Line #3 Fridge/DonnieDarko


1	'''As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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3	[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]
4	* Jim Cunningham created the motivational doctrine that everything exists on a continuum between Fear and Love, and as a consumer and possible creator of child porn, he can be said to simultaneously embody both extremes.
5	* Changing the opening song from "The Killing Moon" to "Never Tear Us Apart" (before the Tangent Universe is created) makes sense from a narrative perspective, as the song "Love Will Tear Us Apart" plays on the final night in the Tangent Universe. One timeline is stable and cannot be destroyed, while the other is on the cusp of breaking and puts Donnie's and Elizabeth's loved ones in the crossfire.
6	* If Frank had never talked to Donnie, Donnie would have died immediately and there would have been no time loop. So, the entire purpose of the movie is to give Donnie the chance to come to terms with his death. This makes it a LOT less of a downer since instead of being a movie about Donnie being screwed no matter what he does, it's a movie about getting the chance to accept and see the meaning in his seemingly senseless death.
7	* The random comedy of the Smurfs conversation can distract from an important bit of foreshadowing in that scene, especially relevant since they're seated only a short distance from Grandma Death's house, which is that Donnie is a very good shot with a rifle.
8	* Cherita's moment of bliss in the finale makes sense if you assume she saw the Tangent Universe in her dreams. By losing the talent contest she was put out of harm's way, both by the plane being damaged and Cunningham's perverted tendencies. A deleted scene set the morning after the school was flooded foreshadowed this.
9	* "They made me do it". Donnie's re-writing of that sentence is completely different to the graffiti in the schoolyard, yet the principal still considers him a suspect. It's a possible hint that Donnie is something of a scapegoat among the faculty, especially considering his history of vandalism.
10	* During the scene in the movie theater when Frank takes off his mask, Donnie ask him what happened to his eye. Frank, at least in the theatrical cut, tells Donnie "I'm so sorry." Why would he respond to the question like that? Because he is later shot in the eye by Donnie in retaliation for running over Gretchen.
11	* The first licensed song heard in the theatrical cut is "The Killing Moon" by Echo and the [[{{Pun}} Bunnymen]].
12	* Since Donnie won't be around to flood the school, there will be less reason for Kitty Farmer to scapegoat Karen Pommeroy. And this means Karen won't be fired.
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14	[[AC:FridgeHorror]]
15	* There's a doozy of one at the end. Think of it: in this timeline, Donnie died without going on his murder-and-arson spree. Thus, he never burned down Jim Cunningham's house, thereby exposing the fact that Cunningham was making child porn. It's never insinuated that Cunningham would be found out any other way, and in the meantime, the head coach of the little girl dance team adores the man and trusts him completely. If he asked to give the girls a 'private lecture' on Love vs. Fear, she wouldn't bat an eye. In conclusion: Donnie's death will almost certainly cause his little sister to be molested.
16	** Actually I heard that Cunningham killed himself soon after the night Donnie died.
17	*** I believe on the website you can find a newspaper clipping on Cunningham's suicide a couple of weeks after Donnie's death.
18	*** The last time we see him he’s crying for no apparent reason. Maybe he, like everyone else in the final montage, saw the possible future of him being arrested and is finally seeing how horrific his actions were. This could lend to the suicide theory.
19	** While we're going there, seems more likely that he might well have gained access to the dance team before the events of the movie, and maybe Donnie knows or suspects something already, explaining the level of hostility he displays toward Cunningham (which otherwise does seem a little disproportionate).
20	* In the main timeline (i.e. following Donnie's sacrifice) wouldn't Gretchen and her mother be doomed to die at the hands of her AxCrazy stepfather?
21	** Depends on what Gretchen and her mother would be doing on the 30th instead. Maybe since Gretchen won't have a boyfriend in the timeline without Donnie, she and her mother will go out to places together more often to explore the town. So maybe they go out on Halloween and aren't at the house when the stepfather finds it.
22	* Donnie won't be there to tell Cherita's bullies to back off, suggesting her teasing might be even worse in the years to come.
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24	[[AC:FridgeSadness]]
25	* Donnie's conversation with his mother at the beginning is the last thing he ever said to her. The last time she ever interacted with her son ended with him calling her a bitch.
26	** To make it even more FridgeHorror, when he first meets Grandma Death, she says "Every living creature on this earth dies alone." When Donnie was shown before he died, it was implied that the events played out the way they did in the beginning of the movie. The only exception, being that he was aware of the ultimate timeline. He called his mom a bitch so she could leave him alone to die.
27	* Gretchen will start school right after Donnie's death. There will be no "sit next to the boy you think is the cutest"; Donnie's seat will already be empty for her to sit in.
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29	[[AC:FridgeLogic]]
30	* In the buildup to Halloween, Donnie draws a picture of a man wearing a scary rabbit costume and carves a Jack O' Lantern resembling Frank's mask. As far as we can tell, Elizabeth's boyfriend Frank had no interactions with Donnie that she would have known about, so their shared interest in scary rabbits must have been this for her.

Context Fridge / DonnieDarko