Donnie Darko - Parapolitical message hidden in movie?

Moderators: Elvis, DrVolin, Jeff

Donnie Darko - Parapolitical message hidden in movie?

Postby JD » Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:54 am

Hey all. Long time since I've posted.<br><br>I've read that In times where free speech is restricted, artists use symbolism to express their ideas.<br><br>With that thought in mind, I've been keeping my eyes open for contemporary art that may employ symbolism and other clues to tell us messages.<br><br>I'm an engineer, don't have a liberal arts background and quite frankly would probably lag behind most of this forum's readers in spotting symbolism in art, writing, or cinema. So with that in mind, I'm going to pitch the idea that the movie below may be employing symbolism to tell us more about our world today than meets the eye, and see if other RI readers can help flesh out this interpretatoin. I think it could be fun for readers to see Donnie Darko think about it from a parapolitical point of view.<br><br>It is a very interesting movie. Came out to a disappointing box office but has become a cult movie on DVD. The Internet Movie Database lists it as #97 of the top 250 movies of all time. <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246578/">www.imdb.com/title/tt0246578/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>It is a darned good movie to watch and I'd recommend to see it even without the potential messages it may be hiding. My interpretation is the movie is parapolitical. It comes right out and screams this several times, and forces the viewer to search for it's message subsequently.<br><br>Off the top of my head, in no particular order, and being purposely vague to avoid spoiling the movie here are some observations that feed my suspicions:<br><br>Came out in 2001 (not sure if prior to 9/11 or not)<br><br>Title song "Mad World" - my goodness if that doesn't describe post 9/11 I don't know what does! (See cognitive dissidence thread <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://p216.ezboard.com/frigorousintuitionfrm17.showMessage?topicID=478.topic)">p216.ezboard.com/frigorou...478.topic)</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>The opening line of the movie is Donnie's sister saying "I'm voting for Dukakis." This fairly screams to me "this is a political movie opposing the Bush dynasty".<br><br>There is a scene that strongly suggests Donnie's school principal is involved in looking away from narcotics use, and is a pedophile with his students. This should strike a chord with many RI readers.<br><br>The most critical event in the movie is an inexplicable event - an aviation accident in which an aircraft engine crashes into Donnie's bedrooM (right through an American Flag in the process!) - this event either kills Donnie or sends him on a path of madness. Do you think that a parallel can be drawn to 9/11? It will either kill the US or send it down a path of madness too.<br><br>Donnie's dad bears a scary physical resemblence to GWB. While Watching G HW Bush. give a speech on TV says " Tell 'em, George."<br><br>If you work through the official website, <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.donniedarko.com/">www.donniedarko.com/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> there are references to intelligence organizations and such. No overt hint of this in the movie. Note that you'll have to see the movie to make any headway into the website.<br><br>I have other ideas, and am just curious to see if anyone else spots them too. I've got interpretations that'd take a while to write up; maybe if we get a discussion going on this topic I'll get them down.<br><br>Anyways, if anyone wants to check this out and collaborate on some interpretive thinking on this I think we could have some fun with it. <p></p><i></i>
JD
 
Posts: 515
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2005 4:19 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: Donnie Darko - Parapolitical message hidden in movie?

Postby sunny » Thu Mar 30, 2006 4:24 am

You've convinced me. I'll rent it and get back to you. <br><br>ps.-movie sites always have the coolest graphics. <p></p><i></i>
sunny
 
Posts: 5220
Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 10:18 pm
Location: Alabama
Blog: View Blog (1)

Re: Donnie Darko - Parapolitical message hidden in movie?

