My bad. I just think people who are looking for hidden meanings are missing the point. But you have questions, and deserve answers. So I'll try this one more time.

First, a few excerpts from www.ptanderson.com:

---------

Q: The film has obvious biblical overtones, and I noticed in at least a few scenes signs embossed with "Exodus 8:2."

A: Yeah, there's more than that. There's many, many more. I bet you could probably spot a hundred. Exodus 8:2 (describes) the plague of frogs in the Bible. The funny thing is, my reasons for using the plague of frogs aren't exactly biblical. I didn't even know it was in the Bible until after I wrote the script. The rain of frogs is something that really happens. Did you know that? It's a true thing.

Q: So did you go back and include the beacons of Exodus 8:2?

A: No. Right after I got done writing the script I found out it was in the Bible. So then I became very interested in looking at the Bible and figuring out what it meant there. I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS A FUN DIRECTORIAL, BORED-ON-THE-SET THING TO DO, TO PLANT 8:2s ALL OVER THE PLACE. (emphasis mine)

(answering a question about the Worm)
A: Yeah, the worm stuff. There’s sort of, a little bit more of a follow through on the mystery character, who’s in it now.  It’s better to remain sort of a mystery character.  The brown jacket and the little kid (Dixon).  And that stuff is sort of better served as something to truly think about as opposed to something to answer and in an effort to make it more mysterious and make it shorter…I just took it out.

-----------

In light of that, let's recap...

>i am not attempting to like
>the movie. what i am
>trying to do is figure
>out what the sum of
>all the sybolism/metaphor/innuendo was.

There is no sum.

>what was the purpose of the
>movie? who was the worm?
>what was the significance of
>the number 82? why not
>73 or 44 or something?

Once again, the only significance of the 82 is that in Exodus 8:2 says "And if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite thy borders with frogs."

The Worm was an actual character, played by Orlando Jones from Mad TV. He was the rapping kids father, and Marcie's son. He killed the guy in the closet, who used to molest him. Most of that was cut out to make it "more mysterious and make it shorter." He wouldn't have cut it out if it was integral to the story.

>what, besides 82, ties these
>people in these stories together?

Once again, IMO, they are connected only by circumstance and coincidence. Some of the characters are really related, like Claudia is the game show host's daughter, but they are not connected in hidden way.

>were these things put in
>the movie simply to distract
>the viewer from the actual
>story?

I'm sure it wasn't done intentionally to distract, but it is distracting and that's why I encourage people to look beyond that stuff. It is all engrossing and very cool, but it potentially robs attention from a very deep and powerful story.

>what did the opening
>scene and closing scene, other
>than highlighting the possibility that
>there are some things in
>life that are more than
>mere coincidence, have to do
>with the rest of the
>film? is that it?

IMO, those scenes say that some things are not more than coincidence, but are ONLY coincidence. Strange things are a part of life. Shit happens. Once again, from PTA:

Q: Of all things, why frogs?

A: It truly came from a slightly gimmicky and exciting place.  I'd read about rains of frogs in the works of Charles Fort (...) So I just started writing it in to the script. It wasn't until after I got through with the writing that I began to discover what it might mean, which is this: you get to a point in your life, and shit is happening, and everything's out of your control, and suddenly, a rain of frogs just makes sense. You're staring at a doctor who is telling you something is wrong, and while we know what it is, we have no way of fixing it.  And you just go: "So what you're telling me, basically, is that it's raining frogs from the sky."

Shit happens, some of it very strange, and there's nothing you can do about it. That is all, and that is a lot, IMO.

>whether i like the answer to
>these questions and other questions
>is irrelevant. i wanna know
>what the answer is period.

I get that. I thought I and others on here had answered the questions, though. I get the impression that you are saying that you don't think these answers are adequate and there must be more. But there isn't.

>now i ain't saying that i
>would not be a little
>pissed if 3hrs of sitting
>and thinking about this movie
>only added up to this:
>the common thread in each
>of these people's lives is
>the number 82, but at
>least the book would be
>closed on the subject.
>
>i am the kind of person
>who does not simply absorb
>something at face value and
>leave it at that.

You cannot absorb something at face value. To absorb it, you must go deeper. All 82s and the frogs -- even the Worm being the killer -- that's all surface stuff.

>lemme ask you this. did you
>understand everything in the movie?
>can you (as they say
>in grade schools all over
>the USA) give me your
>take on the main idea
>of it?

From post #37:
"...the alienation and lack of connection which we all experience, and which carries through each storyline in the movie, is really what connects us. We are connected by circumstance."

From post #47:
"...a richly layered commentary on what it means to be human and need connection when connection is so very difficult."

It's just my opinion, but I got all of that long before I knew 82 referred to Exodus or knew the kid's father was Big Worm, who killed the "long time oppresor" who used to molest him.

If this still isn't enough, check out http://members.tripod.com/magnoliathemovie/main.htm. Go to the discussion section and, under search, put in "worm" or whatever else you're interested in. You'll get a whole lot of posts on various thoughts and theories, including the whole "black kid was an angel" theory which, I think is a stretch in a movie so firmly based in reality.

RED
(really, I'm trying to help)