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The Worm

El Directo

19:15 / 22.09.01

The "Crying Shame" thread has inpsired me to quiz you lot about the one thing in Magnolia that still mystifies me (well, I kinduv have an idea, but...)

Will no-one help the widow's son?

The Damned Yankee

02:23 / 23.09.01

I haven't seen Magnolia, but "the widow's son" is a figure of Masonic lore. The widow's son is named Hiram Abiff, and he gets a mention in the Bible (1 Kings 7:13-14). All of the Masons' charitable acts are done "in the name of the widow's son".

Source: Everything Is Under Control by Robert Anton Wilson

Unless, of course, you know all of this and were referring to yourself, in which case I'll just chalk it up to having made a monkey of myself on a public forum yet again.

[ 23-09-2001: Message edited by: The Damned Yankee ]

CameronStewart

09:52 / 23.09.01

"Will no one help the widow's son?" is, I believe, a Masonic code-phrase to request assistance from fellow Freemasons. Alan Moore makes reference to it in From Hell, when Sir William Gull is persuaded to go do some murders.

Take note that in Magnolia, the game show producer (who, interestingly, is also the film's narrator - make of that what you will) is wearing a Masonic ring, and young brainiac Stanley Spector has a book on Masonic practice among the others on his desk in the library.

CameronStewart

09:56 / 23.09.01

Although, and I feel like a clod for this, looking over your post again it becomes clear that you're asking for help explaining The Worm, and are using the Masonic code-phrase to ask us. Duh.

Back when Magnolia came out there was discussion about that scene, and someone (may even have been me, can't remember) posted links to some script pages that were excised from the final film, which explained a little more about The Worm. Do a Google search and you'll probably find them still. I'm too sleepy right now.

El Directo

14:16 / 23.09.01

quote:Originally posted by The Damned Yankee:
I haven't seen Magnolia, but "the widow's son" is a figure of Masonic lore. The widow's son is named Hiram Abiff, and he gets a mention in the Bible (1 Kings 7:13-14). All of the Masons' charitable acts are done "in the name of the widow's son".

Source: Everything Is Under Control by Robert Anton Wilson

Unless, of course, you know all of this and were referring to yourself, in which case I'll just chalk it up to having made a monkey of myself on a public forum yet again.

[ 23-09-2001: Message edited by: The Damned Yankee ]

"Oh my God, I was wrong
It was Earth, all along..."

El Directo

17:11 / 24.09.01

No good, guys. I spent over an hour looking for information on the Dixon subplot last night. I found jack. Anyone able to help?

grant

19:16 / 25.09.01

Less than 30 seconds, baby.
http://www.zentertainment.com/movies/feature-magnolia.html

El Directo

03:22 / 26.09.01

Show-off.

Thank you very much. Consider the widow's son helped.

Jack The Bodiless

13:29 / 29.09.01

Rothkoid, if you're out there, you're going to have to up your game if you want to be crowned 'links king'. grant's starting to appear superhuman...

Annunnaki-9

16:35 / 29.09.01

Actually, the 'widow's son' trope comes from a pre-masonic group in Italy (that is of course, if you're like me and don't believe that the Masons existed before the Enlightenmebt) called the Carbonari. Yes, you recoggnize the word 'carbon' in there. They used to walk around in black cloaks and peaked black hoods, carrying in tongs a burning coal (hence- 'carbonarii'). They helped people out in the war torn countryside (dates??? I think post Charles V's attack on Rome so beautifully and arrogantly detailed in 'The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini'). They would knock on the door under cover of night and do good deeds '...for the Widow's Son.'

Source? Probably entirely improvised on the spot. Or mayby a book with the words 'secret societies' in the title by someone last name of Dawood or something.

Mystery Gypt

03:33 / 02.10.01

you know, i don't remember the movie very well and reading through those script pages just makes my head hurt, though the rap is quite good. when you've got it all figured out, could you post the answer here for us lazy-ass armchair mystery solvers?

The Return Of Rothkoid

11:34 / 02.10.01

quote:Originally posted by Jack The Bodiless:
Rothkoid, if you're out there, you're going to have to up your game if you want to be crowned 'links king'. grant's starting to appear superhuman...Yeh... but it'd probably help if I'd seen Magnolia to begin with. I avoided that one 'cause I'd heard such bad things...

grant

19:51 / 02.10.01

all I did was pop "magnolia worm" into a search engine. I knew the script pages were out there....

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