The Misleading Finale of Whiplash

Whiplash has always been one of my favorite movies and I've got some thoughts about the meaning of its final scene.

Script Help:

[shawnyadeadhomie]

Miles Teller described the look his father gives him at the end of the movie as not one of finally understanding his son's passion but instead one of horror at witnessing the extent of his son's obsession.

[thebatman.]

I love how when Fletcher’s student dies (which we later learn was pretty much Fletcher’s fault), he does cry- not because a human being was lost… but because a musician was lost. Instead of remembering him as a person, he plays his music for the class and never talks about the guy himself. It really gives insight on how he views people

[qg]

These moments of "happiness" are part of and necessary to the cycle of abuse. If they weren't there it would be much easier for people to leave these dysfunctional relationships. The abuse is seen as justified for these brief moments of relief.

[emmesinclairkrueger]

I see the hug Andrew gives to his father at the end as a goodbye hug. It’s Andrews last moment as a normal player and person. After he walks back onto the stage, he transforms into what Fletcher always wanted, knowing his life will never being the same. His dad watches him change his entire person and life and he knows his son is gone and forever tied to Fletcher.

[oppa]

This movie came out at a time in my life where I would study 14 hours a day and was experiencing success in college. My ego was so high and I truly believed I was better than other people. I went for a PHD and when other life events happened I snapped and had a mental breakdown. It took a year to recover. I survived and have a family and a home today. I’m successful on the outside but internally I still feel like a failure for something that happened 8 years ago. I always feel like I never lived up to my potential and it haunts me to this very day. To make things more complicated my best friend did achieve his dreams with a PHD in his field of computer science only for him to commit suicide a year later. This has me reflect on how that could have been me and what I perceived my mental breakdown to be a sign of weakness was me saving myself before I perished. I used to love this film and looked down on my father for saying the movie made him feel “nervous”. After my mental breakdown I have never been able to watch this film ever again when it used to give me so much motivation to push me past my limits. Thank you to anyone who has read this.

[sthenxr]

One of the most noticeably absent things from the ending was any applause, or external validation at all. Any other movie of this type would end with a standing ovation - not only to underline how great the performance was but to give the movie audience that sense of payoff as well. So why is there no applause at the end?

A key motif of the movie is the intense focus required to play at this level and how most people don't care about jazz at all. Removing the audience reaction from the ending highlights how narrowly these two characters are focused on excellence, even excluding their own audience. If art is a way to communicate, they have decided to only communicate with one another, cutting out everything else (Andrew's girlfriend, the door closing on his dad at the end, etc.) Even the close camera cuts of only their eyes in the final moment shows how hyper-focused they have become. Even the rest of the band no longer matters - like the Bobby Knight comparison, their goals are purely athletic and selfish and have nothing to do with the music or the audience.

[jimjam]

I never thought it was a happy ending at all, so I'm surprised to see so many people say it was. Yes, Miles emerges "victorious" in the end, but it's pretty much at the cost of his own sanity. He's no longer a hopeful jazz student, but a withered, broken jazz machine. And that's before even diving into the implications surrounding his abusive relationship with Fletcher.

[dinosaurcursive]

I think the ending is rather tragic. I bounced between thinking “Oh, he’s finally getting away from Fletcher, and it looks like he’s becoming his own person again!” to “Fletcher still has his abusive… control over Neiman.” The very end is the latter, which I find really sad.

[timloss]

The father's point in the finale is very underrated. Paul Reiser gives a great performance. At the end he witnesses his song perform greatness. He doesnt cheer, He walks away. He knows his son is gone at this point. He is the monster that the Jazz teacher created.

[Andrew-ruop]

I used to have this type of relationship with one of my mentors during my time as a research assistant at a university. He was a tenured professor, so he knew he could get away with almost anything without being held accountable. I would always tell myself “I’m going to leave, I can’t put up with this abuse”, but every once in a while, he would actually say I did something good, and I was sucked right back in and gave it a second, third, fourth, etc. chance.

As soon as I saw the exchange of glances during the final scene of Whiplash, I knew exactly what was being displayed. He was being sucked right back into the cycle of abuse.

[Phasma_Tacitus]

That's exactly the thing I didn't like about Whiplash's ending. It gave redemption to Fletcher, without repentance. It's just wrong. But seeing it was intentional by the director, to leave a sour happy ending, it just makes sense. It's a reflection on how we condone human abuse as long as things get done. We give more value to things than to people.

