WHIPLASH — Or the Human Drive for Greatness

Whiplash is a movie by director Damien Chazelle that was first screened in October 2014. It stars Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons. This drama movie explores more than just the world of elite jazz, but also the theme of the indomitable drive of humans for greatness and success. At the centre of this piece is Andrew Neiman (Teller), a young drummer determined to ascend past mediocrity, and Terence Fletcher (Simmons), a brutal conductor with an unforgiving philosophy of greatness. In this essay, I wish to explore how Chazelle uses his genius to expose the human drive for greatness as a double-edged forced — capable of pushing individuals towards extraordinary achievement while simultaneously consuming their identity, morality and well-being.

Firstly, I will explore how Chazelle vividly portrays ambition as a catalyst for extraordinary achievement in Whiplash through the unstoppable thrive of its main character, Andrew Neiman. Chazelle portrays this ambition as a powerful driving force that drives individuals to surpass their limits and achieve exceptional mastery of what they pursue. This powerful ambition is perfectly portrayed through the main character’s relentless training sessions. His late nights practicing, while drumming to the point where his hands bleed show us a rather unknown facet of ambition and obsession that is monomania. Fletcher’s also shows signs of his support towards this ambition and how it leads to greatness. He says that “There are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job.’” This quote is not only once again an example of Fletcher’s ruthlessness towards any interfering emotions, but also his sympathy for constant thrive for greatness. This quote shows how he also believes — like Neiman — that greatness is achieved only by obsession and thrive for better instead of being complacent, even if it means destroying one’s emotions and relationships. A very vivid example of how ambition is a catalyst for greatness is the culmination of Neiman’s hard work: the final performance. Neiman shows his talent by impressing even the ruthless Fletcher; but this scene also allows us to be reminded of and reflect on what led to this performance. Of course, Neiman’s ambition and obsession led him to such an extraordinary feat, but we also acknowledge the sacrifices he made along the way. Damien Chazelle’s genius also appears in his directing techniques, especially his montage. The quick cuts between shots in music scenes accompanied by the intensity of the sound design and arrangement not only create a very tense atmosphere for the spectator, but also shows how energetic the breakthrough of an artist — here, Neiman — is. The sounds and shots are the perfect balance act between ambition and self-destruction, between perfect music and acoustic horror. Overall, these elements show the positive edge of ambition, they show how greatness becomes possible, not only for Neiman, but for anyone. It reminds us that without the right amount of hard work and ambition, greatness isn’t imaginable, while Neiman grasps it, but at a cost.

Because indeed, the film portrays greatness and the journey to it as a double-edged blade, and now I will explore the ways it reveals how the pursuit of greatness can warp one’s identity and ethics, turning aspirations into destructive obsessions. The pursuit of greatness involves the focus on one’s self rather than on others, and this is masterfully shown by Chazelle through Neiman’s different relationships in the movie, especially with Nicole, his girlfriend. Their relationship progresses side-by-side with Neiman’s mental stability, starting with their first cinema meeting where a fresh and stable Neiman manages to make Nicole his girlfriend. But the pivotal moment in their relationship is the famous restaurant scene, in which Andrew explicitly tells Nicole that drumming is the most important thing in his life, even more than his own lover. Andrew says: “I want to be great. (…) I want to be one of the greats.” And when Nicole asks if she would stop him from achieving this, he firmly answers: “Yeah”. This fast answer and firm breakup make Neiman seem nearly apathetic and emotionless, in a moment that anyone would consider to be full of sorrow, pain or anger. It is at this moment that we realise to what extent his obsession and his thirst for greatness has pushed him beyond humanity and even sanity. Another powerful scene showing the extent of how Neiman’s pursuit of greatness consumes him and his relationships is the family dinner scene. Neiman is pushed out — even by his own father — while his cousins receive immense praise for minor achievements. Neiman suddenly bursts into rage and insults them and by delivering a memorable line: “I’d rather die drunk, broke at 34 and have people at a dinner table talk about me than live to be rich and sober at 90 and nobody remember who I was.” This answer to his condescending family’s comments on the great saxophonist Charlie Parker not only defines Neiman’s idea of greatness — having people remember him outside of friends and family — , but also subtly shows the extent to which Neiman is ready to take his stability to for success. He doesn’t mind sacrificing his family relations to chase his dream and achieve success. Neiman shows signs of moral ambiguity: lying, pushing others aside, or prioritising success over humanity. To some extent, Neiman even begins mirroring Fletcher’s ruthlessness towards emotion. Finally, some visual cues emphasise on the cost of obsession on Neiman’s health, both mental and physical. Once again, the bleeding hands and close up shots on Neiman’s sweat or breathing show physical fatigue. The most important cues are definitely the empty practice rooms and the close up shots that emphasise on the psychological deterioration that the pursuit of greatness inflicts on Neiman. Overall, these factors, details and cues all emphasise on the cost of obsession for anything — here, greatness — and the costs attached to commitment, ambition and drive for more.

In this final analysis paragraph, I want to investigate Terrence Fletcher’s philosophy and what really are the ethics of greatness according to Whiplash, and how Chazelle genially conveys them. Through Fletcher, Chazelle confronts the dangerous belief that greatness justifies cruelty, questioning whether extreme pressure is ever ethically defensible. On several occasions, especially the scene where fletcher forces the three drummers (including Neiman) to drum all the way to bleeding just to select who he wants in the band. He insults the players and doesn’t hesitate to use violence (as in the slapping scene about tempo), and justifies it by calling it a step on the path to greatness for Neiman. Chazelle perfectly shapes Fletcher’s mindset to resemble the double-edged nature of the thrive to greatness. On Neiman’s path, Fletcher represents the pain and torture of that thrive. Whiplash shows that greatness and its path have no ethical boundaries and that will and motivation beat all methods to attain greatness and the path to prevail is painful but ultimately worth it, even if it may neglect emotion, physical pain or personal feeling.

To conclude, Whiplash perfectly sums up the facets of greatness and the path leading to it; and perfectly characterises that path and presents greatness as a double-edged blade. Chazelle’s genius is proven through his genial characters and their personalities, as well as the buildup of this movie. This movie is a testimony of the unending thrive of humans for greatness.