Matinee Monday Week #4: 'Whiplash - A 10 Year Retrospective'

My response to the haters

The story whose proof of concept won the Short Jury Prize at Sundance in 2013 and whose feature won three Oscars at the 87th Academy Awards was released 10 years ago this month. ‘Whiplash’ is widely accepted as a modern classic and a feat of independent cinema. I hadn’t seen Damien Chazelle’s directorial debut until recently, but my first watch in 2021 instantly made me a fan. Following Andrew Neiman’s story as an aspiring core drummer for Jazz at Lincoln Center battling to be the best in his top rated music college against his abusively patronizing band teacher, Terence Fletcher, left me feeling electrified. Andrew’s lows of trudging his way to a stage where he isn’t wanted covered in his own blood only make room for his highs to be insurmountable when he tells Fletcher to ‘fuck off’ by crashing a symbol in his face. Finishing the film releases the same endorphins that a superhero movie would, the belief that you have the power to do anything you set your mind to. 

Still, Whiplash has its detractors. I had a film professor who found the premise dishonest, not buying into the notion that a ‘Fletcher’ exists and perceived Andrew was a self-serving jerk. To my professor, not only was there not a world where a professional throws a chair at someone's head and keeps their job, but also someone so negatively invested in someone else’s rise. And even TikTok agrees that Andrew is an asshole. In previous months, Andrew’s break up monologue went viral on TikTok. Creators mocked him by acting how they would react in the instance where a similar speech was delivered to them.

The critique furthers itself by asserting that Andrew isn’t just a character but Chazelle’s self insert.  In an interview with the AV Club, Chazelle is asked about any real life stories hidden in his film and he admits that Fletcher is based on his high school band teacher of whom he was terrified. Therein lies a seeming truth that ‘Whiplash’ is the self righteous and egotistical story of Chazelle. In the essay, The Case Against ‘Whiplash’, filmmaker Andre Garcia writes, “the plot [is] full of wish-fulfillment, self-inserts and personal venting. The only difference is that now [Chazelle] is able to use all the comebacks he wished he had at the time.” Garcia writes specifically about the dinner scene where Andrew is belittled by his family for his small successes in studio band while his cousins are celebrated for their more typical interests in football and model UN. The scene does play like a Disney channel movie with characters such as a jock bully and macho uncle present at the table and Andrew even storming off at the end, but there’s something more underneath. Andrew has just told his cousin who plays division III football that he’ll never hear from the NFL when his father asks him, “Have you heard from Lincoln Center?” The line stands out as edgier than where most movies go. Towards the end of the film it seems Fletcher and Andrew will make amends. Fletcher admits to Andrew that he chose to abuse his students because “there are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job’”. Andrew takes this as a personal vote of confidence which is why he accepts Fletcher’s offer to perform at Lincoln Center even when it feels too good to be true. From Fletcher’s masterfully organized take down arises an improvisational drum solo, Fletcher and Andrew to finally come together. In close shots of only their eyes, Andrew looks to Fletcher whose mouth opens but Chazelle leaves it up to the audience’s imagination what actually happens. 

There’s a popular belief that Fletcher says ‘good job’ and I used to believe that Andrew was doomed to be a casualty of the cycle of abuse, falling into Fletcher's submission. But the story that ‘Whiplash’ is telling is far greater than what its detractors and theorists think.

Chazelle made ‘Whiplash’ out of necessity. He was living in LA as a freelance writer with the goal of producing a feature romance called ‘La La Land’. But without the funding, notoriety, or acclaim, his magnum opus was nowhere close to being made. Just like Andrew, he was doubted and told ‘no’ and it is that way that ‘Whiplash’ is autobiographical. To be an artist is to make peace with the word ‘no’. To not be deterred by rejection, to find inspiration in being cast out, to work hard enough to accept mistakes will be made every day. Despite everything, an artist is someone who has the confidence to continue. In a recent interview with the New York Times, renaissance man Donald Glover put this perspective aptly, “No one on their deathbed is going to look back and say, 'Thank God I avoided being cringe.'” On his first day in Fletcher’s class, Andrew is outed as having an unremarkable father and an absent mother in front of all his new classmates. He is slapped, mocked to tears, and forced to sit silently behind the core drummer he is shadowing for the entirety of class. Still, he shows up to the next class, practices his charts to perfection in his free time, and flips the core drummer’s pages with discipline and humility. His tenacity is what allows him to step up in a time of need and secure his spot in Fletcher’s band. Andrew does not have time to be self conscious about his talent and situation, what he wants drives him. Sometimes that makes him an asshole, and those who mock his break up speech on TikTok are not unjustified. Sometimes that makes him a danger to himself for risking his life for a fleeting performance. But in the end he is able to get himself where he wants to be, in front of the curators of the Lincoln Square Jazz band and on the precious of his dreams. 

‘Whiplash’ is not about the abusive teacher-student relationship. It’s also not Chazelle’s self insert wish fulfillment (and if it is, what director isn’t guilty of that?). It is about wanting something so badly for yourself that you won’t take no for a final answer. Andrew is not pushed to his limits by Fletcher’s abuse, he instead rises to every occasion to let the world know that nothing will knock him off his path forward. Chazelle isn’t gloating from his throne looking down at us with his Oscars, he is reaching out his hand to creatives telling them they can make it too. None of the abuse that happens to Andrew is acceptable and “good job” isn’t a dirty phrase, but inside the bubble of negativity, ‘Whiplash’ asks us if we will follow our dreams despite the hand of cards we are dealt.

Parting gifts this week

Film of the week: Obviously Whiplash. The film was rereleased in theaters last Friday for its 10th anniversary. Even if you’ve already seen it, it deserves to be played big and loud!

Snack of the week: Nutella and pretzels. I’m so addicted, it is sincerely my weakness, I’m eating it as I edit this piece now. I’m not even one to bring outside snacks into the theater but I have brought nutella and pretzels in, made a big mess, and been so loud with my rustling. But so worth it. 

Theater of the week: AMC Kips Bay. Me and Kips Bay have a complicated relationship. It was close to my old dorm so I went until I saw ‘Prescilla’ and the projector crushed all the black pixels to make the low light scenes unwatchable. Ever since then I’ve held a grudge and I try to not go, but that’s around the time I began to find AMC theaters incredibly disgusting. Their projection of ‘Whiplash’ this weekend and ‘Janet Planet’ and ‘Cuco’ over the summer were fine. Additionally the theater is clean and the staff is nice. Shout out Kips Bay, sorry I already canceled my subscription.