[humanoidaktilo]

I truly understood how abusive Fletcher's behavior was when I realised that he learned Neiman's parents' occupations, just to use that in his swears. When I first watched their chat in the hall, I thought "That is really good, Fletcher kinda trying to relief his student." Then he started mentioning his mother leaving him after birth in his swears. I was shocked. He asked about Neiman's parents, just to use it against him. I honestly think that he would really mention Neiman's parents more if they were musicians. I think that he would often make fun of that Neiman will never make his father/mother proud by playing like this. And who knows, maybe that gay insults he was making against one of those drummers were real. Maybe that guy was really homosexual and Fletcher was using that on his own benefit.

[gabrielafonseca]

To me the ending starts, and this is key, when Andrew leaves the stage and hugs his father, before going back and hijacking the band from Fletcher. He's saying goodbye to his father, embracing Fletcher and his methods and, in my mind, becoming his teacher's mini me. Fletcher used Andrew's dad as an unending source of humiliation and that's what the boy tacitly accepted in that goodbye. I don't think Andrew will become a teacher and mimic Fletcher's abuse, but he'll carry his own Fletcher in his mind forever. That's what that mutual smile means. To me the movie is about, among other things, how you can survive abuse, but it always leaves you disfigured.

[SuperMrDeadpool]

I remember listening to an autobiography of Jackie Chan where he decribes the conflicting feelings he had about his teacher. He hated the guy for beating him with a bamboo rod whenever he messed up, but also acknowledged that the guys teaching, barbaric as it was, made him a master at his craft.

[tezz]

It's a very bittersweet ending. Yes, it feels satisfying to see Neiman prove Fletcher wrong and show the world that he's one of the greats. It's also fairly clear that it's where his life peaks and that it's all going to be downhill from there. He chose passion over happiness.

[fatboyslim]

My interpretation of the ending has always been that Miles Teller's character chose success and greatness over happiness. Like you said, he validated his abuser's actions. In the overarching story line, it is essentially a happy ending. But, the character may never be happy again, because he has chosen to suffer for the sake of greatness.

[jaxonsevero]

It’s incredible that fletcher is even able to abuse the audience; the ending feels triumphant when in reality it’s the furthest extent of his abuse.

[izetteroos]

When my son was very young I got the idea that he would make a good pianist. His personality somehow leaned that way: analytical and this really amazing beat in his body when nobody is watching or when very excited. As a 7 year old he met his piano instructor who soon swooned about him being one of her best. I was very happy for him because I am thinking he is a bit of a genius and here is some affirmation. He did extremely well in his first ever piano exam, going into "the hall of fame". But in the meantime I did learn about the abuse behind the scenes with the teacher's yelling and pounding his fingers on the keys one day. I just know it is so wrong for the teacher to get glory through her students, using them to attain some acknowledgement.... NO! I moved him out of the system and today he gets lessons at home at a much more relaxed pace. Music is to support our spirits and our souls not to make us mindless preforming zombie monkeys

[demonxkiller]

Whiplash is basically a story of how abusive relationships can "successfully" function and continue to do so.

[LemonMerigueTie]

No film has made me feel more than whiplash. I had a teacher in college that was fletcher but turned down by maybe 5 degrees. Even down to the rumours of a students suicide. Because of him, because of the fear he put in me - a vision of a pathetic future - I became someone worthwhile. I’m disciplined, self sufficient, fit, professional and well off.

I love who I am on paper but at the same time, I hate the person I’ve become. My capacity for emotion has been reduced to near 0 and my priorities are backwards. I’m just existing, making money and burning calories. It’s difficult for me to love people, know how to show it and keep them around.

If I had the choice to take a lower paying job but be able to care about people again, I would. This is what this method of teaching does to people. Some wonder what happened to Andrew after the film ends - I know exactly what happens to him.

When I see the face on andrews dad in the finale, I see the horror. I see myself witnessing the death of my own humanity. He’s become greatness but he’s also lost himself, entirely.

Damien Chazelle is a master for being able to accurately portray this experience so precisely and intimately. I believe it when he says he went through this. In a way, I think the fact that he made this film is a more of a success in gaining closure for himself. They say communication helps - well whiplash communicates this experience perfectly. I can only dream of feeling catharsis like that.