This weekend we watched the cult classic, Donnie Darko.
The film is disturbing, challenging, and at least a little bit confusing.
The plot involves Donnie, a teenager with emotional problems and apparent hallucinations, in a series of acts guided by a mysterious, disturbing looking 6-foot-tall rabbit. (Harvey, anyone?)
As Donnie is led by the rabbit to go back and change the past, I was left to ponder the extent to which his changing of the story was a good thing. He was able to act selflessly to transform his own story into one of redemption, to save a couple of lives along the way, also.
But the rabbit had led Donnie to do a couple of things that would now be left undone. One chain of events initiated by the rabbit put Donnie in the right place to keep a girl from being harassed by the school bullies. One action the rabbit led Donnie to perform led to the discovery of a secret child pornography studio and/or distribution center.
It seems that the scary rabbit led Donnie to create a better world–right up the end where Donnie returns to undo what had been done.
Have you seen the movie? Do you think the undoing of the past at the end is ultimately a good thing or a bad thing?
I own that movie. The message I got from that movie is you’re better off dead, rather than living. I see the redemption side, but the story speaks to a generation that has no idea how to let the past be the past. We all want to be martyrs for something. I used to love that movie when I was younger, but now I see the hopelessness of it. The soundtrack is amazing though.
I think I agree, Brian. I’ve only seen it once, but it seemed to be a movie striving for a redemption that didn’t quite materialize. That was the ambiguity of it. Also, interesting how self-serving the rabbit was…
At that time there were a lot of similar movies coming out. Virgin Suicides, Requiem for a Dream, and others. They are all super depressing.
Hmm. Maybe my #stabmyself moniker is 8-10 years too late? Figures… 10 years behind is the typical point on the curve for Christians trying to start trends.
HAHA! I got the movies if you want or the titles for you to watch
I liked this deleted scene. Gretchen is right
MS. POMEROY And when the other rabbits hear of Fiver’s vision, do they believe him?
(cough)
It could be the death of an entire way of
life, the end of an era.
DONNIE
Why should we care?
MS. POMEROY
Because the rabbits are us, Donnie.
DONNIE
Why should I mourn for a rabbit like it
was a human?
MS. POMEROY
Is the death of one species less tragic
than another?
DONNIE
Of course. A rabbit is not like us. It
has no history books… it has no
knowledge of sorrow or regret. I like
bunnies and all. They’re cute… and
they’re horny. And if you’re cute and
horny… then you’re probably happy that
you don’t know who you are… or why
you’re even alive. But the only thing I’ve
known rabbits to do is have sex as many
times as possible before they die.
There’s no point in crying for a dead
rabbit… who never feared death to begin
with.
GRETCHEN
You’re wrong.
(beat)
You’re wrong about these rabbits. These
rabbits can talk. They are the product of
the authors imagination. And he cares for
them. So we care for them too. We care
that their home has been destroyed… and
that their lives are in danger. Otherwise
…we’ve missed the point.