Living Future
Final Essay Assignment
Thao Nguyen

Waking up to Frank’s disturbances and being lead on out of his bedroom, Donnie has a purpose to serve in the tangent universe, which he has no idea of. The happenings in the movie Donnie Darko built up a purpose for him as well as an understanding as to why he was in the tangent universe in the first place. However, the realization that he was not in the primary universe, Donnie does not have a clear purpose to serve in the tangent universe and various elements of his journey seem unclear. For example, in the tangent universe, Donnie does not seem to have met Gretchen and neither does he connect well with Frank. However, following the fact that Gretchen and Frank have a purpose to accomplish in the favor of saving the universe before it collapses into a black hole, Donnie realizes that there is instability in the tangent universe and it is his responsibility as the chosen one to hand over the jet engine artifact back to the primary universe before things escalate out of proportion. Bundled with supernatural powers such as gaining some sort of powers, such as the capabilities to conjure fire, water, and telekinesis, Donnie, firstly did not have an idea as to what these powers entailed and why he had to have them. However with provocation from other characters in the tangent universe, Donnie is able to understand that time is not in his or the primary universe’s side. The artifact, jet engine, was in tangent universe as a mistake as there can never be two copies of the same item in one universe. With this understanding, the purpose of being in the tangent universe was to rescue the primary universe by creating balance between the two universes before the unstable entity, tangent universe, and collapses sucking up the primary universe. It is through this understanding that Donnie raptures a school pipe system, floods the school to create a portal, and uses his telekinesis powers to rip off the jet engine before sending it through the time portal. Saving the universe is not an undertaking that Donnie had put to mind in the initial; however, events had been developing pushing him towards his call. Initially, a jet engine falling over his house did not appear absurd, but rather the fact that someone was around to lure him out of his bedroom soon before it squashed his body. In addition, the fact that he had not met either Frank or Gretchen in the tangent universe shows that, their involvement in his life were carefully premeditated and no coincidence was taking place. In addition, superpowers increased the understanding that he was either going to commit to his call, or Oblivion was eminent in the case of primary universe and its subjects. There are two types of subjects portrayed in the Donnie Darko movie whose purpose to one another is to make sure that the main character, Donnie, executes his duties through the provision of clues and blackmail where possible. These characters are divided into two main groups within which their relevance is cultivated on. The first and foremost group involves the Manipulated Living, which comprises of people that Donnie connects with in tangent universe. The second group involves the Manipulated Dead, whose relevance is to ensure that they direct Donnie correctly as they have an idea on what his purpose in tangent universe is and what stakes are involved. The Manipulated Dead do not exist in this form but are rather, a result of dying in the tangent universe. For example, Frank is one major entity who dies in tangent universe and therefore, becomes a Manipulated Dead. His death is purposeful as he develops the ability to travel through time with an understanding of what is required to happen or what will happen if executions of tasks laid upon Donnie are not undertaken. Donnie is the Living Receiver, whose presence in the tangent universe is in the form of the tangent universe copy and not the original primary universe entity. Through the Philosophy of Time Travel, an entity has two copies existing in both the tangent universe and primary universe at the same time. However, each copy has to remain in its respective universe before is creates a portal for disruption on the other side. The relevance of the Manipulated Living, Frank, is to firstly travel through time then die before he could rescue Donnie. In his state, he rescues Donnie and helps him in figuring out why he was in the tangent universe and how his powers were to be used before the 28-days’ timeframe on the task is exhausted. To do this, the Manipulated Dead has to interact with the Living Receiver through a Fourth Dimensional Construct to lay out the facts on the impending disaster. The Manipulated Living is an individual who interacts with Donnie throughout his endeavors to save the universe. With reference to the purpose of Donnie in the tangent universe, the Manipulated Living is not in the cast for fun or to fill up the set. Their relevance in the tangent universe is to steer Donnie towards accomplishing his mission by working in a chess-like manner to influence Donnie’s success. Regardless of whether he likes it or not, Donnie is just a chosen