This post may contain spoilers
Perfectionism is a hell of a word and what brings hell to it, it’s not just how it sounds but rather the meaning the word brings to with it. Ok I’m not going to lie this is not more than a light review of a movie thought it’ll be something more of a conversation about it than a review if I say so myself. But the biggest theme that this movie tackles right from the very beginning is the one that I named at the start of this review, Perfectionism.
Then again, What is Perfectionism more than something that we as people, we as humans, deal with from time to time? (even though for others even more than just from time to time), whether that goes from making us insecure, unsure or stressed about or own work and qualifications in or daily life or that makes us use it as a tool to open a door to let us progress ahead of our own paths and ways is just something that only us can mold or decide since it’s for ourselves, don´t get me wrong, I don’t have the answers as which one should anyone use neither I know what’s best for people that deal with this to do, it’s something all of us have to go through individually just to it can finally gain a rightfully meaning. But hey, this is not a Ted Talk about Perfectionism, no, no, let me go again to what I said before, What is Perfectionism more than all that? Hmm, that’s not the right question either, what about: What is Perfectionism when you combine it with Art?.
Whiplash (2014) is a movie about Art, about Music, about Passion, but it also is a movie about the pain that come with said passion. This is not a review, this is not a post about my impressions about the movie ‘cause I already have watched it twice, but rather this is my “Think-Piece” for it, I found out about this movie like a year ago thru a Youtube video that talked about it as it also talked about another movie that I knew of and even watched some of it years ago, what I most Heard from the video was the tragedy that strikes those who make art and what going to the extreme can do to one’s body and mind to the point when is too late and there is to see is nothing but a crack.
The movie is about a young jazz drummer called Andrew Neiman (Milles Teller) who is a student in the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory of New York, and just as the movie start we can that Andrew has a constant goal in his mind and that is to one day be someone people can remember for his drumming, in his first scene we see him practicing his drumming, trying to play as fast and as good as he can, suddenly he catches the attention to the conductor and pretty strict bandleader of the Studio Band of the Conservatory, Terence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons) the person that’ll bring hell to Andrew’s mind and the one who will replace the person with the musician.
But it’s not only that Fletcher is a strict conductor or a really mean teacher that pushes Andrew every once in a while, but rather that he is an abusive figure who constantly pushes all his students to be excellent musicians and if they can’t meet his expectations he disposes of them in a heartbeat, Andrew’s problem with this is that he can’t catch up with his tempo and so his battle to earn his place in Fletcher’s band begins. There’s a point in the movie where the abuse and the shaming from Fletcher get too deep in Andrew’s mind that he starts pushing himself to an unbearable practice routine, hurting his hands ‘til they bleed, and his mind since he doesn’t give it any rest, but all of these are only the blood, sweat and tears that he spends in order to make it at the eyes of Fletcher, but then he start to push anyone aside, including his dad that’s sick worried about his son and how the music and his instructor are taking him away from his own life. Fletcher's character starts to rub off in Andrew, even when he is not thinking about him we can see thats his actions and motivations are full of it, it's like he's become unwillingly a poppet that dances in the palm of his hand and is very much like this how our "antagonist" can take the winner spot in this story.
After a lot of unfortunate events, Andrew’s dad gets a lawyer and sues Fletcher, and Andrew gets stuck in a limbo about his drumming, after all that happened to him (like getting hit by a another car while running out late to a recital, for example) you’d expect him to resent Fletcher and all he stands for, and while that’s part of Andrew’s truth and feelings, he doesn’t fully hate Fletcher, he idolizes him, and puts his opinion right above anything else, that has always been the problem, the movie ends up with him proving himself to Fletcher and making his wishes come true with his drumming that exclaims “I’m now in your tempo and I’m what you were looking for” and as the rhythm of the music consumes the scenario, Andrew disappears to be replaced by the artist, the musician, the perfect drumming machine and most importantly, he becomes the shadow that dances in Fletcher's tempo.
Bittersweet isn’t it?, a lot of people might not see the movie the same way I described it and that’s totally fine, everything is subjective when it comes to this subjects, but with this movie in particular the theme has always been the obsession of the perfectionist and the curse of the artist specially when the artist becomes the art itself not a person that controls it, there seems to be no correct answer to treat the harrowing danger that is letting the creeping seed of being a perfect “something” growing so comfortable and steady in your mind. There also grows the question of "When is it enough?","Was it really worth it?", but the most important questions after the credits roll on is if Andrew was happy with his decision and whether or not if it was the way he wanted to accomplish his dreams.
As someone who enjoys art and that sometimes enjoy creating things here and there this is a theme that worries and even scares me a little and so I’m pretty sure that this movie is not all fiction, and that’s what makes it all more earie for me, and so maybe this is another thing to consider when we find ourselves talking about because what if that’s the line that makes this movie to feel more like a psychological terror than a drama?, what do you think?.
On an ending note, this movie is really incredible, I’m not sure if anyone reading this has not watched it yet,I pretty much talked about it in a very spoilery note even if I talked about it from its themes standpoint, but as I was saying, if you have not watched it and only now have read about it from this post I hope you don’t get discouraged to watch it, I think is a pretty enjoyable movie even if you already know how some of it flows, I recommend it a 100% and hope that if there’s anyone like that here still watches it and enjoy it.
And like this I’m ending this post, hopefully I have brought an interesting theme for you all, I’m still new when it comes to write stuff so some things might sound a little weird but I’ll try my best, I’ll leave a link to that Youtube video I mentioned before, check it out if you enjoy to witness the tragedy of art!. Thank you for reading, I hope y’all have a great day/evening/night and see you soon with another post, Aufwiedersehen.
Youtube video: 
credits to Lessons from the Screenplay channel
Link to the movie poster: https://co.pinterest.com/pin/499899627373205910/
All the screenshots were taken by me