Donnie Darko - The fear of being alone.

The idea and reality of feeling and being alone was a theme strewn throughout the film. During one of his therapy sessions his therapist asks him:

Dr. Lilian Thurman: Donnie, what did Roberta Sparrow say to you?

Donnie: She said that every living creature on Earth dies alone.

This was specifically seen in the character of Donnie Darko who’s greatest fear was dying alone. But through his relationship with Gretchen he discovers what it means to have love and compassion which is a huge contrast to the beginning of the film when he is more of a bratty teenager. His character develops as he discovers what it means to experience love and loss such as when Gretchen is killed by Frank’s car.

One of the most prominent scenes to me was at the end when Donnie Darko decides to take his own life by going back in time where he makes the decision to not leave his bed. As the metal piece from the plane crashes down into his room he’s laughing and smiling. It was off putting at first to see this visual imagery before his death because it was really sad that he died. Especially after getting to know his character throughout the film. But it did show his sacrifice by sacrificing his own life in order to save his family, Gretchen and the lives of others. At the end of his life he may have been experiencing what he had hoped for:

Donnie: 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.

He may have been able to experience this because in his alternate universal self he had the opportunity to experience love through his relationship with Gretchen. He is content because he realizes its his relationships with his family and Gretchen that has made his life complete. So he doesn’t have to fear being alone when he has these relationships even though he’s not going to be with them when he dies.

One of the most jarring visuals in the film was the montage of scenes after Donnie’s death, with the song Mad world playing in the background. You see each character in their respective spaces even ones that were dead in the alternate universe.

All around me are familiar faces

Worn out places, worn out faces

Bright and early for their daily races

Going nowhere, going nowhere

Their tears are filling up their glasses

No expression, no expression

Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow

No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad

The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had

I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take

When people run in circles it's a very very

Mad world, mad world

Specifically the line “the dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had” was very telling of Donnie’s present situation where he had experienced in an alternate universe happiness and love in his relationship with his girlfriend and with his family. He is literally dying in this scene but he remembers a world where he had been able to experience moments of happiness that he can now die happy knowing that he will be saving the lives of those he treasures, even though he doesn’t have a tomorrow for him.

At the end of the film I wondered about Jim Cunningham’s fate. Did Donnie’s death prevent justice for Cunningham’s crimes? In the montage scene we see him crying and I was wondering why was he feeling so sorrowful?