Donnie Darko: Holiness through Fatalism in a Post-Religious Era

Summary: I think one of the lesser-discussed messages behind Donnie Darko is: We can replace God with a romantic notion of universal fatalism.
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"Donnie wakes up in his bed laughing after dreaming some of the events within the TU. He then goes back to sleep seemingly content with life now. The experience has seemingly brought him closer to God and he is no longer afraid to die. The jet engine Donnie sent through the time portal now falls into his bedroom killing him."

Easily the best movie of all time.

The greatest thing about Donnie Darko is that it uses fatalism to add a holiness to existence in a post religious society. And it does this in so many ways, through the directing, and a masterfully crafted plot that exists on many layers, somehow still haunting the user with this holiness on each one. It evokes one with the eerie but infinite astonishment about the world that Heidegger characterizes as fundamental to Dasein. Like a fascination with your very existence in the world, as a self at this time and place for no apparent reason. In this case it is evoked by playing with the meaning of your story in the universe through manipulations with time and choice that can imbue a weird sense of destiny on everyday living. One must ask: why does Donnie die laughing?

the story exists on two levels

1.

i think from just watching it, without seeing the director's cut or anything, you see a guy who falls into a horrible series of events

and is questioning death and being alone, and having issues with that

and goes through a series of events and seems to understand something, or realize something

especially after the series of events is so pointedly terrible (like the universe is sending him a message), and occurring in this dreamlike sequence

and when he wakes up, back at the beginning of it all

he sacrifices himself so all those bad things dont happen to everyone

and he goes happily, feeling that there is some greater sort of timeline, a holier connection with the universe and his story as he had hoped for. the universe "spoke," so to speak.

and that evokes this notion that he is "closer to god so more okay with dying," which is something that every human ultimately wants. It's harder and more evasive to get in a post-religious era, and that's why Donnie Darko is mysterious and evasive itself at times. But it allows for that possibility using the story of your life in the place of the story of humanity, no greater deity needed...after all, he could have dreamt the whole thing. But it's this notion of fatalism that, through backward time travel from the end of your life, breaths meaning onto your present.

2.

the second layer is when u actually learn the philosophy of time book that this is based off of, and realize theres a structure and ruleset to everything thats happening

at the start they break into a tangent universe, and the universe is doomed

donnie is the chosen one, and his goal is to return the extra engine that dropped on top of his house

and everyone in that tangent universe is subconsciously guiding him to send that extra engine out of the universe so it can collapse safely, without forming a black hole. It's incredible how every single interaction in that movie is meant to lead Donnie to his destiny, it gives a powerful sense of purpose to every human interaction he has, one that the viewer feels even if he doesn't know about this deeper layer to the plot, probably from the incredible visual directing and acting.

 And it is from this beautiful perspective we can derive a sort of fatalistic maxim to live one's life in a post moral and religious society: we dont need god: just treat everyone in a way that they are subconsciously guiding you toward a fate to save the universe. This notion of a "meant timeline," and of a mysterious force leading the humans you interact with to guide you to your Great Task, ultimately death--but one in which you are happy to go, is a beautiful way to look at your life, and it's why Donnie laughs in his last moments--one must imagine Sisyphus happy. While it literally happens to Donnie, I really think this is just a metaphor for life--a tangent universe that you explore until you happily accept your fate. Follow the queues of your fellow humans--all interactions holy.

And as a follow-up, you could even interpret this without the force! The laugh works on so many levels, and even the most bare (which may make it the most powerful, existentially), where he basically realizes his fate as the Living Receiver and is brought into a feeling of holy communion with the universe (think Stranger from Camus), and even though he doesn't need to die--since the airplane wing has already been returned the primary universe is now restored and he can choose whether to go or not--he is okay with dying, because his role as the living receiver is even greater in death, and he sort of realizes that its all about choosing your story, and punctuating your fate on The Timeline, and laughs in those last moments.