Movies - Philosophy of Time Travel

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	Movies - Philosophy of Time Travel

The Philosophy of Time Travel is a fictional text from the movie Donnie Darko, written by Roberta Sparrow, a somewhat-deranged 101 year-old woman, who at an early point in her life acquired some sort of grand revelation regarding how to avert a doomsday event centered around the universe destroying itself because of the existence of an alternate, unstable timeline. At that point she suddenly abandoned nunhood, wrote the text and began teaching science. Because of her ragged unkempt appearance, poor condition of her house despite the fact that she's fairly wealthy, and her bizarre daily behaviour of repeatedly checking her mailbox while standing in the middle of the road, she is nicknamed "Grandma Death".

The text is critical to the understanding of the movie's many unresolved questions, and is indeed given to the protagonist of the movie at one point, though it is never shown within the movie what comprises the text. The extended DVD version however carries it, as does the main website on which it is hidden.

The book itself is presented as disjointed, with a large number of pages and entire chapters missing. Donnie however is apparently given a complete copy. The rest of the article gives a summary and analysis of each section presented for public viewing, though the full text unfortunately cannot be provided for fear of possible copyright violations.

Foreword

Here Roberta gives thanks to six fellow nuns at the Saint John chapter based in Alexandria, Virginia for their support in her decision to write the book. She prays that what she has written is merely fictional, but if it is not, also prays for the reader who discovers it as such. It also implores the (un)lucky discoverer to seek her out if she is still alive. This is most likely tied into the movie by her constant checking of the mailbox, perpetually awaiting the letter that confirms the text as non-fiction before it is too late. The text is dated October 1944.

Chapter One: The Tangent Universe

This chapter covers the basis for alternate realities as presented in the movie. The main universe in which things progress properly is called the Primary Universe, as well as stating that the fourth dimension of time is stable but not damage-proof, though such events are exceedingly rare. When a time travel event does occur (such as the jet engine from the future in the movie), an alternate universe called the Tangent Universe is created to maintain the proper flow of time. However, because that universe was created using a paradoxical flow of time, it is inherently unstable and will collapse itself within a few weeks (Presented as Frank stating 28 days..42 minutes...6 hours...12 seconds) if the loop is not closed to resolve the paradox.

Failure to close the loop (Failing to send the jet engine back in time) would result in the Tangent collapsing within the Primary, generating a black hole with sufficient power to destroy everything. This occurs as the original time travel event would end up with no starting point (The engine must be present at the origin of the time travel event. If it is not there when it occurs, then nothing travelled back in time, which would conflict with the existence of the engine that has already travelled back), invalidating the whole scenario in the first place and catastrophically breaking the loop.

Chapter Two: Water and Metal

This chapter is very short. It merely states that water and metal are two key components in the whole fiasco. Water is the medium by which travel between the Primary and Tangent is possible, and as such the spatial distortions, or Time Portals as they are called in the book, in the movie are presented as tunnels created of liquid.

Metal is the material from which the item that causes the paradox must be primarily made of. They are called Artifacts by Roberta, and are covered in the later chapters in more detail. While the book references fairly small items as Artifacts (arrowheads and swords), in the movie an entire jet engine is the item in question.

Chapter Four: The Artifact and the Living

This chapter covers preliminary relationships between the Artifact and people who are physically near it when it starts the paradox. They are presented as being at the center of a dangerous new world (A full-sized jet engine crashing into one's home is certainly very dangerous), and as people curious and intrigued by it. It also states that the appearance of an Artifact is the first clue that a Tangent Universe was created, as their sudden appearance from nowhere defies all logical explanation and indicates a damaged flow of time. Roberta believes that a divine miracle is the only rational explanation for such an event.

Chapter Six: The Living Receiver

This chapter tells of how the closest living person to the Artifact upon its arrival becomes the Living Receiver, a person Roberta believes is chosen to help guide the loop to its proper conclusion and avoid doomsday. It however escapes her how or why a particular Receiver is chosen, but she states that the person often ends up with supernatural abilities as an aid to help them in their task. Among the ones mentioned in the book, Donnie exhibits superhuman strength (being able to lodge an axe into a solid bronze statue), as well as two other powers being allegorical more than anything; the ability to conjure fire (setting Cunningham's house on fire) and water (flooding the school). It is widely unknown that Donnie burned the 'They made me do it' into the ground at the school.

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