Uncomfortable Lessons From The Movie Whiplash That Many Fail To Notice

Success and failure can sometimes be the two faces of the same coin

The ending scene of Whiplash gives me the chills every time I watch it. Even though it seems to be the perfect happy ending where the protagonist turns the tables with a breathtaking performance, there is a lot more to the story than what meets the eye.

Considering the movie was shot in 19 days, director Damien Chazelle manages to create a lasting impression. The carefully knitted drama between an ambitious jazz drummer Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) and his abusive mentor Terence Fletcher (J. K Simons) is exhilarating.The single-minded focus of the student to achieve greatness will leave you on the highs, and the relentless wrath of the teacher will pull you down and make your heart sink.

The tormentor

Fletcher is an imposing character who is always on time and wears the same black outfit everywhere. He demands perfection.

But the pain that his pupils must endure to achieve the set standard makes you a little queasy. From a mild rap on the knuckles to traumatizing bullying and flogging, Fletcher does not hold himself back while unleashing his wrath.

He believes that one who can’t stand his harassment is not strong enough to be a part of his orchestra.

The protege

Neiman on the other hand is a young and determined, sometimes arrogant jazz drummer. He is a loner and goes to movies with his father.

Neiman wants to be like his childhood idol Buddy Rich, who is one of the greatest drummers of all time. And he knows Fletcher is the only one who can train him to achieve such perfection.

The plot

The resulting clash of wills creates an engrossing spectacle that transforms Neiman both in terms of his skills and attitude.

The constant harassment at the hands of Fletcher changes him from a cherubic teenager to a self-obsessed and callous individual: cold-heartedly breaks up with his girlfriend because he thinks she might distract him; misplaces the music folder in the middle of the concert sabotaging the position of the lead drummer.

The plot twist

Eventually, the physical and psychological abuse leaves Neiman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. After a lot of persuasion from his father, Neiman finally anonymously reports Fletcher’s and gets him fired from the college.

However, after a few days, Neiman bumps into a surprisingly genial Fletcher at a lounge who urges him to be a part of an upcoming performance at the Carnegie Hall.

Neiman agrees, and in doing so, sets up the stage for his humiliation. Fletcher knew he ratted him out.

The Climax

The final scene is incredibly powerful. Neiman dodges the horrifying ruse thrown at him by Fletcher and gathers all his courage to come out triumphant with an extraordinary performance.

Fletcher is caught unawares by the sudden show of defiance. As Neiman gets into the flow and gathers momentum, Fletcher senses the intensity of the performance and finally recognizes his talent by giving a nod of acknowledgment.

As the curtains fall, both the teacher and student are vindicated: Neiman has achieved greatness and Fletcher has proved his abusive methods work wonders.

The anticlimax

But his father who is looking from a distance backstage sees what his son has transformed into.

It was Fletcher’s idea of perfection that his son was chasing all along, and in achieving it, he has become just like his mentor. An obsessive vindictive perfectionist.

He knows that the cost of chasing greatness has been too much for Neiman and in all possibilities will leave him mentally shattered.

On the dinner table, Neiman once told his father,

“I’d rather die drunk, broke at 34, and have people at the dinner table talk about me than live to be rich and sober at 90 and nobody remembered who I was”

And now he is witnessing his son’s idea of success turning into reality.

The movie is open to interpretation and we can argue for hours about the pyrrhic nature of Neiman’s victory or Fletcher’s tyrannical ways of conducting. But there are some profound lessons in the movie that we can’t ignore.

Understand the cost of success

The film forces us to look at the ugly aspect of glory that we often conveniently brush under the carpet.

Everyone wants to be a great artist, but few want to become a 30-year-old maverick dying a miserable death all alone. When we talk of Ernest Hemingway or Vincent Van Gogh, we only talk about their talent and rarely about their tragic deaths.

“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run” — Henry David Thoreau

If you want to be a billionaire, with all means you should pursue your dreams. But you should also have an idea of the toll it’s going to take on your life. Knowing the tradeoff helps us in making better decisions. It also makes us self-assured because by accepting the downside, we reinforce our ambitions. We become fearless.

What doesn’t kill you makes you a prick

While it is heart-rending for us to watch Neiman whining and sobbing after getting berated by fletcher, don’t some of us justify such kind of harassment as necessary to achieve greatness?

I reckon many of us do. But by ignoring the means and focusing only on the end we legitimize abuse and ignore its psychological impacts.

Neiman had asked Fletcher,

“But is there a line? You know, maybe you go too far and discourage the next Charlie Parker from ever becoming Charlie Parker?

To which Fletcher replied,

“No, man, no. Because the next Charlie Parker would never be discouraged”

Contrary to Fletcher’s belief, there is a line that should never be crossed. Bullies beget bullies; abuse begets abuse. Physical and emotional abuse manifests later in many forms of antisocial and criminal behavior.

“Any action that is dictated by fear or by coercion of any kind ceases to be moral” — Mohandas Gandhi

We should never accept any kind of physical or mental abuse as it normalizes violence.

Also, we should not forget that Fletcher was planning to humiliate Neiman when he gave him the never-get-discouraged bullshit. Glory can sometimes be dangled in front of us to stir up our passions leaving us blind to the ruse.

Apart from the mind blowing experience that Whiplash creates, it also leaves us with many uncomfortable questions. Damien Chazelle might have vindicated Fletcher, but after brooding over these questions, you can’t.