Postby albion » Thu Mar 30, 2006 4:44 am

I watched that last year and thought very much the same thing. Notice the clip from a Bush/Dukakis debate near the beginning of the film. From an "unofficial" version of the script:<br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>DARKO HOUSE, LIVING ROOM<br><br>Michael Dukakis (on television): I want to be a president of the United States who makes sure that we never again do business with a drug-running Panamanian dictator.<br><br><Father is sitting in chair watching television.><br><br>Michael Dukakis (on television): That we never again ….<br><br>Eddie Darko: Dukakis.<br><br>Michael Dukakis (on television): …. Funnel aid to the Contras through convicted drug dealers.<br><br>Eddie Darko: Son of a bitch.<br><br>George Bush (on television): Panama is a friendly country. I went down and talked to the President of Panama …<br><br>Eddie Darko: Tell him George!<br><br>George Bush (on television): …. about cleaning up their money laundering. And Mr. Noriega was there, ….<br><br><Grandfather clock begins to strike midnight.><br><br>George Bush (on television): …. but there was no evidence at that time. When the evidence was there, we indicted him.<br><br>OCTOBER 2 1988<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.stainlesssteelrat.net/ddscript2.htm">www.stainlesssteelrat.net/ddscript2.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>edit: In the next scene, Donnie has his first vision, and the countdown to the "end of the world" begins. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=albion@rigorousintuition>albion</A> at: 3/30/06 2:33 am<br></i>
albion
 
Posts: 288
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2005 11:48 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

yes

Postby smithtalk » Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:13 am

i thought it was a brilliant movie,<br>been about 18months since i saw it but i have it home on dvd, might watch it again tonight <p></p><i></i>
smithtalk
 
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:53 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: Donnie Darko - Parapolitical message hidden in movie?

Postby Gouda » Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:24 am

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Donnie Darko</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> is up there on my all time favorites list. I have yet to see the director's cut - Richard Kelly, the young director, says that he was forced to cut much of his original interpretation from the first release. <br><br>It is all in there, high weirdness and parapolitics, even in the expurgated version: the nature of time, the end of the world, portals/gateways, tangential universi, wormholes, alters, DID, trusted authority paedophilia, border experience, signs in the sky, unexplained accidents with airplanes, the Fibonacci spiral at the center of the crashed jet engine, a reading from Graham Greene's short story, "The Destructors" ("destruction is a form of creation")... <br><br>Donnie is told by his hallucinated(?) alter(?) date of the end of the world - close to Halloween and the 1988 election of George Bush Sr., - the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>deus ex machina</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> event in the film occurs, and another universe takes hold. <br><br>Edit: The Lockerbie disaster happened on December 21, 1988.<br><br>****<br> <br>Donnie: "Why did you make me flood the school?" <br>Frank: "They are in great danger" <br>Donnie: "Where do you come from?" <br>Frank: "Do you believe in time travel?"<br><br>Interesting that Drew Barrymore was an executive producer (there are also some nods to ET in the film). <br><br>On top of all this, the film is beautifully made. <br><br>Jake Gyllenhaal is a subtle, stand-out actor, and after seeing him in <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Jarhead</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, I think he may be on his way to world class status. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=gouda@rigorousintuition>Gouda</A> at: 3/30/06 3:47 am<br></i>
User avatar
Gouda
 
Posts: 3009
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:53 am
Location: a circular mould
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: Donnie Darko - Parapolitical message hidden in movie?

Postby Gouda » Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:50 am

Trivia from the IMDB site: <br><br>"Richard Kelly's original choice for the music to be played over the final sequence was U2's <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"MLK."</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> After difficulties obtaining the rights to the song, it was decided to use Gary Jules' cover of the Tears for Fears song "Mad World" instead."<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246578/">www.imdb.com/title/tt0246578/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
User avatar
Gouda
 
Posts: 3009
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:53 am
Location: a circular mould
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: Kelly's Southland Tales

