Donnie Darko

I just watched Donnie Darko. I can honestly say this must be one of the best movies I have ever seen. Amazing, profound, thought provoking movie. Zewrestler mentioned it was good, but damn - I was completely blown away.

I'm not even going to talk about the plot here - this movie just needs to be watched. The director actually managed to make Drew Barrymore act in this one - something I didn't think was physically possible. If he got her to actually work for once, you can just imagine how the the rest of the cast performed.

This is one of those movies that causes an instant thoughtstorm start brewing under your skull. I still can't shake it off. Was the tangent universe real or only a figment of Donnie's imagination - a side effect of his mental illness? Does it really matter? What is reality anyway?

We all assume that reality is the objective state of truth. We establish reality by comparing and contrasting our own subjective perceptions, against those of other individuals around you. You take what you perceive to be true, and what other's do and take a simple set intersection operation. Whatever you get is the objective truth. The rest are subjective distortions, dreams, hallucinations, and illusions.

But there is a problem here. What if my brain is not working correctly? Why if the individuals whose views I use to generate my definition of objective reality are only figments of my imagination? The only way I can even try to establish what is real, is by process of subjective, and biased observation. Everything that I ever knew, saw or experienced may have been a dream. How do I know it wasn't if I haven't woken up yet?

Do you really exist as a separate entity? Or do you only exist with respect to me? This is the dilemma of the Demirug. Am I a lonely architect of my own personal universe that lives and dies with me? We are truly tragic beings, yearning to connect with each other but destined to exist in solitude. As Granny Death said in the movie: every living thing dies alone...

Sorry for the existential outburst. Just go and watch the movie and you will understand :)

Tags: donnie darko, existentialism, philosophy of time travel, philosophy, movies, entertainment, great movies