Brutal, unrealistic Hollywood garbage

Rating: 1/10 (7 March 2015)

I'm giving Whiplash a one star rating to compensate for all the rave reviews it has gotten from people who obviously know nothing about about how music is made, and what goes into great performances.
Almost the whole film is about the relationship between a talented teen drummer, played by Miles Teller and a teacher, played by JK Simmons, who directs jazz in a top music school. The JK Simmons role is a sick meld of an evil Nazi from WWII, a brutal drill sergeant and a father who is both physically and mentally abusive. His head is shaved, he wears a black "muscle" shirt almost continually in the movie, he screams at his students, uses language that makes George Carlin seem like Mr. Rogers, throws chairs, and finally slaps the Teller character in the face, repeatedly. I don't think there is a minority group he does not insult repeatedly, with just about the worst four-letter trash talk imaginable.
The fact that the acting is impressive can't save this film. The script is terrible. And it does a disservice to music education in a time when support for the arts is already struggling.
Worst of all, the film misrepresents everything that is real in both music and music education. Anyone seeing this film and thinking of going into a music program for the first time would be so turned-off The film is about mind-rape. It is about the worst kind of damage one human can inflict on another in the name of teaching without leaving a great deal of physical damage. It has nothing to do with music, or creativity, or teaching. It is Hollywood at its worse.
There are some abusive musical directors who have way too much power, but this fictional character would not last one week in any music school. One student would simply turn on an I-pad, record what goes on, then pass it around.
The teacher would be out of a job and most likely in jail.
One reviewer called it a "steaming pile of excrement". Apt words.