subject whose task is to return the artifact, jet engine, through the time portal into primary universe. Hence fore, playing around time travel, the Manipulated Living, Frank is transformed to Manipulated Dead after Gretchen, whom Donnie had fallen in love with, dies. It occurs that Frank sets up an Ensurance Trap (old English for calculated blackmail) by convincing Donnie to flood the school in order to walk Gretchen home – Donnie falls in love. Gretchen’s death causes Donnie’s emotional meltdown and he shoots, killing Frank. Manipulated Dead, Frank, appeared as a reverse ghost earlier before all these happened with reference to his ability to travel through time as a Manipulated Dead. In this case, the characters in the set help Donnie understand his purpose by launching emotional and psychological warfare to manipulate his commitment to the task at hand. As I watched this move, it recalls me one of my experiences that I have had that I felt I was guided by a lady whom I randomly met. I still remember exactly what happened as it was yesterday. What started as normal day four years ago during the Valentine’s Day escalated into a day full of experiences out of the ordinary. This Valentine’s Day was not going to be any special for me or for anyone I knew at the moment. We were all single. The day started lazily and I was disinterested in doing my homework or even taking breakfast. After waking up, I did not find it necessary to wash up my face or body. I walked to the front door to pick up the daily newspaper after I heard the paperboy’s bicycle bell ring twice. Living with my family of three, the setup of my homestead is pretty urban and our driveway leads straight to a busy street. Seeing people walking by and brushing shoulders with careful motorists has become a routine every time I stepped out my door in the morning. After picking the morning paper, I could not help but noticed the highlighted news tag ‘Do not Keep Her Waiting, Express Your Love This Valentine.’ At first this tagline did not catch my attention until I remembered that a certain classmate had been checking me out in class. At last, I thought this could be the day to do or die. As I turned back to reenter the house, I was distracted from the class-crush thought by screeching sound of a vehicle. Looking back, I noticed a young lady flying through the air with flowers in her hand. I caught this happening before she fell on the hard tarmac ked street with a thud. To my shock, the young lady knocked down by a personal car was my earlier happy thought of the lazy day. To make matters a bit confusing, this was a hit-and-run situation and witnesses did not manage to read the license plate of the vehicle. Being the nearest house on the street, I volunteered to provide transport towards the hospital as another neighbor had called an ambulance that would meet us halfway. A few meters we met the ambulance and it took the accident victim with as I offered to follow through to the hospital. At the hospital, the reception informed me that the victim had to undergo surgery to fix two broken ribs and a twisted wrist. Being a private hospital, $2000 in cash was expected to be paid in advance as the hospital normally outsourced qualified doctors and surgeons from around the city. Having no contact regarding the victim’s parents, this was about to turn nasty. In addition, the victim having been my crush at school hiked my sense of responsibility. I contacted my parents through the hospital payphone and had them settle the bill in order to save a life. Besides doing all these with strings attached to my surprisingly unusual generosity, I realized that doctors and nurses failed to acquire any contact information in the victim’s belongings. This meant that, were it an accident in a secluded area, the victim would have been in a more serious situation had no one been present to assist with the surgery bill. This accident and the fact that the victim could have died due to lack of surgery funding raised my caution in terms of carrying identification documents anywhere I went. The situation was almost becoming an obsession, as I would carry my parents’ contact details with me to the washrooms within my homestead. I had it coming a long way and I could not figure it out until it finally happened. On 14th March, 28 days after the crush accident, I was invited to a friend’s birthday party. What started as a boring party escalated to truth or dare games, I was dared to jump from the second floor into a swimming pool directly below the house. I left my shirt and trousers on the balcony and took the leap of faith, hoping to emerge victorious in these games.
“ One of your friends called us using my business card found in your shirt’s pocket. You have been out unconscious for two hours and two surgeries have been performed to stop internal bleeding and fixing a fractured thighbone.” My father explained, “Witnesses have it that you fell on to the swimming pool belly-flat and as you know, this hospital only takes cash in surgery cases. If it was not for the business card on your pocket, we would be arranging a requiem mass. Get well soon, my beloved daughter.”