Postby Gouda » Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:13 am

Just a sidenote to the Donnie Darko discussion...<br><br>Kelly is soon to release his latest film, <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Southland Tales</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->. From <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southland_Tales">Wiki:</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>The story is a Philip K. Dick-inspired mindtwist set in Los Angeles on July 4, 2008. Upon the discovery of a new power source which is derived from the Earth's oceans, the world is thrown from its orbit and the mental stability of the planet's masses begin to break down. Facing their imminent doom, the planet erupts into chaos and anarchy…the film is a portrait of Los Angeles and a comment on the military-industrial newstainment complex.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>More on the film and his accompanying prequel <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.newsarama.com/movies/SouthlandTales/SouthlandTales.htm">trilogy of graphic novels</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Last year, prior to getting started with filming on <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Southland Tales</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, director/screenwriter Richard (<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>Donnie Darko</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->) Kellly said that he’d be writing the prequels to the film (due for release in October) as a series of three graphic novels, allowing the film to serve as the story’s final act (while still being a stand-alone project). The comic projects are being co-produced by Darko Entertainment, Graphitti Designs and View Askew Productions. Why Graphitti and View Askew? Simple – Kelly and Kevin Smith are kindred spirits, both loving movies and comics.<br><br>The film features an ensemble cast which includes Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Kevin Smith. Set in Los Angeles, circa 2008, Southland Tales follows the characters in a story where the city stands on the verge of a <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>economic, social, and environmental collapse</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->. Johnson stars as amnesia-ridden action star Boxer Santaros whose life intertwines with that of Krysta Now (Gellar), a former adult film star who is developing her own reality television project. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Scott stars as Ronald Taverner, a police officer who holds the key to a wide-reaching conspiracy.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> Moby is producing the film’s score.<br>...<br><br>JUNE 30 2008<br><br>One of the world’s most famous actors has disappeared. Boxer Santaros awakens deep in the Nevada desert...alone, stricken with amnesia. He is rescued by a drifter named Fortunio Balducci, only to discover that the world around him has suddenly changed.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>America now stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster...approaching the three-year anniversary of dual nuclear attacks on Texas soil. </strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> As Boxer struggles to regain his memory, his paths cross with a mysterious adult film star named Krysta Now at the Nevada/California state line.<br><br>Krysta revels her psychic abilities to Boxer in the form of <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>a prophetic screenplay that foreshadows the apocalypse.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=gouda@rigorousintuition>Gouda</A> at: 3/30/06 4:19 am<br></i>
User avatar
Gouda
 
Posts: 3009
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:53 am
Location: a circular mould
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: Kelly's Southland Tales

