A very VERY dangerous message.

Rating: 1/10 (28 March 2016)

If you think that bullying, shouting and verbally abusing people who look up to you, hang on your every word and depend on you for their career is the best way to motivate them, you will love this film.
Whiplash comprises scenes of Fletcher yelling incessantly at students, sometimes causing them to cry. But he doesn't just raise his voice at people who have committed atrocities (unless you think that playing 2bpm too slow or too fast is tantamount to a war crime). His abuse knows no bounds, including homophobic slurs, familial insults and long strings of pathetic adjectives. And he just does not stop.
Why does he do this? Apparently it's to get young impressionable and desperate musicians to be the very best that they could be, and without which the world would be deprived of another genius. He claims the same motivation that spurred Charlie Parker to greatness would work for anyone. Of course, the story he quoted was largely false and grossly exaggerated to make his own point. (Parker had a cymbal thrown at his feet, NOT at his head "nearly decapitating him").
At no point in the film is Fletcher reprimanded for his behaviour, despite it being cited as an underlying cause of a student's suicide. Even at the very end, Andrew's smile is seen as condoning the treatment because the end justified the means. This is a very dangerous message.
Since the verbal abuse is the main point of the film, you have to accept it to enjoy the film at any level.
The very idea that abuse is encouraging in any way or brings out the best of anyone at any time and in any profession, let alone in the arts, is absolutely ludicrous. As a musician for many years, I have yet to come across anyone who has been thankful for being abused by their mentor or teacher.
If this film was made sixty years ago, when people were less sensitive to these issues, I could understand the flawed plot. But in 2014, the idea that the abuser could get away with his crimes at such length is ludicrous.
The message this film contains is abhorrent and the handling of it in poor taste. If you want to watch a film about up and coming artists and the creative spirit, look elsewhere. Anywhere but at Whiplash.
By the way, I bought the DVD to watch this, which will go straight in the bin. (1 out of 10? That's far too generous).