As an infamous cult classic, and arguably one of the greatest teen films, Donnie Darko depicts a dark underbelly of a familiar world, through the gaze of an unlikely liberator.
Donnie Darko (2001) directed by Richard Kelly provides a dark and morose representation of life as a teenager in the 1980s. The film combines various generic crossovers but in essence contains the fundamental archetypes and trepidations characteristic of the teen film genre. Kelly uses these conventions as a framework for the purpose of achieving satire. He employs“…recognisable signals that viewers would relate to but…existed on a different level to point where we could poke fun at these plot contrivances.” Through these devices, Kelly makes the world of the film every teenager’s nightmare; revealing the hidden, unspeakable struggles of the adolescent in their journey towards self-discovery and their transition to adulthood. The cultural history of generation X underpinning the main thematic concerns make the film an important contributor to the history of teen film.
Love or Fear?
The world of Donnie Darko is an alternate universe set in an idealistically appearing American town in 1988. A central concern faced by the teenagers in the film is finding a place in a society which is strictly dominated by an extensive set conventions and beliefs. This nostalgic focus is evident in the iconic 1980s music comprising the motion picture soundtrack. The selection of these “newly installed set of ‘classics’” (Driscoll (2011) p.107) mirrors the manner in which the adult’s in the film are set in their old ways, and relying on the past to inform their lives. This leaves no room for original thought that lies beyond these boundaries. The town appears to be perfect and harmonious. This however is an external façade, masking its pre-apocalyptic, oppressive and unstable structure. This stereotypical “white-bread America” image is evident in the appearance of the Darko family. Donnie’s father externally appears to have achieved the American Dream, with “the impressive home, a white picket fence with double garage, a doting wife, and three children” (Lee (2010) p. 128). The falsity of this however quickly becomes apparent in the dinner table scene where Donnie’s mental illness and the parent’s lack of authority over their argumentative teenagers is uncovered.
In teen film, the adults are often estranged from the adolescents due to a generational gap. As a result, they are unable to understand and communicate with each other effectively. A way this issue is confronted in Donnie Darko is through intense adult intervention into the teenager’s lives. The adults see the thoughts and motivations of the adolescents as possibly threatening as they are unable to comprehend them. In order to eliminate this possible “threat”, they try to make them act and think like they do. This is evident in the school’s mental health program run by Jim Cunningham. By dividing all acts into two distinct categories: love and fear, the “other things that need to be taken into account… (being)…the whole spectrum of human emotion…” are excluded. By reducing the complexity of emotion in an age group prone to various extreme emotional responses, the adults attempt to brainwash them to feel either one way the other. This would eliminate the unpredictability of adolescent emotional response.
This binary decision between good or bad and right or wrong presented through “love and fear” is carefully constructed in order for it to be accepted by the teens. “Love” has extreme positive connotations. Loving others, yourself and your lifestyle is a repeatedly emphasised method towards happiness throughout history. It can be seen in religious sources: “love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Christian Bible) and societal laws of conduct for example, in Ancient India, one must accept your rank and position in community in order to be happy and ultimately gain a happier next life. By equating this firmly entrenched goal of life (achieving happiness through love) with the town’s acceptable behaviour, their ideals are sensationalised and are more likely to be followed by impressionable youth. “Fear” however has strong negative conations. It implies personal misery as a result of being constantly afraid and also connotes cowardliness in the face of dangers. When Donnie speaks out against this ideology, Jim says: “You are a fear prisoner. Yes, you are a product of fear.” These metaphors highlight that Donnie is being controlled, like “a product” and is also confined as a “prisoner”. Ironically, Donnie is the only one that is free to think and act independently while the rest of the town is enslaved to strict social convention.
To Be Frank...
