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| If we assume that Frank/Rabbit is real in some sense, and the ending seems to confirm that, then we have to ask ourselves what he achieved by his intervention into the past. If Frank hadn't been calling to Donnie that fateful night, then the engine would have fallen through his room killing him instantly. Things would have progressed more or less undisturbed for the town, a gym teacher goes on torturing her students, a paedophile is undiscovered and an English teacher keeps her job. Given that Frank's intervention eventually causes Donnie to jump through the worm-hole, travel back in time and then stay in bed to receive the engine. It seems that nothing was achieved... unless all those people waking in fright were actually remembering their individual futures in the time loop that was. If that was the only change, then we have to assume it was the result Frank was seeking. The film doesn't go beyond this point so we will never know what effect it had. An alternative but somewhat conflicted theory concerns Frank's prophecy of doom. 28 days till the world ends, when the wormhole appears to wreck the passenger Jet. Presumably without Donnie's prognostic actions, the worm-hole would have sucked the entire world into oblivion. The only action Donnie took with regard to this was to enter the worm-hole, travelling into his past, just before the jet engine that followed him. Now normally, time travel "causes" paradoxes rather than "prevents" them. The mechanics of how Donnie's time jump stopped the destruction of the world, if in fact he did, is beyond my understanding. I can only suppose that Frank's spirit, knowing more than mortal man, used the very same destructive worm-hole to go back and haunt the particularly sensitive Donnie and thus manipulate him into preventing the end of the world. What meaning then had Donnie's forays into flood, arson, etc? Were they trial runs to hone Frank's control over the skittish Donnie? Did they serve a more constructive purpose, given that some people would remember the events despite the time loop? There is some evidence that Donnie is gifted with powers beyond normal men... the axe through solid bronze, perception of the time tracks/bubbles. These abilities could be inherent in him, explaining why Frank chose Donnie as his agent, or they may have been gifted to him by Frank in order to achieve his goals. Also, I can't help considering the school project Donnie and Gretchen presented about inserting pleasant memories into sleeping babies, (along with the class bully's suggestion of inserting nightmares). Given the memories people have, after waking in fright at the end of the film, maybe that is all Frank was doing. Everyone is going to die in 28 days, so let's give some of them extra memories to help them live their last days differently. Of course, the fact that Donnie is a diagnosed schizophrenic gives all of the strictly rational people an out. Everything unusual was caused by Donnie's delusions rather than any complex theory of a time travelling spirit. In order to make this assumption consistent however, we would have to believe that Donnie's trip back in time, to intercept the engine, was also a complete delusion. What do I believe? I believe Donnie Darko is a terrific film to watch, discuss and analyse. You have to make up your own mind as to what was really going on. |
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