Comments on: WHY DONNIE DARKO’S LITERAL PLOT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE (AND WHY IT DOESN’T MATTER)

By: Jack

Jack — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 04:13:34 +0000

I believe that the whole movie is supposed to be centered around Gretchen. The whole reason that Frank is revealed to Donnie is so that he could help him fix Gretchen’s death. But in order to do this Frank has to create a tangent universe and put Donnie in it. After Donnie has his plan in place and knows how to fix it, he throws the jet engine into the real world causing a paradox that destroys the tangent universe.

I think the whole movie is Frank trying to make things right and using Donnie to do.

By: Shana

Shana — Sat, 14 May 2011 20:28:54 +0000

I’m glad I found this, even though it was written 2 years ago. I just watched the original version of the movie a few hours ago. I understood it fine, but I had the same problem with the holes in the plot. The jet engine thing is just a fiasco, I really don’t think he knew what he was doing there.
I didn’t come here to discuss more theories. I came here after reading Emerson’s novel about the possible incest in this movie. I didn’t find it convincing at all, it sounded like the ramblings of a mad man projecting his own sick thoughts into the plot of movie. Perhaps being beaten over the head with the idea over and over, over about 20 paragraphs might make it feel convincing, but it really isn’t. It’s not that I have a problem with disturbing plots or themes, it’s that I REALLY didn’t see what he was seeing.
But just to add my own idea in, I think Donnie had the power to save himself over quite a few others, and it took some convincing for him to decide that it was worth him going. After all he was just the troubled kid with emotional problems, the world would probably be better off without him, whereas, the loss of his mother, sister, sister’s boyfriend and a young girl in the neighborhood all within the short span of time, might have been a bit much. Of course, by the end of the movie we liked Donnie and we felt he was more than that. But that’s just my feeling on it.

By: 366weirdmovies

366weirdmovies — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:07:03 +0000

You’re not mistaken at all to think the rest is up for discussion. I, personally, don’t want to participate in plot discussions, because I’ve said what I have to say about Donnie Darko‘s plot and have moved on. Others are free to discuss whatever they wish, and encouraged to disagree with me.

The point you bring up in your second comment interests me, personally, much more than speculations about what “really happened” in Donnie Darko: “The artist is only a tool in the end and the art runs away with itself if it is any good, taking on a life of it’s own… There is an x factor in everything where the magic, for lack of a better word or understanding, takes place.” That’s very perceptive and important to note.

In interpreting a work of art I find there is a tension between letting the piece “speak for itself” and listening to the creator. On the one hand, as you say, the artist is only a tool. Many of the bones and sinews of the work may grow out of his subconscious, or even appear by accident. The author may not be the best interpreter of his own work. On the other hand, art is an attempt by the creator to communicate with an audience, and I think we owe the artist an honest effort to hear what he’s trying to say, even if he’s wrong.

The plot I’ve outlined above is presented the way Richard Kelly intended it to be. Unfortunately, he has been quite clear, through his director’s cut, his commentary with Kevin Smith, and the supplemental materials he’s supplied as to what his intended plot was, and it’s ultimately disappointing. That’s why the theatrical cut is so much superior to the director’s cut. It’s more ambiguous, and honors the mystery of the tale. When Kelly tries to nail his story down, it flies away from him.

By: Aegyptia

Aegyptia — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 05:35:38 +0000

*regurgitate

By: Aegyptia

Aegyptia — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 05:33:33 +0000

I know what your point was, it was well stated. I mistakenly thought discussion on the rest was open and would have been interesting. I simply disagree there are plot holes, it all depends on your perspective, no revisions of plot needed.

As an artist I can tell you what one starts out to say when creating a work of art is often turned on it’s head because the process of making it and/or the end result often teaches you something entirely unexpected instead. The artist is only a tool in the end and the art runs away with itself if it is any good, taking on a life of it’s own. Movie making is no different which backs up your main point. There is an x factor in everything where the magic, for lack of a better word or understanding, takes place.

But to simply regurgitation bits of information the director lets slip or stand on dogma concerning the plot is unfortunate. We can disagree on that yet still agree on your main point, the movie works well despite anything else.

By: 366weirdmovies

366weirdmovies — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 21:00:07 +0000

Aegyptia, I’m sure your revisions to the plot make sense. My issue is that it I think the viewer shouldn’t have to rewrite the movie’s script so it makes sense! Was the movie Kelly put up on the screen only a first draft?

The main intent of my article was not to show why the plot doesn’t work, but why it doesn’t matter: the movie still works thematically and emotionally, despite the plot holes. In fact, the plot holes make the movie a weirder experience!

By: Aegyptia

Aegyptia — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:32:30 +0000

I need to watch the director’s cut, but the movie does make sense if you toss out the tangent universe scenario, or at least in the way it is put forth. What if Donnie was the one that created an alternate reality? The end of the world simply meant the end for Frank’s world. Frank only appeared to Donnie because he wanted to save himself and Donnie, after being imparted with the knowledge of time travel and wormholes, uses that knowledge to change the future. In other words, he sees that by sacrificing himself, all the others would live.

————

If we stay with the tangent universe explanation, the rift seems to have happened previous to the engine entering. So perhaps Grandma Death caused the tangent in her cellar playing around with time travel. The reason the bad guys were in the cellar when Donnie gets there is because he was close to discovering the real reason the rift was caused in the first place. That was what drove Granny Death to her current state of mentality and she was the one that chose Donnie to fix it. Just some ideas.