...if you are interested in applied ethics

Rating: 10/10 (20 February 2015)

I will analyze the issues raised by this movie:
1.Career vs. Love
What do you do if you feel that you need all your time for your projects? Are you willing to discard your relationship even if there are promises of love? Are you willing to give up love to focus all your energy and passion in what you do? Time is a limited resource, if you have to choose between love and career what will you do?
2.Negative pedagogy
As a pedagogue, Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) is awful. I will not call in question his results (we are let to believe that he won a series of jazz competitions) but if you think at the overall picture, the number of people who left his classroom disappointed and with a ruined psyche you realize that he is a horrible teacher.
And now we can address the point at issue: there are such reasons as to justify the kind of behavior displayed by Fletcher in the classroom, his extreme negative pedagogy? There are fields of human endeavor in which it doesn't matter how many are spoiled if you manage to produce one who is the very best? Is it OK to force people beyond their limits with the intention to make them great if in the process the majority is wrecked?
Is it worth it to tear down a hundred reasonable musicians with the hope that one of them will become a great one, one who will make history?
Andrew Neimann (Miles Teller) asked a very good question: there is a line that once crossed has the effect of disheartening the next Charlie Parker? The answer given by Fletcher is very convenient: there isn't such a line. If someone is good he will put up with every kind of abuse. Practically he is giving himself a free license to behave no matter how abusive without the need to answer for the effects of his behavior.
I believe that this method is dangerous because you may choose to push someone hard at the wrong time making him snap, destroying someone who could have been the next great one. Even if you are extremely skilled and you pay a lot of attention to your student you may go too far and this will have a terrible outcome.
3.Motivation
How much rude and derogatory behavior is OK to endure, knowing that the abuse is making you better? Knowing that the anger you accumulate because of the abuse makes you give your very best? Is this the best way to energize yourself, submitting voluntarily as a target for rude and insulting behavior? What are the psychological consequences on your creativity? I presume that the goal is not only to become a virtuoso but also to be able to make your own music. Anger, rage are powerful emotions but are they the best avenue for energizing your will?