The mental illness which Donnie presumably has is liberating rather than restraining. Donnie’s repeated visions allow him to become detached from the oppressive world of the town thus free him from social standards and expectations. Donnie’s visions allow him to critic the society he lives him like an outsider looking in. They also, in the form of Frank provide him with the means to act against the wrongs he sees. Donnie must follow Frank the bunny’s orders which he must do because “…he saved my (Donnie’s) life.” Frank does not however dominate Donnie in their relationship. He simply amplifies his own suppressed desires. He gives him the power to speak and act in a manner that is “‘Frank’ (which also means honest)” (Driscoll (2011) p.105) and to continue his journey towards growing up according to his own moral compass. In the film, the adults emphasise the physical symptoms of Donnie’s said “illness” but deliberately do not consider the cause which is the superficial and corrupt town. Thus, “the blame... (shifts)… from a dysfunctional society in denial onto the individual.” (Lee (2010) p.129). It is made clear later on in the film that Donnie is not actually sick when it is revealed he was taking placebo pills. His actions and motivations, disregarding his extreme supernatural circumstances are typical of a headstrong and curiously cynical teenager. Thus, the illness, as well as functioning to sidetrack from the flawed nature of the social structure also allows the adults to further condemn Donnie’s teenage nature as unacceptable. Not only are his actions “…a product of fear…” they occur because he is mentally diseased. The expulsion of Donnie acts as a final attempt to ‘quarantine’ him from the other students he may ‘infect’.
Lack of Male Role Models
An issue that arises in the film is that the vigorously strict society in a way outlaws proper masculine development. The male characters in the film, besides Donnie almost completely lack male authority to govern their own actions. Donnie’s father, although appearing to have all of which comes with being a successful man i.e. the perfect wife, kids and house has no real personal power. At the dinner table when Donnie’s little sister asks what a “f***ass” is and also during the parent-principal meeting after Donnie confronted his teacher about the love/fear lesson, he laughs. Both times, he is silenced by his wife for taking the situations, both involving socially condemned use of vulgar language lightly. Donnie’s father, when alone with his son does give him rather controversial advice: “Be honest. Tell the truth. Even if they look at you funny. They will. They’ll call you a fool… Because those bull****ers know that your smarter than them”. It is made clear Donnie’s father doesn’t agree with the social conventions but he himself is powerless to do anything about it. His character symbolises what the teens will grow up to be like if they continue to blindly follow the rules of society without ever challenging the aspects that are flawed.
Donnie’s physics teacher Kenneth is the only other adult that believes and understands his visions to do with time travel. He gives him controversial advice out of class about a topic abstract from the curriculum. As the conversation shifts to questions of religion however, when Donnie suggests that if “…you travel within God's channel” you can defy your destiny, Kenneth ends the discussion, fearing he “…could lose… (his)…job”. Thus, “politics, conservatism, and persuasiveness of spin doctoring have taken precedence over the pursuit of knowledge.” (Lee (2010) p.130) There is a complete lack of admirable male characters for Donnie to look up to. Jim Cunningham’s external appearance connotes success. He has good looks and a financially prosperous career and appears virtuous (he seemingly helps troubled youth for a living). His character contributes to the façade of the American Dream embodied in society. The moment of his implication as a child pornography producer stands as a moment where the rotting core of the town is revealed to the other characters. Rose’s state of denial symbolizes the need for similar social cohesion even though it is imaginary. In teen film, a lack of positive role models often results in anarchic behaviour in the teen. Similarly, in Rebel Without a Cause, Jim’s father plays a feminine role in the family even doing chores in his mother’s apron. Thus, the adolescent must find out on their own what it is to be a man, often outside acceptable means.
