STRUCTURE OF THE FILM

DIFFERENT THEORIES

What are your thoughts so far?

A THEORY BASED ON

THE PHILOSOPHY OF TIME TRAVEL- ROBERTA SPARROW

There are two separate Universes

• Primary Universe – the Universe we exist in now

• Tangent Universe – the parallel Universe that most of the film is set in

http://www.the-elite.net/---/darko/ and http://www.donniedarko.org.uk/explanation/

THE ARTEFACT

On October 2nd, 1988, an artefact from out of nowhere landed in what Sparrow calls the "Primary Universe"--life as we know it.

The origin of this artefact, the jet engine, is a "Tangent Universe", created when the jet engine blew through the wormhole and into a day that had already happened, October 2nd.

The artefact marks the arrival of the Tangent Universe. Remember during the conversations that Donnie had with his

science teacher, Dr. Monotoff, an “artefact” able to move through wormholes without being destroyed are metal vessels of some sort (such as a jet engine).

28 DAYS, 6 HOURS, 42 MINS, 12 SECONDS

The instability of the the Tangent Universe meant it would collapse within weeks, destroying all existence with it (as Sparrow explains).

Ultimately, Donnie Darko closed the wormhole by ensuring the artefact's passage through it, back to the Primary Universe (which would seem to be the "second" time it happened).

In doing so, the jet engine was sent back hurtling toward the Darkos' house, except this time Donnie knew it was coming. Donnie just smiled, because he knew that he had restored the world to its proper state, and in doing so, saved Gretchen, his mother, and his sister (an airplane missing an engine doesn't stay in the air too long).

WHY DID DONNIE CONTAIN THE SOLE POWER TO “SAVE THE WORLD”?

According to Sparrow, the closest to the artefact when it comes through the wormhole becomes “The Living Receiver”, whose mission is to guide the artefact back to the Primary Universe

DONNIE IS AIDED BY “THE MANIPULATED LIVING”

These people are those that were near Donnie and the wormhole when the artefact appeared

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.

ALSO AFFECTED BY THE TANGENT UNIVERSE ARE “THE MANIPULATED DEAD”.

Anyone connected to the Living Receiver who dies in the Tangent Universe becomes Manipulated Dead. These people are very powerful and have the ability to move through time and talk to the Living Receiver through a Fourth Dimensional Construct. They also have some knowledge of the impending disaster and help guide the chosen one.

Frank is killed in the Tangent Universe and therefore becomes one of the Manipulated Dead. He travels back in time and helps Donnie with his quest to return the Artefact. 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.

SCHIZOPHRENIA

It is implied in the film that Donnie is a schizophrenic and therefore the film is him going through an episode of his illness. This theory is plausible because every single event could be put down to this. Hallucinations and hearing voices is a schizophrenic trait and could easily explain Frank’s appearance.

There is a deleted scene where Donnie’s therapist at the end of the film admits to giving Donnie placebos as medication for his illness. This would suggest that throughout the film he was always vulnerable prone to hallucinations.

DREAM

The whole movie was a dream. When he goes to sleep on October 2nd at the beginning of the movie he dreams this mystical adventure just before he gets killed by the jet engine.

But….

DONNIE IS SHOWN THE FUTURE

It portrays Frank as a kind of Ghost of Christmas Future character who saves Donnie and then either shows him or allows him to live the next 28 days of his life. At the end Donnie returns back to October 2nd and now has the opportunity to choose his own fate.

So many bad things happened in those 28 days including his girlfriend getting killed and Donnie becoming a killer himself that he decides to stay in bed at the end of the film to sacrifice himself for the good of others. By dying he saves Frank, Gretchen and his mother and sister from a plane crash.

THE LOOPING TANGENT UNIVERSE

This is a theory that follows ‘The Philosophy of Time Travel’ but with one major change.

The idea is that every 28 days the Tangent Universe collapses, then loops back round to October 2nd and starts over again. Basically the Tangent Universe is a repeating time-loop that will continue until Donnie is successful in returning the jet engine into the Primary Universe. The film is Donnie's first successful attempt at returning the jet engine and there have been several failed attempts before.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

EITHER WAY…..

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

TODOROV’S NARRATIVE THEORY

Izetan Todorov was a Bulgarian structuralist linguist publishing influential work on narrative from the 1960s onwards) Todorov suggested that stories begin with an equilibrium or status quo where any potentially opposing forcesare in balance.

This is disrupted by some event, setting in chain a series of events. Problems are solved so that order can be restored to the world of the fiction.

Georgia St Louis AS Media

http://www.slideshare.net/Die-fast-live-pretty/todorovs-narrative-theory

TODOROV SUGGESTED THAT CONVENTIONAL NARRATIVES ARE STRUCTURED IN FIVE STAGES:

1) A state of equilibrium at the outset.

2) A disruption of the equilibrium by some action.

3) A recognition that there has been a disruption.

4) An attempt to repair the disruption.

5) A reinstatement of the equilibrium.

Georgia St Louis AS Media

http://www.slideshare.net/Die-fast-live-pretty/todorovs-narrative-theory

TODOROV SUGGESTED THAT CONVENTIONAL NARRATIVES ARE STRUCTURED IN FIVE STAGES:

Attempt to Repair

Equilibrium

Disruption

Recognition

Equilibrium

WE HAVE SEEN SOMETHING SIMILAR BEFORE…

YOUR TASK

Plot out the narrative of Donnie Darko following Todorov’s Narrative Theory