Donnie Darko Essay

Donnie Darko: Fear and Love Donnie Darko is a movie with deeper, greater meaning than the material that is presented. Throughout the movie, there are many reoccurring themes and ideas. These ideas resurface to remind the viewers of the messages that are weaved within the script. These ideas that constantly resurface quietly and secretly help to shape the character’s within the movie. Without these existing ideas, the personalities of most the characters would completely change. Without these themes, Donnie Darko would not even be the same movie. That is why these themes and ideas play a huge role in developing the characters, the character’s roles within the movie, and the movie in itself. Donnie, the main character in the movie, is a pretty strange outspoken teenager. Certain scenes within the movie help us to get a grip on Donnie and what makes him who he is. For example, the scene where Gretchen, Donnie’s girlfriend, first enters class suggests that Donnie is charming in a sense. At least, Gretchen seems to think that Donnie is charming or somewhat attractive. Also, in another classroom scene, we get a real look into Donnie’s brilliance and the function of his brain: “A storm is coming, Frank says. A storm that will swallow the children and I will deliver them from the kingdom of pain. I will deliver the children back to their doorsteps and send the monsters back to the underground. I'll send them back to a place where no one else can see them except for me, because I am Donnie Darko” (Donnie Darko). This is the poem that Donnie reads in Ms. Pomerroy’s class. It shows Donnie’s mind at its greatest potential. The quote shows Donnie’s thinking ability as well as the darkness that consumes his soul. The funny thing about the quote is that it basically summarizes the whole plot to the movie. The whole idea behind Donnie’s time travel is so he can prevent the people he loves from being hurt. Within the poem, those people are represented as children. As the viewer