But there's one drink used in cinema that requires a bit of explanation... I see you're drinking one percent, is that cause you think you're fat? Probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of milk is youth and innocence. When a sixteen year old uses his charm and grace to mimic being a pilot, we're reminded of his age by his drink choice. Would you like a drink after take-off? Milk? In 'A Clockwork Orange', the adolescents drink milk, a gentle reminder that all this mayhem is being caused by kids.
James Dean famously nurses a bottle of milk in such a way that we get a visual cue of his conflict between maturity and adulthood. Of course, if you don't drink milk then you're manly. How tough am I? How tough am I!? I had a bowl of nails for breakfast this morning... He, yeah.
So? ...Without any milk. Uh.. Right this way. Sorry to keep you waiting.
If you want to go for a deep reading you could say that Kevin spilling milk in 'Home Alone' is a symbol of his lack of maternal nourishment, or you could say John Hughes just wanted the visual joke of everybody crying over spilled milk. But this only scratches the surface. Many adults also drink milk and that's where it gets more complicated. Milk is a symbol of childishness so it's humorous to see 'Leon the Professional', a hyper-masculine assassin drinking it throughout the movie.
It fits into the comedic moments of the movie, but it also sheds light on his maternal side as he takes Matilda under his wing. In this instance drinking milk is a joke but many times drinking milk has the opposite intent: it's creepy. There's something off about a grown man drinking milk and filmmakers seem to be well aware of this intuition In Hitchcock's 'Suspicion' the audience suspects that the milk may be poisoned, it's an eerie choice to have milk, a drink we associate with innocence and purity be the drink that may be poisoned. I don't think it would have had nearly the same effect if it were a cup of coffee or a shot of whiskey.
There's something delightful about making milk threatening. We see this again "Inglourious Basterds": Colonel Hans Landa chugs a glass of milk from LaPadite's farm, and it has the creepy factor but there's more to it than that. I quote the social theorist Roland Barthes and his take on milk: So, when a villain grabs a glass of milk, it's creepy but it also shows their power. They're conquering the pure and innocent by consuming it, and there's a strength to that.
When I saw "Mad Max: Fury Road" in theaters the only time people audibly cringed in the crowd wasn't during an action sequence, it was when this happened. Western culture has an aversion to breast milk, seeing it as taboo to drink as an adult. ...Tastes a little *sniff* funky. That's because, that's from Debby's left breast, Greg.
The choice to harvest breast milk in the movie further alienates the post-apocalyptic world from our own. In short 'Mad Max: Fury Road' is a movie about fluids. Women are exploited for their breast milk, men are exploited for their blood, and the populace is exploited by controlling the water supply. The complete control of these liquids by Immortan Joe shows his dominion over his world, and the milk is no exception.
In fact, his sons drink the milk to keep up their muscle mass reinforcing the idea that consuming milk is a sign of strength. What's so great about using these liquids in the film is that it allows Mad Max to introduce plot points and character arcs non-verbally after Mad Max performs his first selfless act for Furiosa, he washes himself with milk, symbolizing the start of his transformation from a selfish man only looking for survival, to one who cares and nurtures for others. The turn to completely trusting Furiosa is symbolized by him giving her his blood another liquid symbol. 'Mad Max: Fury Road' is a prime example of milk enhancing the visual storytelling of a movie.
Milk is a powerful storytelling device. It can show someone as a child but it can also be used to unsettle, show character strength, or give information about the plot. So the next time you see a character drinking something, ask yourself: Got milk? Thanks for watching. *Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince plays* Here it is, a groove, slightly trans-form, just a bit of a break from the norm, just a little something to break the monotony of all that hard....
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