Ahh. I have seven pages of notes and I still don’t know what to post at this point. Here are a few topics I have listed to discuss: Faith, the multiple Franks, Destruction, Jim Cunningham, Roberta Sparrow, Sex, Smurfs and Rabbits.
Rabbits:
Why are we the bunnies? After they watch Watership Down in English class, Karen (the teacher) says, “We are the rabbits.” I’ve never read Watership Down, but a quick glance at the sparknotes synopsis tells you that it’s about rabbits “in search of a home” and the main character is a rabbit who can tell good from bad. Donnie, in a way, is also searching for a home. As Julie posted, he is an outsider who doesn’t really know where he belongs. This is true in the Primary Universe, but he also has to decide whether his place is in the Primary Universe or the Tangent Universe, and not until he shoots Frank does Donnie realize his destiny. An even more convincing reason to believe that “we are the rabbits” is when Donnie sees the rabbit as he’s looking through the mirror. Literally, Donnie is the rabbit, at least according to his reflection.(This also brings to mind the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. Like Donnie, Alice is continually following the rabbit and wanting to go home.)
Destruction:
It seems to me like Donnie says it all in the beginning when responding to his teacher’s question about “The Destructors”: “Destruction is a form of creation…they just want to see what happens when they tear the world apart.” There are many forms of creation in this movie. Donnie goes on a destructive streak and “creates” chaos through his destruction. He mentions that he burned down an old house before the start of the movie, he floods the school and he burns down Jim Cunningham’s house. Now, he tells Gretchen, he paints and writes in order to suppress the urge to create through his destruction. Donnie is also always concerned with sex, and sex (I guess) can be seen as a form of creation…at least at its most basic purpose. They do call it “procreation.” When he’s talking about the smurfs and how they have no sexual organs, Donnie says disdainfully, “What’s the point of living if you don’t have a dick?” Maybe he’s really saying, what’s the point of the living if you cannot create? What that means in context with the story I’m not quite sure. Perhaps this whole Tangent world is just a creation of Donnie’s imagination. He falls asleep right before it all happens. In fact, the story—or at least the tangent universe—begins and ends with Donnie in his bed. This is also somewhat similar to Alice in Wonderland. This theory also fits in with what Josh posted, that the entire story is basically a boy’s ultimate fantasy. Perhaps it really is.
Unanswered questions:
Why are there so many Franks? Frankie Feeler, the boy who was “doomed” like Donnie and died before the prom. Frank who is “destroyed by fear.” Frank, the man behind the bunny suit.
Why does Donnie have to kill Frank in the end for everything to be okay? Why does that “ensure” his (and humankind’s) fate?