Review Tales

The best love stories are inherently about two people who were made for each other. Whiplash has a teacher and his student who totally deserve each other – making it one of the best twisted love stories ever! It is a story about a student who achieves greatness for the amusement of his abusive teacher (who literally trolls him on live stage out of petty revenge).

The Vicarious Taskmaster Terence Fletcher

Terence Fletcher (JK Simmons) is obviously someone who didn’t achieve much in his days, and is trying to live vicariously through his students at Shaffer Conservatory. Other students are unable to withstand his extreme methods, except the right kind of ambitious student. Enter Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller): a young man willing to yell “F**k you” back at their teacher; someone willing to throw their girlfriend to the curb. Both men are walking around with this shared belief that having passion for the discipline will make people feel like the artform is something worthwhile. 

Greatness Through Inferiority Complex

Both men seek greatness to deal with their own inferiority complex: Fletcher’s failure of not accomplishing much, and Neyman’s fear of ending up like his “teacher-of-the-year” dad (Paul Reiser)! What Fletcher (rhymes with “teacher”) sees in Neyman (sounds like “new man” – implying a student) isn’t particularly how well he plays, or that he’s some talented prodigy. It’s Andy’s drive and determination; the sacrifice and hard work he’s willing to put out. Fletcher’s philosophy seems to be that “one need not be gifted; one need only be willing and able to push harder to make it”. Fletcher’s methods won’t yield the same results in others, except Andy – hence why I say both of them are made for each other. 

A Love Triangle Between Andrew, Nicole, and Fletcher

Andrew first meets Nicole (Melissa Benoist) when he is wide-eyed and hasn’t yet been “drilled” by his master. Their second scene together where they go on a date is where we see the path Andy could have taken; the relationship he could have had – but again you have to view this as a twisted love story, where Andy is with Nicole but secretly covets Fletcher. Notice the third scene has Andy wear a black shirt like Fletcher; that’s the scene where he’s become his bully and coldly breaks up with Nicole! He has already told himself that she will resent him for pursuing greatness eventually being the reason for his downfall – yet in a few scenes later, it’s Andy himself who arrives late to his next competition, forgets his drumsticks and gets into an accident – Andy was his own downfall!

Is Whiplash Really About Jazz?

Just ask any actual jazz student or player and they will point out inaccuracies in this film. A lot of them would argue that the characters are self-absorbed with little to no genuine passion for the craft. But Whiplash isn’t truly about jazz, just as Scorsese’s Raging Bull isn’t truly about boxing. Damien Chazelle took jazz and dipped it into the sports and thriller subgenres, to make a strong case about the cost of greatness. 

The Cost of Greatness

The Prestige, Black Swan and Whiplash are hinting at similar questions: What even is greatness? Is it mutually exclusive from perfection? How does one even get to be perfect? What then? What lies beyond greatness and perfection? Who are we really attaining this for? The people Shaffer University plays for are the elite who attend Carnegie Hall. Jazz and Classical Music have unfortunately become subcultures rather than the culture.

Mainstream Taste vs. True Art

Andy’s relatives represent the mainstream taste; their apathy for jazz is the common consensus! In our current dispensation, try hard and be a great drummer but the only people who will know your name are the ones who listen to jazz! How many people today know Buddy Rich or Miles Davis? I bet you 70 percent of the modern world knows Taylor Swift though! Andy and Fletcher are both fighting a losing battle – but goddamnit they’ll fight side by side even if they hurt each other in the process!

The Logos of Neyman and Fletcher

We’re not all supposed to be Neyman. Some people really do need negative reinforcing as incentive. I sometimes need to feel the pressure of a deadline before I can get an assignment done. It’s not always about right or wrong, it’s that we’re different animals who aspire to reach the best versions of ourselves – but like it or not, there’s a fraction of people who respond to the logos of Neyman and Fletcher! 

Take the legendary Michael Jordan for example: Most workaholics like Jordan who obsess over tasks until they get it right, seem to have this inner taskmaster abusing and pushing them to be nothing short of greater, until the thing they are passionate about no longer brings them joy. 

The Formula of Self-Abuse

Statistically, Jordan fell short 366 times in his career, and won 706 times overall. This is why he and countless other perfectionists cannot just give up the self-abuse in the head: because every once in a while, pushing yourself to greatness yields results and the world applauds the dedication put in. To Mike, 366 fails is worth it for 706 successes to be had! More victories than losses reaffirm the mind that this brutal formula works!

Why Whiplash Remains Chazelle’s Best Work?

The reason Whiplash is still my favourite Damien Chazelle film is because I can feel the filmmaker’s connection with the material more so than in La La Land, First Man or Babylon. This jazz world is one Chazelle is intimate with – he still had nightmares being on stage or missing the tempo as a former student himself! 

A Hate Mail to an Abusive Teacher

If La La Land was writer-director Damien Chazelle’s love letter to jazz and musicals, then Whiplash is the hate mail he would have sent his abusive instructor! Like jazz, Chazelle takes preexisting art from masters like Hitchcock, Kubrick and Scorsese, as he updates it with his own spin! It’s like Chazelle was getting something painful out of his chest when he wrote and directed this film. Whiplash is someone in a dark place exorcising their demons. It is a horror movie about people who conflate being mean with being perfect. My reaction now is the same expression on Andy’s dad at the jaw-dropping climax: I see a concerned father asking himself “when did I lose this kid?”, not a father proud of his son finally snapping. Whiplash is more of a cautionary tale than a ringing endorsement for toxic behavior.