This is a good insight that I hadn't noticed: "Does Fletcher push Andrew too far? Absolutely not. He never pushed him at all. Andrew pushes himself." A guest writer, Aman Arora, and I also wrote about "Whiplash" and the question of striving for greatness here:
I think we all agree that many of the qualities—the discipline, the drive, the resiliency—that are required to work toward a difficult goal are admirable and necessary, but the goal itself many not have universal appeal. But does that matter? If it is rewarding to the individual, then the fact that some other people wouldn't take on a particular goal perhaps shouldn't matter.
There are, of course, some goals which shouldn't be pursued - it would not do to strive to become the best thief or murderer ever, for instance; there has to be a moral standard. But personal preference is not a moral standard, although Andrew's family seems to think it is. I think the best takeaway from "Whiplash" is that Andrew as an exemplar of the kind of dedication and sacrifice we all should be willing to undertake in pursuit of a worthy goal - of which there are many, many more than what individual preference might suggest. Thanks for reading!
This is a good insight that I hadn't noticed: "Does Fletcher push Andrew too far? Absolutely not. He never pushed him at all. Andrew pushes himself." A guest writer, Aman Arora, and I also wrote about "Whiplash" and the question of striving for greatness here:
https://moviewise.substack.com/p/what-it-takes-to-reach-greatness
I think we all agree that many of the qualities—the discipline, the drive, the resiliency—that are required to work toward a difficult goal are admirable and necessary, but the goal itself many not have universal appeal. But does that matter? If it is rewarding to the individual, then the fact that some other people wouldn't take on a particular goal perhaps shouldn't matter.
There are, of course, some goals which shouldn't be pursued - it would not do to strive to become the best thief or murderer ever, for instance; there has to be a moral standard. But personal preference is not a moral standard, although Andrew's family seems to think it is. I think the best takeaway from "Whiplash" is that Andrew as an exemplar of the kind of dedication and sacrifice we all should be willing to undertake in pursuit of a worthy goal - of which there are many, many more than what individual preference might suggest. Thanks for reading!