Whats his problem?

A deep seated lust for power and subsequent inability to trust.

I know I sound like a fag here and I'm not saying anything most people don't already know, but he represents late 19th century/early 20th century capitalism, Eli is 19th century and prior Christianity, his son is later 20th century socialism up to today. His problem was that everyone around him was a fucking moron worshipping ridiculous nonsense and engaging in wasteful and stupid behaviors. This was illustrated in the scenes with Eli healing people and several others showing the the stupidity of people around him and the trickery of a handful of smarter people. He was fed up with the stupidity of everyone around him and had a will to get himself into a position of power and push order and reason but ultimately he was just asserting his own selfish will, crystalized and abstract onto the world, he didn't even know what to do with himself when he succeeded because he was just following an impulse to destroy the stupidity of the older order and put himself into a position of power, it was like a habitual behavior. His son represents the fall out of individualist selfish capitalism: growing up in a broken family, workers injured and killed, paying the price for the upper classes to ascend, in-fighting within family, alienation, and and flirtation with extreme violence. His son was expanding to Mexico and was sort of a globo-homo reactionary. I think the story is an allegory for the interactions between generations.

I think that's really a good take on the whole thing. I would also say his son did learn what he was conveying but without the narcissism.

This is it. Good analysis

No, I don't think that's right, either. I mean, you tried, but it's a faulty view. Anyone else?

I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE

Bruh

Okay what's your take?

If you look at the parallels between the Sinclair novel Oil! and TWBB, you'll notice a couple of amusing similarities. For one, the main character in each is devoid of any personality whatsoever. The root cause of this is bad writing, both on the part of Sinclair and PTA. The audience, of both works, imprints their own ideas on these lifeless, hollow characters, which really are just manikins. The film doesn't mean anything at all, and anyone who takes away something from it is just indulging in ultimate narcissism.

>Daniel Plainview devoid of any personality
shit analysis user

Hmm... abandoning his child and killing his 'brother' and the preacher boy are not indicative of some type of will?

>manikins
>The film doesn’t mean anything at all
how does it feel to be literally retarded man?

acroooooooooooooooooooooooooss the room

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the reification of his sense of self with capital.

youtube.com/watch?v=kMglajE3AQU

Wow you sound like a MASSIVE faggot lol

No, I dont think this is it. Anyone else?

he was literally impotent

Yeah... you're all wrong. Anyone else?

Having to share a world with stupid fucking Christians, and stupid people (the majority of humanity) generally. Fortunately for him, he was able to effectuate his own will to accomplish his own goals.