That dynamic also exists in the dichotomy between Cunningham and Donnie. Cunningham, on the other hand, is the Antichrist, a name Donnie calls him to his face, and he preaches a false gospel — fear is an illusion that just has to be dismissed — in order to enrich himself and obscure his own shadow.
He even has a picture of himself in his house, which is an Antichrist move if there ever was one. In The Last Temptation of Christ , Satan tempts Jesus with the image of an earthly life lived happily, with a family, but Jesus passes up the promise of that life to die on the cross. In Donnie Darko , Donnie ultimately makes a similar sacrifice.
At the same time, Gretchen dies in a fight that Donnie leads her into, and Frank dies as well, shot by Donnie as punishment for running over Gretchen. When the timeline resets at the end of the film, Donnie sacrifices his life in order to prevent these things from happening.
Frank is killed in the TU and therefore becomes one of the Manipulated Dead. He travels back in time and helps Donnie with his quest to return the Artifact. The first thing he must do is save Donnie by waking him up before he gets squashed by the jet engine. He is like a reverse ghost who appears before he was killed. Gretchen is also Manipulated Dead but she doesn't appear to Donnie in the same way as it might be to confusing for him. All the people connected to the Living Receiver are the Manipulated Living and these people will subconsciously help guide the Living receiver.
They will behave in the exact perfect way necessary to push Donnie toward his eventual destiny. Nearly every event in the film has a specific purpose designed to aid Donnie to save the Universe. There is a driving force behind the Manipulated's behaviour God is one of the most popular ideas mooted, the film does use religion at many points.
The story uses lots of religious symbols and often points to the idea that you follow God's channel to decide your own fate. This guiding force is moving all the Manipulated characters around like pieces on a chessboard, making a sequence of events that will lead to Donnie's success. The Universe is in grave danger and this guiding force has stepped in to help save it. This is effectively the role all the Manipulated play, they are trying to save themselves by guiding Donnie to complete his mission.
If Donnie fails they die as well. Frank tells Donnie to flood the school which in turn leads to Donnie walking Gretchen home and him then asking her to be his girlfriend.
This event is not just coincidence; it's specifically put in place as part of the trap. Gretchen plays a crucial role in the trap, remember Donnie only meets and falls in love with her within the TU. He is given someone to love then she dies. He's so upset at Frank for killing Gretchen he shoots him dead.
This has now created Manipulated Dead Frank, the person guiding him to do these things. He must create Manipulated Dead Frank in order to be saved himself in the beginning. It states that as the Manipulated Living awake from their journey into the Tangent Universe, they are usually haunted by the experience in their dreams.
This is why you see everyone from Jim Cunningham to Dr. Thurman awake in different states of grief and discomfort. But, all those who are directly connected to the Living Receiver have some sort of memory of the Tangent Universe. Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands. Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors. Thank you for signing up to CinemaBlend. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem.
Please refresh the page and try again. Of course, there are also some less desirable consequences of Donnie sacrificing himself; since he won't be around to burn Jim Cunningham's house, Jim's child pornography collection won't be found.
However, it's implied that some echoes of the tangent universe still remain. When Gretchen rides past Donnie's house and pauses to look at the wreckage, she and Rose make eye contact and instinctively wave as if they know each other, but aren't sure from where.
This suggests that even though Donnie was the only person who retained his full memory of the other timeline after travelling back, the other people in the town are also subconsciously aware of what might have happened. Though he was a misfit in life, perhaps people will know deep down that Donnie was a hero in death - even if they're not sure how.
Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies and TV online since His obsessions include The Simpsons, Stephen King, the Scream series, and the horror genre in general. He has spent more time thinking about Stranger Things than the writers of Stranger Things, and he has never seen a Star War.
By Cathal Gunning Published Sep 06,
0コメント