Postby Gouda » Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:56 am

88 Reasons To Watch Donnie Darko Again<br>written by: Daniel Hernandez<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://web.mit.edu/djh/Public/donniedarko/88reasons.txt">web.mit.edu/djh/Public/do...easons.txt</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Some of them:<br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>09. [reference]<br>The first scene in the movie is an homage to Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ.<br><br>10. [reference]<br>The theater lists The Last Temptation of Christ as part of its double feature. This movie was released theatrically in 1988 amid controversy. In 2004, when the director's cut of Donnie Darko was released, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ awakened a similar controversy. Both Donnie Darko and The Passion of the Christ were distributed by Newmarket Films [usa].<br><br>14. [reference]<br>Elizabeth Darko's Halloween costume is a tribute to Vivian Darkbloom, a character in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita.<br><br>16. [reference]<br>Donnie refers to Jim Cunningham [the inspirational speaker paedophile] as a "chud," a reference to the film C.H.U.D. The acronym stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller.<br><br>20. [reference]<br>Rose Darko is reading the Stephen King book It. In the book, children in a small town are terrorized by a clown. Later in the film, we see an encounter between Donnie and a clown.<br><br>25. [reference]<br>The artwork in Donnie's room is M.C. Escher's "Eye."<br><br>30. [symbolism]<br>Donnie has a Led Zeppelin "Swan Song" poster on his ceiling, which depicts an angel. Cherita Chen's swan dance at the talent show is entitled "Autumn Angel."<br><br>33. [foreshadowing]<br>In the "Cunning Visions" infomercial, Jim Cunningham pats a child on his behind.<br><br>42. [motif]<br>The song that plays as Donnie is riding his bike home is "The Killing Moon" by Echo And The Bunnymen.<br><br>43. [motif]<br>The jet engine has a spiral painted on it. These are painted to tell if the engine is spinning. The Fibonnaci spiral is based on the mating patterns of rabbits.<br><br>47. [politics]<br>The climax of Donnie Darko occurs one week before the 1988 US presidential election. George Herbert Walker Bush was elected on November 8, 1988 [11/08/88].<br><br>48. [politics]<br>The first line in the movie is "I'm voting for Dukakis."<br><br>49. [politics]<br>When Donnie is suspended, there is a reflection of a Ronald Reagan portrait on the bookcase as the camera pans from Principal Cole to Kitty Farmer.<br><br>50. [politics]<br>At the Halloween party, someone wearing a Ronald Reagan mask and a white cape is jumping on the trampoline. This is a recreation of a famous Hunter S. Thompson photograph.<br><br>53. [politics]<br>When Jim Cunningham is arrested, his employee Linda Connie claims that he is the victim of "a vast conspiracy,"<br><br>54. [politics]<br>In 1988, when this movie takes place, George H.W. Bush was elected. In 2000, when this movie was filmed, his son George W. Bush was elected. In 2004, when Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut was released, George W. Bush was re-elected.<br><br>65. [terrorism]<br>A Porsche 911 vehicle is parked in the Darko driveway.<br><br>66. [terrorism]<br>The jet engine that falls in Donnie's bedroom tears through the American flag he has on his ceiling.<br><br>70. [detail]<br>According to the cast credits, which are listed in order of appearance, the man in the red jogging suit is the FAA agent in disguise.<br><br>82. [religion]<br>Although Jim Cunningham's initials are J.C., Donnie calls him the Antichrist and later exposes the truth about him.<br><br>85. [mythology]<br>The Pontiac Trans Am vehicle in the film has a phoenix painted on the hood. The phoenix is an Egyptian mythological bird that consumes itself by fire and resurrects from the dead.<br><br>87. [coincidence]<br>On November 4, 2004, a large chunk of ice fell from an airplane in Kent, Washington. The ice block crashed into an 8-year-old girl's bedroom and landed on her bed. She was<br>not home at the time of impact.<br><br>88. [time travel]<br>The E(<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START 8) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/glasses.gif ALT="8)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> x E(<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START 8) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/glasses.gif ALT="8)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> string theory, well-known to many mathematicians, is often referred to in the study of time travel.<br><br>81. [detail]<br>The last line of the movie is "All units should be back on base frequency."<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <p></p><i></i>
User avatar
Gouda
 
Posts: 3009
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:53 am
Location: a circular mould
Blog: View Blog (0)

JD's great idea

Postby mother » Thu Mar 30, 2006 11:36 am

We will hunt it down and watch it. A good idea to start some fun around here, JD. <p></p><i></i>
mother
 
Posts: 406
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:02 am
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: JD's great idea

Postby Dreams End » Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:03 pm

Gouda left off reason number 1:<br><br>Full grown man wearing a bunny suit.<br><br>Oh, and the reference to the film "Harvey"..surely someone brought that up.<br><br>As for the pedo motivational speaker, I don't think it is supported "textually" in the film, but I really felt as if there were hints or at least the feeling that many of the adults knew about or were part of some pedo coverup/network. Like I said, it was really just sort of a response I had to the creepiness of many of the adults, so that's probably reading too much into the film.<br><br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>
Dreams End
 

Re: Frank the bunny..

