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An Analysis of Fletcher and Neiman's Dynamic. Part (1/2)
(Long thread)
(Long thread)
The story of Jonas and Charlie Parker is an important symbol throughout Whiplash. The story of Charlie Parker (in the beginning of the film) is that Jonas threw a cymbal at Parker's head and thus Parker became the greatest musician. This story is important in describing the two.
Neiman is characterized by his singular drive to be one of the greats. He is a man who will stop at nothing to achieve this dream of his and is willing to go through extreme measures to move forwards to his dreams. There are certain clues throughout the movie that can help point
out where and why this obsession is so prominent in his life. The scene in the dinner table is one example to point to. Neiman's accomplishments were constantly being ignored or compared to his other siblings. Neiman's ambitions are shrugged off because of the societal standards
that are placed on kids. This lack of acknowledgement is likely what causes Neiman to be so focused on validation by others. It can be implied that Neiman suffers from self esteem issues so to compensate he gives himself huge aspirations and pushes himself to extremes in order to
gain that praise. And what else would feed his ego more than praise from one of the most well respected teachers? While Neiman has his own goals part of what motivates him in the movie is seeking approval from Fletcher. Keep this in mind for later.
While Neiman is very easy to interpret because of his basic goals and rather simple characterization, Fletcher remains a mystery. We see Fletcher fluctuate between different personas and the movie never really gives us an answer on what his true personality is like.
This is important because we the audience can never truly know what's on Fletcher's mind and this plays a key role in the ending of the film. Our best indicator of what kind of man Fletcher truly is can be seen through his philosophy about life. Fletcher on a "winners never
quit" philosophy. Above all he values persistence and drive. Fletcher that only in pushing his students beyond their limits can they truly achieve greatness which is why he is always so harsh on them. Fletcher has his own dreams that can be seen as similar to Neiman yet is also
distinct. Fletcher wanted to create his own "Charlie Parker" for the world to enjoy. To him it would be a failure as a teacher if he wasn't able to produce a talent of similar caliber. This goes even deeper than ego however as he phrases it almost like a moral responsibility.
Fletcher views himself as superior to other teachers regardless of the shortcoming because "he actually tries." Fletcher's high standards in everything are what drives him to be so harsh in his teaching methods. He is constantly shown to be perfectionistic, exacting, and
ruthless in everything he does because of this mindset of his. Fletcher expects his students to have the same standards as he does or else they aren't good enough.
Going back to the story about Jonas and Charlie Parker, it's important to understand why this story means so much to both Neiman and Fletcher. Neiman aspires to be Charlie Parker because to him it represents how one can overcome hell to achieve the desired dream. For Fletcher it
proves his philosophy right and encourages him to act in similarly rash ways to hopefully gain similar results. Despite Fletcher and Neiman's connection to this story they are shown to have numerous negative effects on each other yet the irony is that they each are the best
person to work with according to their philosophies. For Neiman, who aspires personal greatness, a teacher who can push his skills beyond what he thinks he can do sounds like something Neiman would want. And for Fletcher a student who has borderline unrealistic drive for music
would be the perfect person to mold for greatness. Their goals align with each other's yet the relationship end up being toxic rather than mutually beneficial. Fletcher's brutality in teaching causes Neiman to push himself to both physical and mental limits which culminates to
Neiman lashing out against Fletcher. This is a rather poetic way to demonstrate the dangers of both their mindsets as when clashing these two philosophies together it leads to tragic outcomes which in this case led to both of them losing their positions. Both lose their chance to
achieve their ambitions and are force to move on with their lives.
The conversation in the bar is an important turning point for not only the two characters, but also the film as a whole. For starters we get more insight into Fletcher's personality. This moment also inspired Neiman to work for Fletcher again. And it's in this scene that we hear
the Charlie Parker story one more time except we get more info on it. This time we are told that Charlie Parker was infront of an audience and walked out of the stage to cry himself to sleep before coming back and playing the best solo out there. This mimics the climax and
once again establishes this bit as an important piece of symbolism for the movie. After the convo we are taken to the performance where Fletcher purposefully doesn't give him the sheet music as a declaration of war against him. Exactly as the story in the bar goes, Neiman is
humiliated and walks off stage after Fletcher says he never had it in him. After Neiman hugs his dad he chooses to go back on stage. This moment has it's own negative implications in context of Neiman's arc. If Neiman walked off stage with his dad he could've lived a more stable
life. Perhaps he could've gotten his connections back, worked a more stable job and at last be free from the pressures of Fletcher and music. Yet he chooses to stay despite all the negativity it was shown to have on Neiman. Perhaps it was due to wounded ego that he chose to stay.
When Neiman returns he begins his own song in the middle of Fletcher's intermission. Neiman starts the song at his own tempo which is important considering 90% of the movie was fletcher bitching about "not my tempo." Throughout all the movie Fletcher had psychological effect on
Neiman and was under his control. This dominance over Neiman was toxic to his mental state and he decided to free himself from his grasp. Drums are what drive the rhythm and thus tempo of a band meaning the fact that Neiman started on his own tempo further establishes the
newfound control over Fletcher as now Fletcher is a slave to Neiman's tempo. This is paramount for Neiman's character arc because Fletcher could be seen as Neiman's obstacle in this moment. For him to be great he has to first prove fletcher wrong before proving everyone else.
As the final performance goes on we see Fletcher trying to retake control over Neiman. Fletcher obviously doesn't have the confidence on Neiman for him to be running the show like this, especially with how much he values control. (Will continue later cuz fuck twt and limits)
