Alright…This movie really had me in it’s grip. I was in complete and utter awe of the performances…Wow. Just…wow. My husband and I kept nodding at eachother in that “This movie is incredible isn’t it???” kind of way.
And then…the frogs started falling.
Am I missing some kind of stellar symbolism here? Am I just too much of a dorky, unimaginative loser to get this movie? Do I need to go to film school?
When it finished I still thought it was a powerful, moving film, but the frogs just…well…they annoyed me! (I have to admit I’m not terribly drawn to frogs…but still.)
What did you all think about it??? Pleeeassse tell me! I must know!
Well, ok Spoofe. And I thank you for answering…but…why something so improbable like frogs? I mean, why would the film maker chooose something so outlandish?
Anyway, the soundtrack is amazing…I’m going to go out and buy it tomorrow!
The frogs are still disturbing me…Was no one freaked out by the frogs? Am I the only one?? I thought the movie was about facing your demons…not running from the past, yourself…etc…
Ok…I’m trying to accept that unpredictable things happen…but frogs?? bah!
Rain of frogs is a kind of ‘God’s judgement’ thing - they’re all guilty of something, things are going to keep haunting them unless they straighten up and make an effort to reconcile/improve behaviours, forgive and so on.
Oddly, I saw it as a kind of directorial divine intervention.
The movie had established all of these characters, all of whom had developed a very defined humanity, all of whom the audience sympathized with, and right before the frogs, none of them could come to the right conclusions. They needed something, some improbable external force, to save them.
To me it seemed as if the director wrote the script so that it all headed towards a point where a deus ex machina was necessary, in each and every story. The script was building towards an intersection, a place where all of the stories could be resolved by a single incredibly unlikely event. And the director, in his mercy, sent down a rain of frogs so that each story could come to its proper conclusion, or at least start heading that way.
It was, to me, about the nature of free will in the presence of a benevolent deity. It was about the ultimately fictional nature of life.
There are a number of references to Exodus 8:2 in the film.
[spoiler]The numbers 8 and 2 appear throughout the film:
weather forecast: 82% chance of rain
a gambler needs a 2 in blackjack but gets an 8
the coil of rope when the boy commits suicide
the first temperature reading
the poster in the TV show audience
the movie poster at the bus stop on Magnolia Ave
the placard on the hanged convicts
Jim Kurring’s box number at the date hotline
Sydney Barringer’s mother and father’s apartment number is 682
the forensic science convention starts at 8:20
Delmer Darion flips over a stack of cards to reveal the 8 through 2 of diamonds
right after Jim Kurring sees Donnie Smith climbing up the building, you can see a flash of a sign on the side of the road that says “Exodus 8:2” (it’s visible again when the frogs fall and hit Kurring’s car)
the number on the firefighter’s plane.
in Marcy’s mugshots, her criminal record number is 82082082082
in the bar scene there is a chalkboard with two teams, the frog and the clouds - the score is 8 to 2 -spray painted on the cement as graffiti next to the boy.
member of the game show crowd holds a placard with Exodus 8:2 written on it
the kids were two days away from entering their eighth week as champions.
I’ve always figured that the frogs were there because, well, something had to be.
Magnolia doesn’t follow the typical setup-conflict-resolution structure. It’s pretty much all buildup, and it makes you expect some climax that never really comes. (You can find this in the novels of David Foster Wallace, too.) But if the movie just stopped without a satisfying ending the audiences would be furious. The rain of frogs relieves the tension without solving anything.
When my husband and I saw this movie in the theater, we had no idea what it was about - just that Tom Cruise played an asshole. We (or at least I) absolutely adored it, but when we left, I felt like my brain had turned to Jell-O. Gotta watch it again, I guess.
Footnote: Urban legends are not necessarily untrue. The reason folklorists study urban legends has to do with why people feel compelled to repeat them to others, not the truth (or lack thereof) of the legend itself. Just because something is an urban legend doesn’t mean it can’t also true. The “guy solves unsolved math problem, believing it to be homework” legend is a good example:
Well…thank you so much everyone. I feel a lot better about the frogs now!!
After the movie my husband and I were wondering if maybe the frogs were some kind of biblical scourge - or maybe they were supposed to signify God stepping in and shaking things up so that things could happen the way they should. Anyway, thanks again for your take on it…I think I’ll go email this to my husband! He just called me and told me that the frogs are torturing him. And no one in his office has seen Magnolia oddly enough! He’ll be very happy to read all of your explanations!
If you liked the soundtrack I would highly recommend checking out some of Aimee Mann’s CD’s, such as Lost in Space which you can preview at: http://www.aimeemann.com/
Here is what the director has to say about it:
Personally, I always thought that the Frogs somehow managed to fit the movie; utterly inexplicable ending just seems right for Magnolia.
