1. Standard memberuzless
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    06 Apr '09 02:502 edits
    Ever wonder what the hell the movie Donnie Darko was really about? Well, here it is.

    It's not about time travel and it's not science fiction. It's a satire/allegory about kids who were forced to go on ritalin to "cure" their behavioural problems in the 80's. Known side effects caused kids to hallucinate.

    When Donnie takes his medication at the beggining of the movie, he sees the rabbit in the mirror. He then goes to sleep in his bedroom. The rest of the movie is just an hallucination. The time travel stuff is just a plot device in order to get Donnie back in the bedroom at the end of the movie. Watch the movie with this in mind and it makes total sense. The movie is showing you the hell that some kids were put through, and the horror created from the frailties and weaknesses in their own minds. Think twice the next time you think a little pill can cure your failings as a parent.

    For a more detailed explanation, read on.......

    http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041102/EDITOR/41022001


    EDIT: Oh, and Mulholland Drive is another one of those movies that only takes place in someones mind. Eyes Wide Shut is another great example (as if the movie title wasn't a big enough clue!)
  2. Standard memberDrKF
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    06 Apr '09 08:38
    Eh? Mulholland Drive can be explained away as simply being 'inside someone's head'? I have to disagree, if only because it seems like a bit of a pat 'solution' to the film, particularly if you ascribe to the 'Lynchian' perspective that there isn't a single, simple pat solution.

    And it's not at all clear *whose* head your talking about...
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    06 Apr '09 14:36
    The best part of Donnie Darko is the slow-motion montage through the halls of the high school while Head Over Heels by Tears for Fears is playing.
  4. Standard memberuzless
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    06 Apr '09 17:16
    Originally posted by darvlay
    The best part of Donnie Darko is the slow-motion montage through the halls of the high school while Head Over Heels by Tears for Fears is playing.
    Yep. The words are almost exactly matched for the whole song.

    http://video.google.ca/videosearch?hl=en&q=head%20over%20heals%20donnie%20darko%20video&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#
  5. Standard memberStTito
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    06 Apr '09 21:40
    The first thing you have to realize about Mulholland Drive is that David Lynch was hired by ABC to make another series and that movie was more or less the pilot episode. ABC screened it and said "no way"(go figure, Lynch is not know for his flowing plot lines.) So Lynch took it to a French film company and added a few more scenes and it became the movie we know now. It is an unfinished painting.
  6. Illinois
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    11 Apr '09 09:57
    Originally posted by uzless
    Ever wonder what the hell the movie Donnie Darko was really about? Well, here it is.

    It's not about time travel and it's not science fiction. It's a satire/allegory about kids who were forced to go on ritalin to "cure" their behavioural problems in the 80's. Known side effects caused kids to hallucinate.

    When Donnie takes his medication at the beggi ...[text shortened]... Eyes Wide Shut is another great example (as if the movie title wasn't a big enough clue!)
    Where do you get the ritalin interpretation? Is that your own? I only ask because I don't see where either Ebert or Richard Kelly mention it.

    Secondly, neither Roger Ebert nor Richard Kelly say definitively that the movie is merely a hallucination. Richard Kelly's interpretation is sci-fi based, and Roger Ebert admits that his interpretation is just one of many possible.
  7. Standard memberPariah325
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    11 Apr '09 23:481 edit
    In some of the bonus features somewhere, they talk a lot about how the movie is about divine intervention...I'm sure you could make some symbolism for just about anything, though.

    And while we're talking about movies in people's heads, what about American Psycho? I've had many debates about whether or not that one is true. I've seen the movie countless times, and read the book four or five times, and I'm still not sure what the hell is really going on.

    And I very much agree about that Tears for Fears little "getting off the bus and going through the classroom" sort of thing. Gary Jules did a great version of Mad World for that movie, as well.
  8. Standard memberuzless
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    12 Apr '09 07:06
    Originally posted by epiphinehas
    Where do you get the ritalin interpretation? Is that your own? I only ask because I don't see where either Ebert or Richard Kelly mention it.

    Jim mentions it in his review near the beginning. Watch the first 10 minutes again. It's all about the mediciation. He is even seeing a psychiatrist about his behavioural problems. Ritalin-type medication is what he is taking for his behavioural problems.

    All Donnie's problems start as soon as he starts to take his meds again. The hallucination side effects of ritalin were well known back in the day. It doesn't get as much mention nowadays.


    All that sci-fi stuff is just classic red herring movie madness. I love the symbolism of the jet engine "going down" the vortex parodying the pill going down Donnie's throat. Pure gold!
  9. Standard memberDrKF
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    12 Apr '09 10:31

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  10. Joined
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    15 Apr '09 18:41
    Originally posted by uzless
    Ever wonder what the hell the movie Donnie Darko was really about? Well, here it is.

    It's not about time travel and it's not science fiction. It's a satire/allegory about kids who were forced to go on ritalin to "cure" their behavioural problems in the 80's. Known side effects caused kids to hallucinate.

    When Donnie takes his medication at the beggi ...[text shortened]... Eyes Wide Shut is another great example (as if the movie title wasn't a big enough clue!)
    Ritilan sounds great. Where can I get some?
  11. Standard memberuzless
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    15 Apr '09 21:04
    Originally posted by znsho
    Ritilan sounds great. Where can I get some?
    Just act like a jerk and swear at your mother alot. You'll get some soon enough
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    15 Apr '09 22:10
    Originally posted by uzless
    Just act like a jerk and swear at your mother alot. You'll get some soon enough
    I'm an orphan.
  13. Standard memberPalynka
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    16 Apr '09 10:55
    Originally posted by znsho
    I'm an orphan.
    That's great, you'll get your meds even faster.
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    16 Apr '09 18:46
    Originally posted by Palynka
    That's great, you'll get your meds even faster.
    Yes, but to whom do I scream and shout?
  15. Standard memberPalynka
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    16 Apr '09 18:50
    Originally posted by znsho
    Yes, but to whom do I scream and shout?
    The orphanage curators, obviously.
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