleeting memories of those that happened in the second one. The simple fact that she wrote the book proves that her thoughts on the matter are not meaningless. The book was far too accurate to have been simple rantings. Since she walked to her mailbox every day even though she never got any mail, she was obviously expecting the letter Donnie writes her at the end. Therefore she somehow knew it was happening again. The meddling outside influence (not Destiny according to RK) that caused it all evidently didn't learn their lesson the first time.
Reply by HAL 9010'
on April 24, 2018 at 6:25 AM
I concur, and from my point of view this is more or less what I mean too. She has been in the game before, and potentially she was a major pawn back then, perhaps one of the Stars. If Donnie would have lived, he perhaps would have written volume 2 of the book and taken over the role of Ms Sparrow n future conflicts. And I suppose there are many more like her and him out there.. Each time something messes up causality in the universe, Destiny needs to fix it and it uses human pawns for this work.
However, an important point in my interpretation is that Destiny is the grand master chess player and they work in very complicated and intriguing ways, and I also suspect their game play reaches far into the past. And I observe that Ms Sparrow plays a very important part in this story too and so it leads me to conclude that her being there in that time and her influence in this chapter, is in no way coincidental.
I can easily imagine some rabbit (or equivalent) appearing to her back in 1944, to inspire her to write this book, and likely even leading her pen in whatever direction Destiny desired (when reading the book, it seem her words are guided by someone who has more knowledge than she could possibly have) .... Destiny is cunning.
Did they play Ms Sparrow back in 1944 only to make her write this odd book and have it as a tool later on, just in case? Idk, but the idea is intriguing. Destiny has a way of connecting everything, doesn’t it.
Reply by Jetfire59
on June 25, 2018 at 10:12 PM
Yes, it does, but since the writer/director himself says Destiny did not cause the events in the film, I go with him.
Reply by Jetfire59
on June 26, 2018 at 4:16 PM
Presumably, you're referring to "Love And Other Drugs"? Ah, poor Jake. It's a rough job but someone's gotta do it.
Reply by HAL 9010'
on July 2, 2018 at 4:43 AM
Oh I like that. who wouldn't. But I think you are on the wrong board? Jetfire59 is pointing to the right flick, I think.
Reply by Jana
on February 14, 2019 at 10:55 AM
I just watched it again and tried to pay extra attention to the smaller details to see if they would give me any clues. The one thing that stood out was the religious angle.
Donnie is speaking to Professor Monnitoff about time travel, he gets really excited and questions whether or not our paths in life are predetermined or if we enjoy free will. This is an ancient problem that's been debated over and over again both by believers and atheists. Much like the theodicy problem it's a paradox. The professor stops Donnie and ends the conversation as soon as he mentions "God's channel", because talking about it further could inadvertently tip the scales on Donnie's beliefs.
The motivational part, love and fear. Religion is built upon these two cornerstones. You either believe because you love God, or because you're scared of what might happen if you don't. Donnie called Cunningham out as Antichrist. Not that he thought he was actually the devil, but his views on faith were so wrong and damaging that his preaching would eventually become counterproductive.
Ms. Roberta Sparrow used to be a nun, but then she had an experience that made her question her faith and left the convent.
We all die alone, one of the main themes of the movie. In Donnie's case, he told his shrink that the search for God was absurd if he was going to die alone anyway. This points to him not denying God's existence, but that he wasn't willing to explore the matter further since he couldn't see any real proof. When asked if he feels alone, his answer is more like an inner struggle about there being a higher power. He also refers to "a master plan" and the shrink immediately mentions God.
Conversation between Frank and Donnie - "How can you do that?" "I can do anything I want. And so can you." Free will?
When held down with a knife to his throat, Donnie says "Deus ex machina" and then "our saviour." Direct translation for Deus ex machina is "God from the machine", but the expression means something like, an unexpected solution for an impossible problem. Divine intervention if you will. The ancient Greek used in in plays for when the plot became so intricate that it took a God to appear and solve everything with their powers to end it. Donnie knew they would be saved by Frank, but again, there is no fate, no destiny. Only chaos. Ms. Sparrow who was his anchor through all this, became the cause of his destruction.
This doesn't explain the movie, these are just observations. It's interesting though how at the end Donnie really believed that events were predetermined only to make that cruel discovery that the future is malleable no matter how many wormholes you stare into.
Reply by MongoLloyd
on February 14, 2019 at 7:17 PM
I never got a sense that there was a particularly religious component to the film. Donnie is clearly agnostic and even though there is some talk of god here and there, it seemed to me that Donnie was just a young genius struggling with the big questions. Monnitoff stopped the conversation because he said he could lose his job. I initially took that to mean that the school was a Catholic school and their conversation was veering into heresy territory.
As for the "Deus ex machina" moment being an "unexpected solution for an impossible problem," I think Donnie was referring to the idea that with destiny comes the inevitable machinations that steer us through life to a predetermined end. This realization to me, motivated his laughter at the very end because of the absurdity of it all.
What I can't figure out is what the significance is of Cherita.
Reply by Jana
on February 14, 2019 at 9:56 PM
I maintain my opinion about DD having a real religious theme, even though it's not the main plot. When Donnie and Gretchen go to the movies, we see the camera zooming in on the billboard and there are two features playing, "Evil Dead" and "The Last Temptation of Christ." Donnie could be seen as Jesus, making the ultimate sacrifice. Cherita performed as an angel at the talent show and is the most innocent and pure character but also brave and determined. Donnie connects with her because he feels her loneliness, he carries it too. He tells her she will be fine and puts his hands on her as if he were blessing her. She makes his sacrifice worth it. He later wears her earmuffs to empathize and feel close to her, now knowing she has a crush on him.
So Cherita could be an angel or even Mary Magdalene.
Again, just observations and theories. I'm not a religious person myself but I'm intrigued by the undertone in the movie, science vs faith being challenged like this is always interesting. Also it's so much fun to pick movies apart and look for meaning even though Occam's razor often applies.