There Will Be Blood is often regarded as one of the most ambitious and culturally significant films of the 2000s, but the film's most famous scene is often brought up as a joke despite its relevantly disturbing implications. The moment when the central character, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), exclaims "I drink your milkshake!" became a popular meme when the movie was first released due to the absurdity of the line when taken out of context. However, the scene is a deeply layered, dark parody on America's relationship with capitalism and religion.
Director and writer Paul Thomas Anderson stated that the "milkshake" speech was based on a real-life testimony by New Mexico Republican Senator Albert Fall, who was under Congressional investigation for accepting bribes from oil companies in exchange for granting secret leases for federal land. The event, which became known as the Teapot Dome scandal, showed how easily capitalism could lead to corruption and inspired Upton Sinclair's satirical novel Oil! It's no surprise, then, that Anderson partially based his own screenplay on Sinclair's work, despite the narrative differences between the two stories.
It may seem strange that Senator Fall, in the midst of what was otherwise a densely worded legal proceeding, used such a random, childlike metaphor to explain oil drainage, but this is why Anderson was attracted to the image. The filmmaker knew how ridiculous the wording sounded yet how effectively the phrasing could illustrate the inherent cruelty and ruthlessness of an oil baron's quest for his liquid gold. Couple that with the ferociously mad performance of Daniel Day-Lewis, as well as the pitiful reaction of Paul Dano, and it's easier to see why the quote became so recognizable.
Daniel's Fake Baptism and Eli's Confession Explained
In order to understand the weight of There Will Be Blood's final scene, it's necessary to look back at an equally crucial scene slightly earlier in the movie when Daniel receives baptism from Eli (Dano). Daniel's violent confrontation with the preacher stems from their contentious relationship, established during their first interaction when Eli demands more money for the land his brother Paul initially offered to Daniel. The two come to verbal and physical blows throughout the film as a way to demonstrate their power struggles.
While Daniel convinces the local community to work on his newly acquired land, the prospector must also contend with Eli's church services influencing his workforce. Daniel sees this religious intervention as a threat to his monopoly on power, especially because Eli uses his own charisma and influence over his congregation to undermine Daniel's authority. Eli seizes the opportunity to dominate his rival when industrial accidents expose Daniel's immorality, but Daniel is prone to fits of violent rage when his pride is threatened. The ruthless oil baron physically assaults Eli when the preacher confronts him about his missteps.
The baptism scene is the point when Eli can comfortably claim total dominance over Daniel. The ritual serves as a performance for Eli, a way to humiliate Daniel in retaliation for abusing his power. Daniel, of course, isn't participating in the baptism because he feels legitimate regret for his sinful acts, but because it's the only way his property leaser, William Bandy (Colton Woodward), will allow him to claim his land for pipeline construction. When Eli makes Daniel admit to abandoning his boy and slaps the devil out of him, Daniel internally vows revenge against his nemesis. Years later, Daniel makes Eli admit his own hypocrisy as a conning televangelist when the preacher offers the Bandy land rights to him.
The Milkshake Speech Epitomizes Daniel's Capitalist Expansion
The milkshake speech is the culmination of all of Daniel's experiences throughout the movie and represents the character's truest intentions. It's the peak of his ruthlessness and demonstrates his personal philosophy regarding competition, and the baptism scene spurred his even more cutthroat commitment to expansion and inspired his vengeful act of cruelty. Like the true businessman he is, Daniel eliminates Eli as a threat to his power and revels in the preacher's pathetic groveling. Eli's confession may take place in a mansion instead of a church, but his lamentations give Daniel the pleasure of turning the tables on Eli.
In this case, though, Daniel isn't content to simply accept Eli's forced apology. He also admits to stealing the Bandy oil that Eli just offered him, flexing his dominance even further by explaining oil drainage, his strategic maneuver, with the juvenile milkshake imagery. Daniel does not see his enemies on equal footing, but as victims to crush under his heel. To the baron, the preacher is no more than a naive and stupid child who leaves his delicious, sugary drink unprotected from smarter, more experienced men worthier of the prize.
In fact, the recurring imagery of liquid plays a significant role in explaining the unbridled capitalism at the heart of There Will Be Blood. Daniel's search for oil leads to his immense wealth, but the film's concluding section reveals that he has become an alcoholic, quite literally drunk with power. The baptism water also represents his ability to turn his defeats into power plays. Daniel abandons his child just as he admitted to doing in front of Eli's congregation, but he embraces his lack of compassion as strength and fortitude and metaphorically basks in his oil fortune through his drinking habit.
Why Daniel Kills Eli
Daniel's murder of his arch-nemesis is the result of his cutthroat attitude about other people, as his callousness leads to murder. His behavior may seem wild and exaggerated, but considering Daniel's previous actions, his violence makes sense. He killed his false brother because he felt betrayed, disowned his son because he felt threatened by his business ventures, and finally brutalizes Eli as an act of revenge - the culmination of a whole scene that is essentially about vengeance. Daniel's ability to claim victory over his enemy even ties back to the first scene of the movie, in which the prospector manages to crawl to an assay office with a broken leg to properly certify his discovered silver. To the capitalist, weakness is non-negotiable.
Money motivates both Daniel and Eli to strictly abide by their respective worldviews. Daniel's company and Eli's religion viciously fight against each other, but the irony is that they both stem from the same motivations and therefore pose a threat to each other's existence. The two characters seek to gain power and capital through private enterprise, but one of the two forces must eventually destroy the other. In the end, it's Daniel's brand of capitalism and his stranglehold over natural resources that defeats the manipulative religious fervor represented by Eli.
It's surely no accident that There Will Be Blood came out towards the end of the Bush-era when it became clearer than ever that the president's administration was using the struggle against radical religion as a justification to expand business interests in the oil industry. From the title of the film itself to the poster that depicts an oil well in the shape of a cross, the story extensively explores the tensions between forces of power at the turn of the American century. Daniel Plainview's famous milkshake moment may still seem insane, but it illustrates how the richest and most powerful people in the country become so successful.