whiplash
Watched the renowned (I guess) movie Whiplash today. Feels like this blog's becoming about either lifting or movies... maybe just the easiest things for me to write about. Anyways.
Great movie. Felt really well made. Nothing was wasted. Quick flickers of images that mean something, especially at that last scene. Sometimes those linger too long in some movies. At least some that I've watched. Something about it. But the timing of those fast shots, the timing of the long shots, it was like, the length of each of those scenes and cuts felt really perfect to me. Didn't think this was going to be the first thing I was going to talk about lol. Maybe I became more sensitive to this especially after making my own animations? Where things like lingering scenes and frame rates become really important.
As for the story. I mean honestly fuck Fletcher. And what great writing and acting by JK Simmons to be able to portray such an easily hatable character. I felt really against his ways of teaching, I'm just a pacifist in terms of teaching, helping others grow. But it's a hard hitting film that does try to tackle that very question; what exact method of teaching is best for someone to grow? It could be the encouraging style. Or it could be the Fletcher style, of driving students to perfection through the use of fear and insecurity of their positions in the ensemble.
While thinking about this question and reflecting on the movie, one line stuck to my mind, this one line by Fletcher. He said he was unable to get a real prodigy out of his teachings. But that he could say he tried, which was a lot more than other people could say.
And this other line. When Fletcher talks with Andrew at the bar after getting fired from the music school, Andrew asks him if he thought maybe his way of teaching could actually be driving prodigies away from music. Fletcher answers by saying, no, because those who were truly meant to be prodigies would never quit.
So I'm sitting here wondering like, damn would Andrew not be where he was had this guy not completely ruined his life? On one hand, I'd like to say the answer is yes; I mean, had it not been for Fletcher, there would be no last scene of Andrew playing in front of a huge crowd, and probably going on to be huge. And had Fletcher not been so anal about the smallest thing during practice, maybe Andrew would've been ok with not truly getting it. So I can't like flat out say that Andrew would've been in the same spot without Fletcher, as much as I'd love to be able to say that, just as a fuck you to Fletcher and all people that are like Fletcher.
I think that's what's so incredibly frustrating to comment on this movie. Is that for all the bullshit Fletcher does to teach people stuff, it's hard to say that what he's doing, didn't work. Because to some extent it did for Andrew. And so then this just becomes like this internal turmoil for me, just a personal dialog to figure out what I believe in. Because I'd like to believe Fletcher's style is not the answer.
But here, a thought: I don't think Andrew was pushed by the intensely negative experiences with Fletcher. I think that's the key. I don't think Fletcher's teachings directly pushed Andrew. Because when you think about it, it was the fact that Andrew believed in himself. God this sounds so fucking corny trying to dissect all this, just a fucking movie, but hear me out. I think the danger of teaching through fear is that the goal becomes to satisfy the person who is making you fearful. So in this case, say I'm a musician and I play for Fletcher. If Fletcher yells at me and it makes me want to play better, it's probably because I want to play better for Fletcher, so that he's not angry at me. But I think the thing about Andrew was that it was never about that. He believed he deserved drum parts, for all the work he put in. He would get openly angry at Fletcher for taking parts away from him. For Andrew it was never about Fletcher. It was about playing music at the next level, and going through all means to get there. Or so I'd like to believe. That Fletcher was just one roadbump in Andrew's great journey.
So then when Fletcher did the worst thing possible of inviting Andrew to play percussion for a huge show, only to surprise him by performing a completely different song, and then Andrew came back to the show and fucking crushed Whiplash, I don't really think that was Fletcher dude. That was Andrew and his faith in his ability. That he wanted something more than anything. And that it wasn't Fletcher's approval. It never was. It was to play music at the highest level.
Anways yeah, my jumbled up thoughts on a movie that left me distraught. Fuck Fletcher.
Great movie. Felt really well made. Nothing was wasted. Quick flickers of images that mean something, especially at that last scene. Sometimes those linger too long in some movies. At least some that I've watched. Something about it. But the timing of those fast shots, the timing of the long shots, it was like, the length of each of those scenes and cuts felt really perfect to me. Didn't think this was going to be the first thing I was going to talk about lol. Maybe I became more sensitive to this especially after making my own animations? Where things like lingering scenes and frame rates become really important.
As for the story. I mean honestly fuck Fletcher. And what great writing and acting by JK Simmons to be able to portray such an easily hatable character. I felt really against his ways of teaching, I'm just a pacifist in terms of teaching, helping others grow. But it's a hard hitting film that does try to tackle that very question; what exact method of teaching is best for someone to grow? It could be the encouraging style. Or it could be the Fletcher style, of driving students to perfection through the use of fear and insecurity of their positions in the ensemble.
While thinking about this question and reflecting on the movie, one line stuck to my mind, this one line by Fletcher. He said he was unable to get a real prodigy out of his teachings. But that he could say he tried, which was a lot more than other people could say.
And this other line. When Fletcher talks with Andrew at the bar after getting fired from the music school, Andrew asks him if he thought maybe his way of teaching could actually be driving prodigies away from music. Fletcher answers by saying, no, because those who were truly meant to be prodigies would never quit.
So I'm sitting here wondering like, damn would Andrew not be where he was had this guy not completely ruined his life? On one hand, I'd like to say the answer is yes; I mean, had it not been for Fletcher, there would be no last scene of Andrew playing in front of a huge crowd, and probably going on to be huge. And had Fletcher not been so anal about the smallest thing during practice, maybe Andrew would've been ok with not truly getting it. So I can't like flat out say that Andrew would've been in the same spot without Fletcher, as much as I'd love to be able to say that, just as a fuck you to Fletcher and all people that are like Fletcher.
I think that's what's so incredibly frustrating to comment on this movie. Is that for all the bullshit Fletcher does to teach people stuff, it's hard to say that what he's doing, didn't work. Because to some extent it did for Andrew. And so then this just becomes like this internal turmoil for me, just a personal dialog to figure out what I believe in. Because I'd like to believe Fletcher's style is not the answer.
But here, a thought: I don't think Andrew was pushed by the intensely negative experiences with Fletcher. I think that's the key. I don't think Fletcher's teachings directly pushed Andrew. Because when you think about it, it was the fact that Andrew believed in himself. God this sounds so fucking corny trying to dissect all this, just a fucking movie, but hear me out. I think the danger of teaching through fear is that the goal becomes to satisfy the person who is making you fearful. So in this case, say I'm a musician and I play for Fletcher. If Fletcher yells at me and it makes me want to play better, it's probably because I want to play better for Fletcher, so that he's not angry at me. But I think the thing about Andrew was that it was never about that. He believed he deserved drum parts, for all the work he put in. He would get openly angry at Fletcher for taking parts away from him. For Andrew it was never about Fletcher. It was about playing music at the next level, and going through all means to get there. Or so I'd like to believe. That Fletcher was just one roadbump in Andrew's great journey.
So then when Fletcher did the worst thing possible of inviting Andrew to play percussion for a huge show, only to surprise him by performing a completely different song, and then Andrew came back to the show and fucking crushed Whiplash, I don't really think that was Fletcher dude. That was Andrew and his faith in his ability. That he wanted something more than anything. And that it wasn't Fletcher's approval. It never was. It was to play music at the highest level.
Anways yeah, my jumbled up thoughts on a movie that left me distraught. Fuck Fletcher.
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