18 Ways "Donnie Darko" Blew Your Teenage Mind

    "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?" Whoa.

    1. You considered the possibility of time travel.

    2. You began to understand the complexities of life.

    3. You felt new sympathy for the Smurfs.

    4. You questioned your identity.

    5. You opened yourself up to the idea of true evil.

    6. You began to see your weirdness as an asset.

    7. You wondered how Donnie could know this. And if it was true for you, too.

    8. You pondered the difference between dreaming and waking life.

    9. You found the beauty in the breakdown.

    10. You speculated that we were all just doomed.

    11. So you understood the appeal of changing fate.

    12. You accepted that nothing else made any sense.

    13. And you realized that ultimately, none of it mattered, anyway.

    14. You saw life as cyclical and temporary.

    15. You felt strangely calm about the end times.

    16. You asked yourself the same questions over and over again.

    17. With Donnie Darko, you learned to appreciate the distinct pleasure of a mindfuck.

    18. And, of course, Jake Gyllenhaal.

    Sorry, what were we talking about?