Movie review: Whiplash

Lights out Alice!

Why hide it...I do watch movies, regardless of how cool and geeky I would like to pretend I am and how beneath me it would all be for me to watch sappy things like movies.

Good will hunting, Dead poets society, Perks of being the wallflower (all time fav), Hugo, Jojo rabbit, The school of rock are some of my top tier favourites. I am pretty sure I am only remembering a small sub-segment of what all I like but definitely something that inspires me to do better or talks about an passion or pursuit of excellence is something I would definitely give it a try. My understanding of my type would be that I try to search for meaning and excellence in these movies as well as something that would either reflect how I am or how I would like to become. Further, values and levelling up through inspiration and perspiration is right up my wheelhouse.

The list: The blind side, The pursuit of Happyness, Shawshank Redemption, Death Race, Gridiron gang, The Upside...

Not to say that I did not like Rush Hour (all 3), Harry Potter franchise or even Batman (especially The Dark Night rises).

Pattern that emerges - protagonist that is a bit socially awkward or suffers from major trauma, pain or tough times, emerges through grit and perseverance.

Onto the task at hand, Whiplash. How did I come about it? Simple really, needed something to inspire me because I have been feeling a little bit lost lately. Oh, not to discount the fact that I am a big fan of drums but for the life of me cannot understand music or hold a beat consistently but also that I didn't give it a proper try.

• The intensity. I loved the intensity, the cut throat competition and the raw need to become better regardless of the fact that these people are the best of the very best already with enough raw talent
• Hated the cussing. Hated the emotional abuse. I guess that was kind of the point but damn this was pretty bad and borderline triggering
• What I hated even more than the cussing was the ending. To me, the pursuit of greatness should not mean that you go back to what was abusing you just to reach the zenith. Yes, greatness comes at a price, but at the price the protagonist had to pay, it really begs the question if it is worth the high and where is the line that you draw. Sure, people will remember that person for ages, but isn't the point of life to live in a manner that you enjoy and making the lives of those around you a little bit better? But I then go on to also contradict myself because I know this can never lead to any major gains and would lead to stagnation in the long run. I know deep down that greatness does require sacrifice, it is just that I am unable to bring myself around to accept that this is the ground reality and the cost for the same is so high.
• Another fact of life that was conveyed through the movie that I loved was the need for practice. Relentless practice. Doesn't matter how good these students were, they had to put in the hours. Nothing beats hard work regardless of the talent. It resonated with me because all around us in our daily lives are distractions that tell us to not focus on the improvement which we talk about a lot but never take any concrete action towards.
• The part that irked me and was a bit of romanticism of reality was when he was forced off the stage and then he walks back and takes over a solo and turns it around. Movies have to do this I understand, but this was not something that the pragmatic in me will ever agree to. The protagonist must have been prudent enough to see if somebody is giving another an offer that sounds too good to be true, it most likely is!
• The father son bond that they shared, that the protagonist still maintained did leave me with a bit of hope for humanity, especially for the sub-section of geniuses. What I took away from it was that even though they might not be the most emotionally available person or decent at being humans, they try in the way they know how to. We just have to be more patient with them and try to understand how they are trying to something that is pretty low in their priority list and give them space.

Lights out Alice!