Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko is a 2001 film, the first by writer and director Richard Kelly. Set in 1988, the movie is a psychological science fiction film about a boy named Donnie Darko who, after narrowly escaping death, has visions of a giant rabbit named Frank who predicts when the world will end. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

"I'm voting for Dukakis"

Is the very first line of dialogue. It is spoken in a deadpan voice by Donnie's elder sister Elizabeth (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) to their father, Eddie Darko, a committed Republican.

Related Topics:
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Republican

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Fans of the movie have appropriated the line as a catchphrase. Some regard it as humorous nonsense, given Michael Dukakis's historical role as a miserable failure in the U.S. presidential election, 1988. Others interpret it to mean "I'm deliberately trying to annoy you." A few suggest that it means, "I know I'm going to fail, but at least I'm on the right side." In fact, some film critics suggest the phrase can be seen as a cryptic summary of the entire movie, as Donnie rebels against abusive authority figures (Farmer and Cunningham, not his father) and comes to terms with the necessity of his impending doom. It certainly encapsulates the alienated and ironic tone of the film.

Related Topics:
Catchphrase - Michael Dukakis - U.S. presidential election, 1988

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The reference to largely forgotten and somewhat tedious political history situates the events in the epoch when the writer-director - and perhaps his target audience - were adolescents. Such a historical rootedness is unusual for a science fiction movie and serves to give the movie an unusual and even "realist" quality. The name Dukakis also carries a muffled echo of the name Darko.

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