So the other night i was having a conversation with my gf about death and suicide and depression and trying to cheer her up as I generally do. Now let me state that for most of my life I've been excellent at making people feel better about life/themselves/whatever, i mean really great. I'm that guy you can always call pretty much. I've lost track of the number of people I've talked down from suicide who never tried it again and went on not ok but as ok as anyone can be in this world. Well it's very difficult with my gf (probably one of the hardest depressives I've ever dated) but the otehr night we were talking about all of this and we got on the subject of Donnie Darko and I mentioned my own take/philosophy on the film and why i loved it and it had this chain reaction that really made her night. This was just a passing thing to me and i realized i should probably share it:
SPOILERS WARNING: If you have not seen Donnie Darko, go rent it now, it's a hellofa film, but reading further will kill the story for you, so be warned...
When I sit and talk with people most of the ones I talk to all give me the line about how true to the depression of life it is and how sad and beautiful in that it's so sad or whatnot. All of it boils down to that one undeniably famous line in the movie: "Every living thing dies alone" or something close to that quote. It's the one Roberta Sparrow (Gramma Death) whisers in Donnie's ear in the film. It also really eats at Donnie and, to most people, in the end of the filmm when he lays down on the bed ad prepares for his own inevitable demise by Airplane engine this validates that line, that Donnie dies alone.
To me it seems that Roberta was quite mistaken about that line and it was for this reason that she herself walks back and forth to teh mailbox and has degraded to a state of total dementia (this and her overall knowledge of the nature of time travel and paradox). I think the point is that she never was able to see beyond the dying alone bit and Donnie did, and that is why he was able to complete the cycle instead of wind up in a stall.
My reasoning lies here:
My grandfather was a great man for whom i had the utmost respect. He lost his wife of over 50 years and continued to live happily for 6 more years after. When he found he had Leukemia he told almost no one in the family simply based on the fact that he felt he had lived long enough and had seen plenty. I spoke withh him many times before his death and he was always calm with it. He died in his sleep and they found pronounced him calm and smiling. I've known a lot of death in my life and have been close very many times. Most of the people i have known including myself who have seen the edge of that great beyond and kept on to tell of it always have distinct memories that follow them down that tunnel before they come back for one reason or another. While obviously i cannot say what really happens in the end, it is my feeling that you take the memory of those whom you have loved, hated or felt any emotion for in those last moments. Emotion is a part of all our lives and with it comes Memory. These are the places that are as real as anything can be and so are the people who were there. In almost every story i know of involving myself or another where someone passed on, someone out there somehow knew about it, even if only a feeling. In this way someone is always with you, someone always holds your hand and says i love you or goodbye even if in spirit...
In this way, no one dies alone.
Whether you may feel that no one cares or no one loves you, somone out there feels something for you i guarantee, it's simply inevitable in our lifetimes as human beings. You are not alone in this way in life, and never in death.
I think in the end of Donnie Darko, Donnie realizes this, he knows purpose and all of those things and sees it, that's why he smiles in the end...to me it is very obvious that his fears are blown away and he realizes that he in fact does not die alone. This is why that movie is so great to me.
I urge anyone who's seen the movie and didnt thnk on this angle to watch the film again and lemme know whatcha think. Tell me if i'm barking up the wrong tree or if i'm over-sappy or whatnot but that's my story for the evenin' and, as they say, i'm stickin' to it.
Much love to you all
Keep the Memory
Live in the Now
Believe in the Dream
Walk in Balance
- GHosT
SPOILERS WARNING: If you have not seen Donnie Darko, go rent it now, it's a hellofa film, but reading further will kill the story for you, so be warned...
When I sit and talk with people most of the ones I talk to all give me the line about how true to the depression of life it is and how sad and beautiful in that it's so sad or whatnot. All of it boils down to that one undeniably famous line in the movie: "Every living thing dies alone" or something close to that quote. It's the one Roberta Sparrow (Gramma Death) whisers in Donnie's ear in the film. It also really eats at Donnie and, to most people, in the end of the filmm when he lays down on the bed ad prepares for his own inevitable demise by Airplane engine this validates that line, that Donnie dies alone.
To me it seems that Roberta was quite mistaken about that line and it was for this reason that she herself walks back and forth to teh mailbox and has degraded to a state of total dementia (this and her overall knowledge of the nature of time travel and paradox). I think the point is that she never was able to see beyond the dying alone bit and Donnie did, and that is why he was able to complete the cycle instead of wind up in a stall.
My reasoning lies here:
My grandfather was a great man for whom i had the utmost respect. He lost his wife of over 50 years and continued to live happily for 6 more years after. When he found he had Leukemia he told almost no one in the family simply based on the fact that he felt he had lived long enough and had seen plenty. I spoke withh him many times before his death and he was always calm with it. He died in his sleep and they found pronounced him calm and smiling. I've known a lot of death in my life and have been close very many times. Most of the people i have known including myself who have seen the edge of that great beyond and kept on to tell of it always have distinct memories that follow them down that tunnel before they come back for one reason or another. While obviously i cannot say what really happens in the end, it is my feeling that you take the memory of those whom you have loved, hated or felt any emotion for in those last moments. Emotion is a part of all our lives and with it comes Memory. These are the places that are as real as anything can be and so are the people who were there. In almost every story i know of involving myself or another where someone passed on, someone out there somehow knew about it, even if only a feeling. In this way someone is always with you, someone always holds your hand and says i love you or goodbye even if in spirit...
In this way, no one dies alone.
Whether you may feel that no one cares or no one loves you, somone out there feels something for you i guarantee, it's simply inevitable in our lifetimes as human beings. You are not alone in this way in life, and never in death.
I think in the end of Donnie Darko, Donnie realizes this, he knows purpose and all of those things and sees it, that's why he smiles in the end...to me it is very obvious that his fears are blown away and he realizes that he in fact does not die alone. This is why that movie is so great to me.
I urge anyone who's seen the movie and didnt thnk on this angle to watch the film again and lemme know whatcha think. Tell me if i'm barking up the wrong tree or if i'm over-sappy or whatnot but that's my story for the evenin' and, as they say, i'm stickin' to it.
Much love to you all
Keep the Memory
Live in the Now
Believe in the Dream
Walk in Balance
- GHosT
There are monthly writing assignments with the guild. You also have to critique. If you don't participate, you're out.
If you still want in, post a 1-3 page short story to my journal. Or a poem if that's your thing.
You got 4 days.