The Bowling Alley: "I'd just like to hear you say that you'd LIKE to be here..."

Hey, so I was watching this last night, of course (b/c they weren't airing it conveniently on Strz! like they have been, so I was FORCED to pop the dvd in), and I really like interplay between DP and Henry, especially at the beginning. It shows interesting things about DPs character that you don't see with everyone else b/c:  1) henry's not a child; 2) henry is "related" to Daniel, so treated like family; 3) Daniel hasn't started steamrolling over him yet, like he does to pretty much everyone else. So I noticed that first, Daniel is pretty polite to people that he doesn't know and doesn't NEED something from (at least, he doesn't need something related to his work). It's pretty obvious he's interested in Henry, as a person, which is definitely different b/c DP isn't interested in people at all for most of the movie. Also, he doesn't know whether Henry is coming or going, but clearly, he's lonely and would like family ties, so there's a certain neediness there that is deeper and more personal. What do you make of his line to Henry, "I'd just like to hear you say that you'd LIKE to be here..." Why does Daniel need to hear this? Why can't Daniel just say, "I'd like you to be here?" I mean, he does, in a way, later when he tells Henry that having him here gives him a new breath in life. But why can't he initiate it himself?

Also, remember his drunk conversation with Mary Sunday? "Are you happy that I came here?" It's like the only ties that Daniel can allow himself to have, beyond work ties, are those where the other person professes a desire to be near him, around him. He can't let himself become attached on his own. He can't put himself out there ... fear of rejection?

thoughts???

Yeah, i don't know where the fake henry ends and the real one begins. In the script, "henry" says he has two children but he hasn't seen them since he left Louisiana. Also, the part about working on a chain gang, was that him or the real Henry? In the diary, if you read it closely from the film, you can see "Sierra Madre" which are mountains in that region, so the real Henry was obviously there, and I think the whole bit about King City was true. I think also the TB part was true, or at least that he died of "nothing bad". I don't think the fake Henry was a bad person, just "trying to survive". However, he could have just come to Daniel and said, I was friends with your brother, he died, and here's all his stuff, and I'm sure Daniel would at least have given this guy a job or something. It was really dumb to pull something so elaborate like that, frankly.

also, I never would have thought about Daniel not wantings to show lack of masculinity. that makes sense. I also think one of Daniel's biggest fears is fear of rejection. Where this stems from, I don't know. Maybe having a lousy relationship with parents, going off and saying that you don't need anyone, spending years in holes by yourself, and realizing (maybe much to your chagrin) that's it's pretty damn lonely there, despite having a professed (and for the most part, real) hatred for people. maybe low (pesonal) self-esteem. maybe awkwardness around people, etc. hmmm, not sure. but the not wanting to show lack of masculinity makes a lot of sense just given Daniel's ultra alpha-male persona.