Postby hmm » Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:32 pm

i have to say that creature scared me witless..<br>movies dont usually scare me as i am too grounded in "reality"<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.reflections.it/film/D/donniedarko/foto/21hi.jpg">www.reflections.it/film/D...o/21hi.jpg</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>one time that a group of friends of mine were watching movies with me (one of whom was abused as a child) and i suggested we watch donnie darko and turned to ask her if she had seen it and the look of terror in her eyes and the strange voice with which she begged me not to chose that dvd is something i wont forget in a hurry..<br>not that anyone else noticed..but that is another topic<br><br>i agree with you about that undercurrent and i myself was surprised that it didnt really feature in the conclusion.<br>there is another recent movie that has this same feel to me called the butterfly effect.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289879/">www.imdb.com/title/tt0289879/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Evan Treborn grows up in a small town with his single working mom and his friends. He suffers from memory blackouts where he suddenly finds himself somewhere else, confused. Evans friends and mom hardly believes him, thinking he makes it up just to get out of trouble. And it does seem to always happen something bad during these blackouts. Something that makes his friends depressed and violent. As Evan grows up he has less of these blackouts until he seems to have recovered. Since age of seven he has written a diary of his blackout moments as a kind of therapy. One day at college he starts to read one of his old diaries, and suddenly a flashback hits him like a brick!<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <p></p><i></i>
hmm
 
Posts: 521
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:22 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

dvd

Postby vondardenelle » Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:56 pm

i've seen this film so many times, but I haven't watched it since i've become more aware of deep politics/RI stuff. i will definitely watch this again.<br><br>any movie that opens with 'the killing moon' by echo & bunnymen gets an A+. but i saw the selection of this song as kind of foreshadowing what would unfold in the film. The song seems to deal with self sacrifice, or at least knowing you have to do something unpleasant to achieve something. OR, you're doing something that you know will destroy you but you have no choice ("fate, up against your will...). in the song this seems to be describing some kind of fatal love relationship, but in the film it's more about how donnie realizes that death is only the start of something else, and in a sense, that everything is connected. i always thought the last scene, when donnie's girlfriend waves to his mother kind of drove that home in the film. <p></p><i></i>
vondardenelle
 
Posts: 42
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 2:18 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: dvd

Postby Gouda » Thu Mar 30, 2006 1:24 pm

<!--EZCODE UNDERLINE START--><span style="text-decoration:underline">Donnie Darko</span><!--EZCODE UNDERLINE END--> (as voiceover): <br><br>Dear Roberta Sparrow, I’ve reached you in your book, and there’s so many things I need to ask you. Sometimes I’m afraid of what you might tell me. Sometimes I’m afraid that you’ll tell me that this is not a work of fiction. I can only hope that the answers will come to me in my sleep. I hope that when the world comes to an end I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to. <p></p><i></i>
User avatar
Gouda
 
Posts: 3009
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:53 am
Location: a circular mould
Blog: View Blog (0)

...

