Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko is schizophrenic teenager who has the ability to change the future in 28 days. Donnie is dragged out of his sleep by his imaginary friend, Frank, who saves him from a jet engine that fell in his room. From that day he has the ability to choose if he wants to save himself or the people around him. Donnie Darko faces significant internal and external conflicts. He must decide whether to follow the path that is set out for him by unknown forces, or make his own choice and face the consequences. Darko witnesses all the concluding results in things if he decided to survive the situation. The film Donnie Darko is far more than just a space traveling movie, it’s about choosing from life and death, fear and love, and most importantly, right from wrong.
From the beginning of the movie we see that Donnie is given medication by his psychiatrist for his mental illness. One night, Donnie is called out of bed by a mysterious voice. He follows the voice, where he meets a big talking rabbit named Frank, who is responsible for the voice that Donnie hears and the crimes that he will ultimately commit. Gretchen is a new girl who eventually becomes Donnie’s girlfriend. Donnie is influenced to commit crimes such as set fire to a suspected sex offender’s home and vandalizing his high school.
After the 28 days pass Donnie meets Frank’s physical living body, not the manipulated dead one, on Halloween, in his bunny suit. Frank makes the accident of running over Gretchen and Donnie shoots him in the eye. From that moment on it is clear that Donnie is living in a tangent universe, meaning he has the power to re-live those 28 days again or just choose to die from the start. Donnie trusts that if he does what he’s supposed to, the Tangent Universe he’s in will disappear and it will be as if the past 28 days never happened. The lives of Gretchen, Frank, his sister, and his mom would be saved and the crimes he committed would be as if they were nonexistent.
In the end it all falls to one person to do whatever necessary to put the world back in order. That person is portrayed to have superhero traits, of course in this story its Donnie Darko. Donnie experiences more than just the traits love and fear. He demonstrates compassion as well as great unhappiness throughout the movie. Instead of being frightened and selfish, Donnie understands he must die in order to save his beloved ones as well as the primary universe.
**In your intro, make sure your thesis statement mentions of which literary device you are using to analyze your book/movie/whatever. James Cameron uses class distinction and Marxism to show how society was during the time the titanic sank***
SYMBOLS
Bunnies are typically innocent creatures, but Frank (the guy in the bunny suit) spends most of the film acting creepy and also murders Gretchen.
At the talent competition, Cherita dresses up as a swan. Her inner beauty is ignored because people can't see past the fact that she's a fat ESL student. "Sparkle Motion", the sparkly-girl band wins the talent competition, even though they have no talent.
The "Fear and Love" chart from Mrs. Farmer's class. She thinks every action is done out of "Fear" or "Love" and ignores the wide spectrum of human emotions.
When Donnie puts the axe into the dog-statue's head, it's a metaphor for the school system killing the students' minds. Independent thought is crushed, everyone must learn and act the exact same way.
Works of literature
Theme, emotional, content, setting, time period, social implications, symbolism
