原文：
If the prologue and complex storyline are only there to distract us from the true meaning of the film, where do we find meaning? Movie precedent tells us that a film’s title is the seat of meaning. Although this film contains only subtle allusions to its title (such as wall paintings of magnolia flowers), perhaps pondering “magnolia” and its symbolic meanings will grant illumination to our path.
We already know the magnolia is a flower. But it is also the name of the street in the San Fernando Valley where the car crash occurs in the end. Herbal medicine alleges that eating magnolia tree bark can help cure cancer. Additionally, “magnolia” is a phonetic allusion to the ancient mythical region known as Magonia, a kind of purgatory in the sky to which creatures and objects inexplicably disappear—and then occasionally fall to the earth.
It begins to make sense. The title alludes to the cancer themes, the story’s location, and the mythological region from which the raining frogs originate. But by the time we’ve discovered this “truth,” the magician has already slipped the watch from our wrist. Staring gape-mouthed at the holographic head of a wizard framed in flame, we’ve missed the man behind the curtain.
The title is just another part of Anderson’s grand illusion, more sleight-of-hand that misdirects our attention while the master magician performs his trick. So what is the trick, then?
The trick is that the true meaning of the film is found in the margins. The Exodus 8:2 references in the margins of screen and title are not simply prefiguring the falling frogs: They are, rather, a statement of the underlying purpose of Magnolia, which is in fact an allegory of the Exodus narrative of the Old Testament. This old familiar story of the Hebrews’ flight from Egypt has been an archetype throughout history. It is a powerful and flexible metaphor only visible in Magnolia when we strip away Anderson’s distractions.
HD