Destroy to Rebuild
Donnie’s acts of violence although appearing as acts of public nuisance are necessary in order to fix the doomed paranormal universe of the town and restore balance. This idea of creation through destruction is made evident early in the film, the idea is hinted at. An intertextual reference is made to The Destructors by Graham Greene in Miss Pomeroy’s English class. Donnie says in response to the short story that “…destruction is a form of creation. So the fact that they burn the money is ironic. They just want to see what happens when they tear the world apart. They want to change things.” Frank provides Donnie with the superhuman powers needed to carry out his tasks for example, “…He uses fire to burn Jim Cunningham's house down. He floods the school and constructs a time portal from water. He uses telekinesis to rip the jet engine off the plane to send it through the time portal” (Smith (2014)). The idea of destroying in order to create is an extended metaphor emphasising that in order to change the world for the better; all wicked and unjust attitudes must first be obliterated. It is only then that new ideals have the hope for survival. In a teen context, it highlights that adolescents are the future adults of the world thus, have the power to reform the social structure. The obligation to continue existing ideals is only a myth enforced by elders as a means of control.
Donnie the Superhero
Through Donnie’s destructive behaviour, he is actually acting as the world’s heroic savior. The character of Frank being Donnie’s metaphoric “…displaced and distorted superhero costume” (Driscoll (2011) p.105) is alluded to when Gretchen sees the name "Donnie Darko” to be “…like some sort of superhero or something”. This is idea is solidified by Donnie’s quasi-martyr like sacrifice. After Donnie dies, the world is restored, starting again from before the plane crash. Although the characters do not remember exactly what happened in the parallel universe, they have nostalgic dream-like epiphanies that prompt them to significantly rethink their lives. For example, in the film’s conclusion, Jim Cunningham is shown crying uncontrollably. This represents his newly established regret for his sexually abusive behaviour as in his mind, he distantly knows what it will feel like to be caught and lose everything. The backing track accompanying this scene, is the iconic 80s song ‘Mad World’ by Tears for Fears remastered into a solemn ballad by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules. This continues the nostalgic focus of the 1980s set film however, the song being a cover is significant. It stands as an auditory metaphor mirroring the state of the ‘restored’ world. It remains set in convention but to a lesser extent; much like how the song is recognizably 80s but has been changed to reflect new attitudes and emotions. The selection of the song highlights how the society still is a “mad world” and that they must confront the issues that still exist. Donnie however managed to open their eyes to the decaying state of the town and created the possibility for change. His significant legacy signifies the immense personal power of the individual adolescent to unravel the fabric of society in order to instigate positive redevelopment.
Donnie Darko (2001) directed by Richard Kelly provides a dark and morose representation of life as a teenager in the 1980s. The film does contain generic crossovers but in essence has the fundamental archetypes and trepidations characteristic of the teen film. Kelly uses these conventions as a framework for the purpose satirizing the nightmarishly oppressive social structure enforced upon Generation X Americans. Hidden, unspeakable struggles of the adolescent in their journey towards self-discovery and their transition to adulthood are externalized. This includes the need for teenage independence in order to become an empowered adult. Also, there is a need to fight against tyrannically strict social conventions idealized by hypocritical elders. It is only through this active destruction of injustice that a world where people free to think and act according to their own moral compass can be achieved. The cultural history of generation X underpinning the main thematic concerns make the film an important contributor to the history of teen film.
References
Books:
Driscoll, C. (2011), Teen Film: A Critical Introduction. Oxford, New York: Berg
Kaveney, R. (2006), Teen Dreams: Reading Teen Film and television from Heathers to Veronica Mars. London and New York: I.B. Tauris
Lee, C. (2010), Screening Generation X: The Politics and Popular Memory of Youth in Contemporary Cinema. Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited
Shary, T. (2005), Teen Movies: American Youth on Screen. London and New York: Wallflower
Tropiano, S. (2006), Rebels & Chicks: A History of Hollywood Teen Movie. Broadway, New York: Back Stage Books
Websites:
Everything2 Media (2002), Donnie Darko. Retrieved May 18, 2014, from http://www.everything2.com/title/Donnie+Darko
IMDb.com (2014), Donnie Darko (2001): Quotes. Retrieved May 18, 2014, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246578/quotes
Smith, D. (2014), Donnie Darko: The Tangent Universe. Retrieved May 16, 2014, from http://www.donniedarko.org.uk/explanation/
Comments