metaphor

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On Garfield

March 7, 2008 in film, metaphor, online, reviews, writers by Adam | 4 comments

I have never liked the comic strip Garfield. It seems I was never young enough to find the antics of the strip’s obese orange tabby funny. And I haven’t gained any ironic appreciation of it over the years, no love-to-hate-it relationship as with Family Circus or Mallard Fillmore.

But after recently checking out Garfield on the web (for no real reason but boredom), I think I may have come up with a reason to appreciate the world of this Monday-hating, lasagna-loving cat and his desperately lonely owner, Jon Arbuckle.
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Metaphors and Milkshakes

February 24, 2008 in HMB, film, metaphor, writers by | 3 comments

Saturday Night Live returned to its live status this past Saturday night, hosted by 30-Rock writer/actress/producer extraordinaire Tina Fey. There was humor. There was glee. There was a deliciously self-mocking Huckabee (but, really, if it’s not mathematically possible for him to win…). But the most worthy skit riffed on Oscar-nominated films by way of commenting on the ridiculous yet innate power (and problems) of metaphor. The last 15 minutes of There Will Be Blood showcase the showdown between false prophet Eli and oilman Daniel Plainview—this bowling-alley set allegorical battle between religion and capitalism, between greed-motivated Eli and Daniel, relies linguistically on Daniel’s drunken “milkshake” metaphor. It’s both strange and strikingly perfect (as is Daniel’s weapon of choice). SNL’s skit imagines Daniel as hosting a show on the Food Network called “I Drink Your Milkshake” that features a milkshake-loving Daniel traversing the country in search of the holy grail of milkshakes along with his son and partner HW. Read the rest of this entry »