Eighties Pop Culture in Donnie Darko
From Barbelith
Here are some of the 80s pop icons riffed on in Donnie Darko. Perhaps an alphabetical list might be the best way forward....
The Church - did the song "Under the Milky Way," the theme to Donnie and Gretchen's last night together. The lyrics are so appropriate to the film, it could be argued that the whole thing was written to go with this song.
Lyrics are here: http://www.lyricsxp.com/lyrics/u/under_the_milky_way_the_church.html
seanmcglinchey , charlie's friend:
also, strangely, all the clothes donnie darko wears, the blue t-shirt, the triumph jumper, the red stripey grey t-shirt are clothes i remember wearing as a child. that's partly why i like this film, it makes me really nostalgic.
Dirty Dancing - See Dirty Dancing.
E. Randy Dupre:
Duran Duran - "Notorious"? Take a look at the lyrics. They relate quite well to Cunningham. Also, the dance that Sparkle Motion perform is overtly sexual. The exposure of Cunningham as a paedophile is necessary for plot reasons more than anything else; there needs to be something there that forces him to leave the scene to provide a basis to a number of plot strands, and it also reinforces the 'Donnie as superhero' side of things.
The Radiator:
The track used during shooting of this scene was actually West End Girls by the Pet Shop Boys
Echo And The Bunnymen - the 80s band that did the film's opening music. Discussed at length here: Echo and the Bunnymen.
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial - See: ET the Extraterrestrial.
E. Randy Dupre:
"Hungry, Hungry Hippos" was the funniest line in the film.
Karate Kid -- Yes, the Ralph Macchio movie. Donnie's Halloween outfit was worn first in this film. See Karate Kid.
dlotemp:
Smurfs - Comic characters created by Belgum artist Peyo that first appeared in 1958. The Smurfs were little blue men, and one woman, who lived in the woods and were harrassed by an evil wizard named Gargamel and his cat Azrael. They first became popular in America as figurines, which led into an animated show produced by Hanna-Barbara. The Smurfs appear to be asexual and there is no documented research on their geneology, probably because they don't exist. It should be noted that Smurfette, the conversational focus of Donnie's buddies, was a character created for evil who is able to change her nature when confronted by good, perhaps not unlike Donnie's own change of nature.
Bruce Springsteen - In the song "Cautious Man," on 1987's Tunnel of Love album, Springsteen tells the story of Bill Horton, a "cautious man of the road."
Patrick Swayze's character has some things in common with Bill Horton - both find themselves suppressing old urges, and both view the world in identical either/or terms: "On his right hand Billy tattooed the word 'love' and on his left hand was the word 'fear' / And in which hand he held his fate was never clear."
More here: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/CautiousMan.html
Back to the Future- At one point when he's talking to Noah Wyle, Donnie praises Back To The Future and asks whether a it is possible for something like a DeLorean to be used to go back in time. He then later uses a car to time-travel, pulling the station wagon out of the driveway near the end, similar to scenes in Back to the Future.
Other 80s tunes featured in the film were:
"Head over Heels" - Tears For Fears "Proud To Be Loud"- The Dead Green Mummies "Love Will Tear Us Apart"- Joy Division "Mad World"- Gary Jules
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