Great Character: Donnie Darko (“Donnie Darko”)
The Great Character theme for the month: High School Characters. Today: Donnie Darko from the 2001 movie Donnie Darko, written and directed by Richard Kelly.
What makes Donnie Darko feel like the bold rewind-worthy fireworks display that it is? The answer is because its sinister complexity is decorated with bright new wave pop culture graffiti that befits a first-time director raised during the Spielberg 1980s. Donnie Darko, from the comic book hero name, to its The Shining supernatural travels, is that John Hughes meets Steven Spielberg for dinner with James Cameron flick that you can imagine Richard Kelly’s 12-year old self (and my 9, 10, 11 and 12-year old self) would have seen twice opening weekend, collected the trading cards of, bought the lunchbox for and waited impatiently to get the VHS tape of for Christmas.
Donnie Darko tackles time travel with equal parts Back to the Future teen wit, and The Terminator’s relentless fear. Plenty of nostalgic nods to screenwriter/director Richard Kelly’s childhood era sprout up: his home state of Virginia, references to The Smurfs and Married With Children, 1980s actors: Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing) and Drew Barrymore (E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial) and an early MTV soundtrack including Tears For Fears and Duran Duran. Donnie Darko is a wonderful time warp that yanks throwback Sci-Fi by it’s Delorean steering wheel and propels it into a future that possesses its own iconography: a Dooms Day bunny named Frank with a mask that seems to appear courtesy of a hallucination.
Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) takes the fear of loneliness, disturbed teen angst and a nightmarish imaginary friend along with him into a layered update on the classic High School character trope.
Donnie Darko IMDB:
A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident.
Hearing exactly what day and time the world is going to end by a ghoulish man/bunny is one amazing way to establish a clear clash between an overwhelmed protagonist like Donnie Darko and his malevolent antagonist Frank, the Halloween version of the Easter bunny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUgvyyzsNns
But like any great character, Donnie Darko has flaws and issues that extend beyond his main plot trot against the carrot-craving catalyst for chaos. Donnie puts the dark in “Darko” with mental health disruptions that appear to stem from Frank’s reappearances. Donnie is seeing a psychiatrist, taking medication, bullied by bullies, one being Seth Rogen in his cinematic starting role, he is smarter than his friends, and is alienating himself with his erratic disappearances at night and anger-fueled outbursts that emerge from his fright night close encounters of the rabbit kind.
DONNIE DARKO: [to his mother] How’s it feel to have a wacko for a son?
Donnie’s conservative gym teacher is becoming a thorn in his side that is stabbing a nerve.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXKvRNnXF3A
But Patrick Swayze’s character Jim Cunningham, the motivational speaker with the sick, disgraceful kiddie porn fascination becomes a clash obstacle in Darko’s quest to set his perceived to be gullible guardians straight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q4KnXgi2Jg
But as Donnie bumps heads with the grown-ups and his less-than-mature peers, his cerebral swelling calms down with the romantic connection he has developed with broken home survivor Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone). He also acts as a protector to the wrongfully mistreated Asian student Cherita Chen.
DONNIE DARKO: (to Cherita Chen) I promise that one-day, everything’s gonna be better for you.
Donnie comes across as a heroic high schooler who still has a very mortal life bogging him down. But ultimately, he claims the change to make the ultimate sacrifice for the lives of his family, the same one he feels emotionally and socially alienated from.
DONNIE DARKO: I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to.
For his expression of depression, his cosmic intuition and his rise to the occasion of becoming a savior — Donnie Darko is one incredibly GREAT CHARACTER.
Such a fascinating movie with so much going on thematically. Jason’s observations make me want to go watch Donnie Darko right away.
Thank you, Jason, for this post. What’s your take on the movie? Please join us in comments to discuss Donnie Darko.
You may follow Jason on Twitter: @A2Jason.
