█ DONNIE DARKO █

>donald j. darko
>05/28/1972 (gemini)
>my little guy

>goes to juvie around 1986 (thirteen years old) for accidentally burning down an abandoned house, as a result he's held back and can't drive until he's eighteen (misspoken as twenty one in the movie, written correctly in the script)

>sleepwalking has evidently been a persistent issue throughout his life because while in juvie he unintentionally escapes while asleep. in a deleted scene he says that he doesn't dream while it's happening and that every time it happens he wakes up someplace different and unfamiliar

>is sixteen in 1988, a year older than cherita, ronald and gretchen; his grade is never explicitly stated but it's safe to assume he's probably in 10th given the ages of the people around him

>according to kelly in the commentary, while sleepwalking (during the events of the movie) donnie has increased 'superhuman' abilities; i.e: being able to break into his school and deface the mongrel statue; generally the theme of donnie being a superhero extends throughout the movie. the title itself is meant to be reminiscent of movies from that genre

>also mentioned in the commentary is the fact that donnie isn't "insane', he was chosen for the task of saving everyone from the parallel universe. but it's clear that he was mentally ill before the events of the movie/regardless of the events of the movie (most likely schizophrenia, as thurman mentions)

>age regresses throughout the movie, most noticeably during the therapy/hypnosis scenes and every time he interacts with frank; the script otherwise refers to many of his actions while disassociating as being 'childlike', (i.e: "like a child transfixed by a firefly... donnie follows the path of his spear into the foyer"). 'catatonic' is another word that appears frequently

>in his final scene he laughs because, according to kelly: he thinks it's all been a dream and is happy that it's over OR he understands that he's fulfilled his purpose in fixing the primary universe, accepting the fact that he has to die

>his middle initial is noted as 'j' on a document on the interactive website; looking at virginia's 1972 census, it probably stands for james, john, jefferey, joseph or jason. james is the cutest thanks

>wears adidas campus sneakers

>the script called for donnie to shoot smurf plushies; they were able to get permission to use the smurfs' likeness because the creators agreed with donnie's factually correct diatribe about them. they weren't able to find or make any smurf dolls in time for shooitng, though

>drools when he sleeps <3 (semirelated: the numbers on his arm in this scene were written by jake himself)

>while reprimanding donnie prinicpal cole says " let me preface this by saying that your iowa scores are... intimidating."; the iowa tests of education are given to highschool students (generally in iowa) grades nine through twelve and cover a handful of topics (science, math, vocabulary etc). either his family moved to middlesex at some point before the events of the movie or donnie's school just happens to administer it

>smokes marlboro reds

>no idea why but the script reads "i turn down the volume and think about fucking alyssa milano" while the movie reads "i turn down the volume and think about fucking christina applegate"... food for thought

>he's prescribed 25mg of doxepine twice a day; the label reads that it was prescribed 07/24/88 by thurman (at a 'winn pharmacy'). doxepine is prescribed for anxiety/depression and trouble sleeping; there are lots of side effects but the most common include drowsiness, nausea, dizziness, dry mouth, constipation, agression and blurred vision. serious side effects include seizures, hallucinations, urinary retention, high/low blood sugar and rashes. in a deleted scene, thurman says that his pills are water based placebos (imo this isn't canon because it's nonsensical)

>he uses old spice cologne (this specific type of bottle)