What was the meaning behind the falling of the frogs in the movie Magnolia?

Actually, it isn't a reference to Exodus. This is discussed at various sites. But, I found this discussion at IMDB:





I just watched this for the first time and I liked it, though I probably need to watch it a few more times. The frogs though... It just took me completely be suprise and I'm not sure I understand what it was supposed to mean. I realize that people have been saying that it's a reference to Exodus 8:2, but from what I've read PTA wrote the scene before finding out it happened in the Bible, so I was thinking there was probably something more to it. If anyone could shed some light on it for me, I'd appreciate it.





From a nonbiblical standpoint, the frogs were supposed to be representative of the mindboggling coincidences that came to define this movie. The raining of the frogs was also supposed to reinforce the theme of intertwined relationships, as all of the characters were in one way or another affected by this incident. Brilliant scene, in my opinion.





The frogs are a weird, random event that PTA based on certain real life occurrences in which freak weather conditions lift the contents of ponds or other small bodies of water and deposit them elsewhere in an apparent "rain" (type 'rain of frogs' into Wikipedia for more info). It is my contention that one of the themes of "Magnolia" is human beings' need for explanations for things that seem unexplainable and their inability to accept mundane explanations for things (ie, they'd rather hear "God did it" than "It was the result of unusual weather conditions). When it was pointed out to PTA that the rain of frogs at the end of the film carried similarity to the plague of frogs in Exodus 8:2, PTA recognized this as an opportunity to enforce his point about this need for explanations. Christians would attribute this act to God, desperate as they are to see everything in the context in which they feel the most comfortable. So, really the frog's ultimate explanation is left to the (culturally mediated) judgement of the viewer, and people who see God in them are really just projecting their belief in God onto the things that they experience.





Hegelian Dialectic (a la Wikipedia):


In classical philosophy, "dialectic" (Greek:) is "controversy": the exchange of arguments and counter-arguments respectively advocating propositions (theses) and counter-propositions (antitheses). The outcome of the exercise might not simply be the refutation of one of the relevant points of view, but a synthesis or combination of the opposing assertions, or at least a qualitative transformation in the direction of the dialogue


The "but it did" bit isn't about just one of those things, or the other, happening. It's about everything. All of these strange things coming together to create an entire reality. That's what this whole movie is about: the way things come together.


"We may be done with the past, but the past ain't done with us."


-Back to Hegel: The past determines the future, just as it did the present. It's all the coming together of opposing forces to create a new reality.


The Intervention in the end is just another in a series of strange situations that brings all of these people together. Another force to deal with. The frogs have nothing to do with the Bible. In fact, they were originally written as cats and dogs (even referenced in the scene where Stanley first arrives at the studio). The raining frogs are just that: Raining Frogs. And it it may seem like something that you wouldn't believe if you saw it in a movie, and you'd say "That could never happen" ...but it did.





Ok, some may have stated this on other posts. I once read that PTA did research on the plant "magnolia". He found that the name originated from a "place" called the MAGONIA. Basically, the MAGONIA is a place where missing objects wait to be found. This famously includes ships lost at sea. These objects wait in the MAGONIA until it is their time to be found. That being said, is it possible that John C. Reiley's gun ends up in the MAGONIA? Is it also possible that this movie takes place while the frogs time has come to escape the MAGONIA?


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I know that's a lot of material, but it does show that the meaning of the rain of frogs is a topic for debate and will vary with the viewer.

What was the meaning behind the falling of the frogs in the movie Magnolia?
It's a reference to one of the Biblical plagues.

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