Greetings and welcome to Earthling Cinema, I am your host Garyx Wormuloid. This week's artifact is There Will be Blood
directed by 19th century showman P T barnum who famously coined the phrase
there's a lollipop born every minute I still have a lot to learn about Earth's
agriculture. There will be blood tells the story of Daniel Plainview a human
male who enjoys burrowing into the ground like a worm a disgusting
earthworm. His worm buddy dies so Daniel re-appropriates his offspring and
Christens him HW
short for human worker fittingly he uses this worker to start a business
out of nowhere some dork tells Daniel about a
place where he can get a metric buttload of oil which is perfect because that's
one of Daniel's favorite things to worm around for. Daniel crawls his way over
there and buys up all the land
angering Eli another identical dork. Soon Daniels oil business explodes knocking
everyone's socks off and stuffing them in their ears. Daniels half and half
brother Henry shows up so Daniel does the responsible thing and succumbs to
nepotism HW gets jealous and tries to fire Henry so Daniel ships his son off
to obedience school like a dog a disgusting earthdog
freed of that dead weight he quickly strikes up a
lucrative ass deal with Union Oil and gets to work on a pipeline. Unfortunately
Daniel discovers an inaccuracy on Henry's resume so he has no choice but to clean
house. He goes to Eli's church and they both scream the same thing I do every
day when I drop the kids off at school.
Only his version doesn't quite
capture the same unbridled exuberance. Later HW grows up and wants his own
business but daniel has a few choice words for a him. Now without a
partner for the big bowling tournament. He is forced to go stag. Eli shows up for
a few frames and Daniel responds by beating him fair and square
or more accurately fair and oblong. As the title might suggest the primary motif in there
will be blood is bees no wait wait... blood. Oil serves as a metaphor for the blood of
Christ which was the juice in Christ's veins that gave him laser vision. In this
shot sunlight forms a halo around Daniel making him look almost holy. One of
Daniel's workers put oil on infant HW's forehead thus baptizing him in the
eyes of the american government similarly Daniel baptizes Eli in a
puddle of oil because that's what jocks do. The nerds get their revenge when Eli
makes Daniel big for a baptism of his very own. He acquiesces but is he being bathed in
the grace of God or is he just psyched he can finally finish laying that pipe.
Fellas...you know the drill.
blood is also important in the way Daniel emphasizes blood relations with
all CAPS he uses it to find common ground with Henry.
When that common ground is revealed to be fraudulent Daniel loses interest
in Henry faster than you can say peachtree dance unless you can say
peachtree dance incredibly fast peachtree dance for me it takes about 30
seconds. The only time Daniel shows legitimate emotion in the film is while
reading his true brothers journal and that's partially because the pages are
made of chopped onions so strong is Daniel's adherence to blood ties that he
doesn't even exhibit love for his adopted son, human worker.
Daniel is pure American ambition he'll exploit anything for a profit including
locally sourced child labor.
When HW is injured Daniel leaves him with his
friend so he can check on the old black nectar. he later tells his son he was
nothing more than a sweet face to buy land not even bothering to compliment
him on his figure. even after Daniel is shamed for abandoning
his boy the lingering wide shot of the reconciliation may suggest it's more
about appearances than anything else. Eli the pastor serves as Daniels
counterpoint in the film and although it may seem altruistic by comparison a
closer look reveals that they are both a couple of Decepticons Eli claims to be a
vessel for the Holy Spirit but it turns out he's just as egotistical as
Daniel.
When Daniel finally gives Eli the scrilla
he owes him. Eli uses it to leave town and pampers brand instead of putting it
into his church then when his ship runs dry
Eli tries to blaspheme for cash. If that worked I'd be a god
damned Chamillionaire and indeed the parallel confessions force these
hemoglobin homies to come to terms with who they are
ego masquerading as a prophet and ruthless businessman masquerading as a
family guy but daniel is more than just a bird's nutsack thanks to blind
ambition he becomes a monster removed from humanity.
As such there will be blood can be viewed as a horror film in the
vein of the shining or Beverly Hills Chihuahua the dissident score gives the
film an ominous atmospheric tone that eerily contrasts with the sunny
landscape of Southern California plus there are those sickening references to
food consumption. In fact Daniel may very well be the devil
himself when Eli is preaching he siphons the devil out of the old woman's
hands and throws it outside the church like a bag of old ham as he nears the
exit the camera takes on the role of the devil following him out the door like a
bag of Oldham as soon as Eli says the camera cuts to a close up of Daniel in
the church as if to say he's not really gone and he never will be at least not
until the credits roll. For Earthling Cinema, I'm Garyx Wormuloid. Hey everyone, thanks for watching
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