PTA's masterpiece ensemble drama that excited the world with its relay singing of songs from the movie "Magnolia" and shocking scenes *Note! Contains spoilers.

What are the religious connotations “added” to shocking scenes?

Near the end of ``Magnolia,'' a shocking scene occurs. It's raining frogs in the San Fernando Valley outside of Los Angeles, where the movie is set. This phenomenon has actually been witnessed and recorded all over the world, and has long been known as ``rain of animals'' in English-speaking countries, and ``mysterious rain'' in Japan.

In terms of theatrical composition, the rain of frogs in ``Magnolia'' corresponds to a ``deus Ex Machina'' (mechanical god). This term originates from ancient Greek drama, and refers to a method in which a metaphysical god appears at a point where the plot of the play becomes tangled and difficult to resolve, and the play is brought to a conclusion by a plan (or phenomenon) that goes beyond human understanding. Point. Although it has a long history, it is rarely used in modern drama (at least in mainstream works), perhaps because it gives the impression of an opportunist ending the story with an abrupt twist. However, because of this forgotten technique, it can be said that the impact of a sudden supernatural phenomenon near the end of ``Magnolia'', where realism was maintained until the end, was enormous.

In an interview, PTA revealed that they came up with the idea to make it rain frogs after reading the work of American author Charles Fort, who is considered a pioneer in paranormal research. In addition, in the scene where genius quiz boy Stanley (Jeremy Blackman) is in the library, Fort's books can be seen among the many books spread out on the desk. Stanley is the only one who is not surprised by the rain of frogs and mutters, ``This kind of thing can happen,'' because he has read Fort's book.

However, when the PTA wrote the frog rain scene into the script, they were not aware that the same phenomenon appeared in the Bible. In the Old Testament Book of Exodus , Chapter 8, Verse 2, there is a story about God raining down hordes of frogs, the second of the ten plagues. The person who pointed this out was Henry Gibson, who played the old man who makes fun of the handsome bartender in the bar scene where Donnie drinks. The PTA was delighted with this unexpected coincidence and decided to sprinkle the words ``Exodus 8:2'' and the numbers 8 and 2 throughout the story. Immediately after the quiz show begins, a staff member in the studio audience picks up a Arrival board that has nothing to do with the program, but what is written on it is "EXODUS 8:2" (incidentally, this staff member was told that the PTA had made a cameo himself). It seems that the performance was performed in the theater (though the audience seats were dark so I couldn't see his face). Immediately after Jim sees Donnie climbing the exterior wall of an electronics store, an "exodus 8:2"Signs appears briefly in front of the gas station next door. In addition, the numbers 8 and 2 are embedded here and there, as if aiming for a subliminal effect, such as the ``82% chance of rain'' shown in the weather forecast text.

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The PTA said that the frog rain scene prompted them to think about ``why do people turn to religion in times of hardship?'' Although the religious connotations were an afterthought in this film, these motifs would later be carried over into There There Will Be Blood and The Master . It can be said that Rain of Frogs had a deep impact not only on the characters and the audience, but also on the PTA itself who came up with the idea.

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