What if paranoid schizophrenics are able to time travel?

Rating: 10/10 (18 October 2008)

This movie asks a strange question and gives an in-depth and stylized answer in a film medium, an answer that is both sci-fi and spiritual. What if the young man that everyone sees as a "troubled teen" is really troubled by the actual things he is able to witness?
Is Donnie a superhero or Jesus Christ figure? A bit of both, if there really needs to be a distinction. Donnie calls Cunningham the anti-Christ. That could be the best insult he could come up with, or you could say that it takes a Christ to see the anti-Christ. When his soon-to-be girlfriend asks him, "What kind of name is that? Sounds like some kind of a superhero", he retorts, "What makes you think I'm not a superhero?" This is the hidden reality of the story. Donnie and his dad's schoolmate Frank are apparently superheroes, albeit unsung. In the movie theater Donnie taunts Frank by asking why is he in that stupid bunny suit. Frank replies, "Why are you in that stupid man suit?" No mere mortal, Donnie.
Why does Donnie like "Chut up" Cherita? He knows she is in pain. He knows that the world is not a fair place, where the fair-looking people have all the advantages. Contrast his little sister's performance with that of Cherita at the school theater night. Donnie cares for the downtrodden, the unsightly. But on a deeper level, his interactions with Cherita show us a larger purpose; his time travel seems to have a meaningful impact on those he leaves behind. The right-wing radical teacher seems to recognize some error in her ways, the awful Cunningham seems to realize he dodged a bullet, Cherita smiles, assured of the promise that life will be better for her.
How can there be a Frank Jr., didn't his dad die on his way to the prom? Only if Frank Sr. had a son while still in high school.
Why does Frank the all-powerful bunny turn into a clueless young man? Frank was never really just Frank. Let's say Frank Sr., the Frank that Donnie's father references, is another superhero. Then perhaps a whole other story relates to that unfortunate, dying on the way to his prom. Frank Sr. was another paranoid schizophrenic who had to face a similar choice as Donnie did. In this way, we are given the sense that the world we know is sustained by these heroes, tragically because the rest of us simply see a "doomed" crazy person. (It could also be God, showing himself in a form that will be helpful.) Donnie- Why do they call you Frank? Frank- It is the name of my father (smiles) and his father before me. --This would seem to indicate that Frank Sr. is present in the bunny suit; Frank Jr.'s grandfather is Frank Sr.'s father "before him".
So how do the Smurfs fit in? There must be some irony in the name of the town in the film  Middlesex. Smurfette is created for an evil purpose, but is turned around by the loving ways of the smurfs. She, like Jesus and Donnie, is created and placed into "the world". But just as you think he is reacting to their crassness, he makes the surprising observation that a life without a penis is not worth living. Sex is a convenient representation of all earthly pleasures. He finally makes love with Gretchen and that is what steels him in his resolve.
Does Donnie really have a choice? Yes and no. He would have a choice if he were not such a perfect individual. Witness the conversation with his physics teacher. This is the final conversation he has with him, where the prof says he has to stop speaking with Donnie or risk losing his job. (It's pushing the Christ myth interpretation a bit far, but note that this is a form of desertion, or denying one knows Christ.) The prof goes through the usual logical conundrum of having no choice, tied to your fate, then seeing the future and choosing whether to take that path, thereby crashing the concept of being tied to your fate. But Donnie counters that this wouldn't happen if one were to follow "god's channel". This fits into the Donnie as Christ concept in that yes, Christ has a temptation in the desert, but come on now, is he really going to go the way of the devil (that nasty kid at school is a good stand-in for the devil, by the way)? Donnie is our hero. He is a good person, however tormented he may be. When he sees the right way, the path of virtue, it seems certain he will take it.
Speaking of tempting Christ, why is the theater playing "Last Temptation of Christ"? Just a hint from the storyteller that Donnie is Christ and that these are his last days.
Was there some deeper meaning to what Roberta Sparrow ("Grandma Death") whispered into Donnie's ear? "Every living thing dies alone." How appropriate coming from Grandma Death. Her role is to prepare him to make the sacrifice, for him not to be deterred by the natural revulsion to the pathetic act of dying alone, like his dog crawling under the porch.
Why is this story oh so ripe for a sequel? Donnie's sister dates Frank Jr. She obviously is sleeping with him. Recall the night of the plane engine crash. Sis comes home and chuckles as she leans against the inside of the front door, apparently ravished. Her son would then be the next in the perhaps infinite line of Franks.
Why are Donnie's last words "I'm going home"? He is obviously going to his bedroom in his house. But on the level of the Christ myth, he is going to Heaven, from whence you could imagine him having come to earth.