The 'Donnie Darko' Effect

I highly recommend any of you who haven't seen Donnie Darko to check this film out. It's a highly imaginative, deeply layered story. I had to watch it a second time for anything I might've missed. Without a snob film critic's review, I'll address one of the themes this story addresses, a societal disconnect.

While growing up in high school, I lived in suburbia. I grew increasingly bitter watching cliques. It showed a sign of weakness when people felt secure in numbers. I had a few friends, and all of them couldn't be together in the same setting. They couldn't resolve their differences, despite my many attempts to intervene. Over a period of time, I lost some of these friends to the cliques. My senior year was spent with just a few remaining, but those few couldn't resist hanging out with the cliques. I didn't belong. The cliques comprise of a superficial mindset that focuses on belittling those not in the group who they knew little or nothing about. It's a very wicked time period and microcosm of what our society really teaches us -- conform. Conform to buying the latest hip clothing line like GAP. Conform to dumbing yourself down opposed to rising up with creativity and innovation. Conform to mean-spiritedness for supremacy to all the other groups around you. Conform to listening to what's considered hip music at the time. It was a very small vehicle these people decided to ride in. I decided to travel with something bigger that carried more luggage on an endless stretch of road.

A few of these examples of conformity are what the protagonist confronts in this film as a high school student. I'm sure at some point in your life you've felt a sense of disconnect with what surrounded you. How did you cope? Did it spark any creativity? Does this cycle really change when we're adults? Personally, this cycle continues today. Some might wear a mask, while others reveal who they really are. This is why I will persistently challenge the status quo and one great line from this film I'll part you all with: "Every living creature dies alone."