by Dexter Reid

“Nieman, you earned the part. Alternates, will you clean the blood off my drum set?” This line perfectly sums up Whiplash. From brutal to breathtakingly beautiful, 2014 was a wonderful year, with a diverse selection of movies with social and cultural relevance. One that comes to mind is Selma, which told the true story that kicked off the largest social justice movement in history. With the ever-growing social justice movement, this film is as relevant and important today as it would have been in the years depicted. In contrast, Whiplash simply told the story of an extremely talented young jazz drummer and his relationship with his teacher. However, it still managed to maintain the same level of real-life relevance as the oh-so-important Selma.

Whiplash was inspired by Buddy Rich, the iconic jazz drummer who was infamous for treating his band horribly. The  grade-A insults thrown about in the film were inspired by Buddy Rich classics such as “”I’m up there workin’ my balls off tryin’ to do somebody a favor and you motherf***ers are suckin’ all over this joint. What kind of trumpet section do you call this tonight? And saxophones! You gotta f***in’ be kiddin’ me!”  The film was directed by Damien Chazelle and stars J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller.

Chazelle’s first feature length film blew people away when it was shown for the first time at Sundance Film Festival, and rightfully so. The film’s swift yet choppy editing and excellent, fast paced music managed to appeal to even the most mainstream moviegoers, creating a near instant modern classic. It’s possible to talk about the film’s technical aspects (which were nearly flawless) but it would probably be hours before you could even begin to touch on what makes this movie so spectacular. J.K. Simmons, who plays a short tempered and extremely harsh music teacher and conductor named Fletcher, and Miles Teller, as the young drumming protégé named Andrew, had some of the best on-screen chemistry in any movie that has come out within the past decade.

Fletcher would berate his students if they were so much as out of tune. Andrew experienced that first hand on multiple occasions. The most notable example of this would be the “rushing or dragging” scene, where Fletcher would slap Andrew and ask if his strikes were too early or too late for the tempo. Simmons managed to bring to life one of the most terrifying film characters ever, despite the character being in a film about jazz drumming. Sure, Fletcher might not have any superpowers, or be trying to take over the world with a doomsday device, but he is nonetheless a villain. It is for this reason that Simmons earned the Academy Award. He created a terrifying character within the drama genre, something that is incredibly difficult to do. Teller’s performance should not go unnoticed either, as you can see his slow mental deterioration unfold so brilliantly on screen. Not only this, but he did most of his own drumming for the film, which was also awarded a sound mixing Oscar.

You may still be wondering how all this maintains the same level of relevance as Selma. It is because the film tells the story of one person, but also the story of every person who has ever tried to become “one of the greats,” as Fletcher would say. This story represents what we do to ourselves when we push ourselves too hard, but also what we can become when we really focus on the thing we are passionate about. Whiplash shows that we can all become “one of the greats.”

This article first appeared in the Leveller Vol.7, No.6 (Spring 2015).