Paul Thomas Anderson's Film Magnolia: Reduction And Realignment

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Paul Thomas Anderson’s film Magnolia: Reduction and Realignment


On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story. Through a collusion of coincidence, chance, human action, shared media, past history and divine intervention they will weave and warp through each other's lives on a day that builds to an unforgettable climax. Some will seek forgiveness; others escape. Some will mend frayed bonds; others will be exposed.

The following figures reduce, then realign in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia.

Claudia Wilson Gator, living on media saturation and cocaine, just wants to tell someone the truth. Claudia has trouble finding love due to her alienation. She is a drug addict in her twenties, living alone in her own apartment. A possible cause for her addiction was the sexual molestation inflicted upon her by Jimmy Gator, her famous father who is the host of "What Do Kids know?" Not building trust with one’s parents in the early stages of life can lead to severe addiction. Claudia did not build trust with her father because of her abuse, and all her hope in life is ripped away, leaving her to feel like she is not safe in this world. This sense of hopelessness is a possible cause for her finding refuge in drugs.
The very first scene Claudia is at a bar sitting alone drinking, when a man, who has learned how to make a friend into more than a friend from Frank T. J. Mackey, television guru of female seduction, ends up going home with her and sleeping with her after she snorts up some cocaine. At the same time she is seen having sex with the “friend”, on the television screen in her apartment, her father, a t.v. icon for thirty years is shown celebrating his twelve thousandth hour of broadca...