There Will Be Blood/YMMV: Difference between revisions

* [[Complete Monster]]: [[Zig -Zagging Trope]]. Throughout the film, whether or not Daniel possesses any redeeming qualities is constantly being toyed with. {{spoiler|He adopts the orphaned child of one of his oil workers, but that could have been purely because the child elicits sympathy in Daniel's business deals. He stops the father of a young girl in the town he lives in from beating her, but this could have been another way to exert his complete control over the town. When his son is deafened, he sends him away to a special school. Was this because he cares about the boy's well being, or because he's outlived his usefulness to Daniel? He kills the man impersonating his brother, but then cries afterward, lamenting that his real brother was long since dead. Does Daniel eventually bring his son back because he genuinely misses the boy, or does the town knowing he sent the boy away make it harder for him to do business? Is Daniel enraged at the end of the film because his son would dare do business against him, or is Daniel enraged/saddened because even his son wants to run away from him? By the very end however, it's clear that Daniel is nothing but a drunken, old sociopath. This is cemented by the Mind Screw he puts Eli through before beating him to death with a bowling pin.}} Good luck trying to explore this trope any more thoroughly.

* [[Moral Event Horizon]]: [[Alternate Character Interpretation|There are a number of possible justifications]] for Daniel's behavior, right up until he starts yelling {{spoiler|"Bastard from a basket!" at his freshly disowned, adopted son}}. Then [[It Got Worse|itsit all goes downhill]].