Ben
Meyers’ rating: 4.8|5.0
Stars ìììì
Whiplash
provides a disturbingly gruesome interpretation of creation of musical genius
when a harsh, domineering jazz teacher develops a teaching interest in a
hard-working, willing-to-sacrifice-everything protégé drummer. This film goes
beyond necessary hard work, effort, and perseverance into the realm of devilish
persecution coupled with self-mortification/mutilation to produce the final
product. While Andrew’s (Miles Teller) ambition is completely understandable, it seems that this movie's portrayal of 'the climb’ to superb musical performance relies on a disturbingly sadistic theme. It is one thing to have a driven student and quite another to have
a persecuting teacher, Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), yelling, throwing chairs, and
physically abusing a student to do better. A student with this kind of drive
does not need to be ‘abused,’ because they will internally criticize
themselves to achieve their personal ideal of perfection. If internal criticism is
coupled with external abuse, the result could be disastrous. In this movie
there is a good ending for Andrew, but this is a movie—a story. For most driven
students, it seems incongruous that the conclusion of the film is a legitimate final result. This film seems to send an incorrect message for achieving greatness in the musical world or in
any other competitive endeavor.
Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia
Additional Thanks
Thank you to Director Damien Chazelle for directing effort. Thank you to Executive
Producers Jeanette Volturno-Brill, Cooper Samuelson, Gary Michael, and Jason
Reitman for making the film possible. Additional character/cast include: Jim
Neimann (Paul Reiser), Uncle Frank (Chris Mulkey), Nicole (Melissa Benoist), Aunt
Emma (Suanne Spoke), and Mr. Kramer (Damon Gupton).
Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?
Yes. This is an interesting film, not the typical day to the movies.
Video Critique Available Here:
Ben Meyers
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