Postby Ted the dog » Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:18 pm

<br><br>actually it's weird that Donnie Darko has never really come up on RI till now.<br><br><br>Great movie. I have the regular cut and the directors cut and both are amazing.<br><br>one thing to add about the theater marquee...I'm pretty sure the marquee has a double feature listed:<br>"The Last Temptation of Christ" and "The Evil Dead"<br>Donnie and his girlfriend are watching Evil Dead in the theater when she falls asleep and he leaves to burn down Jim Cunnigham's house.<br><br>I read a quote a while back...I think it was an old interview republished in the Re/Search book "Pranks", by Andrea Juno (which is a great book, BTW...worth picking up for sure) where Boyd Rice said something like "What is Christianity but necrophilia from afar? It's a bunch of people getting a hard-on for a thousand-year-old corpse..." <br><br>I just always found it strange and kind of funny that when viewed alongside the Boyd Rice quote, the donnie darko marquee takes on a new meaning...a zombie film in a double feature with The Last Temptation of Christ...sure it's ironic on it's own in a kind of obvious, shocking way.... but after applying the quote to it, it's even weirder.<br><br>I also thought it was interesting that the mother was reading Stephen King's "It", a book about a child killing entity that takes on the form of a clown, meanwhile a cunning pedophile has taken on the guise of a motivational speaker within the local school system....all right under the unsuspecting PTA board's noses. <br><br> I always felt a creepy pedophile vibe from the book "It"...not as in "Stephen King is a pedophile! he's promoting pedophilia!", but more like I got the same type of "creeped out" feeling while reading "It" that I get when I read about a pedophile's crimes in the news or here on RI.<br><br>The interesting thing about the whole Jim Cunningham angle is how certain parents latch onto him and INSIST that he's the one that's going to solve all their problems...even after he's found to be a pedophile. what do they say? as already noted, "It's some kind of a CONSPIRACY!!!"<br><br>Reminds me exactly of the way that Bush cultists vehemently cling to bush jr....even though it's clear and obvious to anyone with an ounce of common sense that he's bad news. The parent that does this the most is, of course, also a religious nut job. <br><br>Strange that in the short period of about 3 years, we've gone from neocons shooting down any kind of criticism with "Go put on your tin foil hats, you whack jobs...talk about conspiracy theories...sheesh!" to the same neocons saying, "It's the fault of the vast liberal media that the Iraq War isn't 'looking good'...it's a CONSPIRACY!!!" because...you know, of course it couldn't just be that the administration really ARE a group of whack jobs...that's SOOO much harder to believe than a "conspiracy theory". admitting that would mean admitting to being fooled by the very people they've been putting on a pedestal...the same way that the one parent doesn't want to face the fact that Jim Cunningham's house contains a pedophile porn "dungeon" after constantly raving about his virtues.<br><br><br>It's very interesting that this movie took place when it did....the late 80's...bush sr., iran contras, pedophiles in the white house, the franklin cover up, etc.<br><br><br>"The last line of the movie is "All units should be back on base frequency."<br><br>do you think there's any kind of mind control/MKULTRA tie-in to the plot? I ask after seeing that quote and seeing that JD mentioned that there are various intel groups mentioned on the official website.<br><br><br>It's important to note that Donnie is undergoing hypno therapy throughout the movie...and he mentions at one point that he had a checkered past with the law...I can't remember what it was, but it was some minor crime or something....I think that's what makes them look at him more closely and decide to put him into therapy.<br><br>And the therapist....I always got a weird vibe from the character. not sure though....<br><br>last thing: I always notice the strange "light-up" picture she has hanging in her office. it looks like a woman's face...but kind of specific in a way I can't pin down. <br><br>In one scene, the camera actually starts out with a semi up-close shot of this "light-up" picture during one of the sessions and pulls back to include the entire office. I'm assuming that the painting is what Donnie stares at during the hypno-therapy sessions. is this normal? I don't know much about hypno-therapy...maybe the picture is a standard tool to induce a hypnotic state? anyone know? <p></p><i></i>
Ted the dog
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 6:06 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Some Observations

Postby JD » Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:30 pm

Some observations:<br><br>What's the root of Donnie's psych issues that require his medication and his incarceration in a treatment centre (this is elaborated on in the movie's website?)<br><br>Is it related to Cunningham? Donnies visceral reaction against Cunningham's appearance at the school, calling him "the anti-christ", seems to be coming from nowhere. Donnie wakes up on the golf course to Cunningham and a doctor, Cunningham doesn't seem to know Donnie. Do they have some kind of past?<br><br>Jim Cunningham's initials are JC - the same as Christ's<br><br>On the movie's website Cunningham's fate is clarified, he commits suicide after being busted as a child porn producer.<br><br>The girl's dance troupe that Donnie's sister is in, Sparkle Magic, is a weird Jon Bennet Ramsey kinda thing. Reeks of sick pedos. Cunningham is connected to it via one of the mothers who is also a teacher of Donnie's. Has Donnie's sister been a victim of child porn? Donnie too?<br><br>That rabbit in Donnie Darko - yes it is striking; so eerie and scary. Not sure how but it affects the viewer in a way I've never experienced, at least certainly not by any other giant rabbit costume.<br><br>Note Donnie doesn't drive his dad's Porsche at the end of the show. Interesting, I'd choose that over the Taurus, not like he could be in any more trouble or anything!<br><br>The Butterfly Effect. I started watching this with my wife and was getting really interested in it. She shut it down though; she still suffers effects from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after some bad stuff that happened to her as a child and it freaked her right out. May watch it on my own.<br> <p></p><i></i>
JD
 
Posts: 515
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2005 4:19 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Next

Return to Culture Studies

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests