End result for Jim Cunningham - motivational speaker
What was the end result for Jim Cunningham (the 'motivational speaker' played by Patrick Swayze) in Donnie Darko?
After Donnie completes his task to revert the time-line to the original 'correct' one (let's call it the 'primary' time-line), many of the things he did during the interim are reversed or negated. E.G. 2 characters who die in the secondary time-line are obviously alive and well once it is changed back to the primary time-line.
Donnie, during the course of the secondary time-line, takes a disliking to Jim and when he finds his wallet lying in the street, he uses the information to burn his house down. It turns out that Jim is a paedophile, and the police discover evidence of this in the ashes of the fire. He is arrested and his life takes a turn for the worse.
Then ..Donnie reverts the time-line..
So does that mean that Jim was never discovered, and is still an active child molester?
Best Answer
Actually, what happened to Jim is irrelevant because -- like many of the events in Donnie Darko -- the whole bit about Donnie heroically revealing Jim as a child molester is a fantasy in Donnie's mind.
As I explained in answer to another question about Donnie Darko, the movie shows the main character Donnie developing schizophrenia. The schizophrenia causes Donnie to believe he is at the center of a time-travel adventure that just might save the universe -- and the movie depicts Donnie's madness as it appears to him -- as if it was reality.
The scenes with Donnie's psychiatrist are the biggest clues to this -- she has some idea of what is going on with him. And another key piece of evidence is that in a deleted scene (availble on the DVD) Donnie has a conversation with his father where Donnie, in a moment of self-awareness, says "Dad, I'm crazy."
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Donnie Darko - Jim Cunningham's Seminar
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Answer 2
While one of the theories is schizophrenia, I prefer the Tangent Timeline did exist. The reason for this is they clearly show a scene where others who were part of the Tangent Timeline are waking up with a common dream.
Coming to the question. Jim's house doesn't get burnt in the Primary Universe. Because Donnie is dead.
- Jim Cunningham is shown to be crying because of his realization of what he’s been doing and experiences of the arrest and prosecution in the Tangent Universe.
Cunningham is shown to be repenting for what he's been doing. It is quite likely that he stops his basement activities.
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