There Will Be Blood

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 »