Friday, February 20, 2015
Where is the Joy? (Best Picture Nominee #5)
I have to admit that there are plenty of days when I'd like to be the kind of teacher that J.K. Simmons is in the film Whiplash. This was especially true after my 4th block World Studies class last semester.
Yet, after I watched this film, I couldn't help but wonder...where is the joy? Music is about love, peace, happiness and joy, not a military style regiment that sucks all the fun out of playing. I've played guitar for nearly 30 years and never had anywhere near the obsessive desire to be the best that is on display in this film.
Simmons is going to win Best Supporting Actor, though. His performance is stellar!
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"Where is the joy?" is exactly the question that this film wants you to ask.
The character Simmons plays is like Jekyll and Hyde. In the hall before a rehearsal he's like a smiling, jolly uncle telling kids to just go have fun.
But when he gets up in front of the class he becomes an abusive, relentless martinet.
However, the film takes liberties with reality. The anecdote about Jo Jones throwing a symbol at Charlie Parker's head is false; the cymbal was thrown at his feet for getting out of rhythm. And instead of hiding away in a closet for a year and practicing till his lips bled, Parker instead went out into the real world, connected with other musicians and learned how to interact with them.
The events of the film imply that the path to greatness is isolation, which is the exactly the opposite of the reality in a field like jazz, which is more about improvisation and playing dynamically in concert with others than about rote memorization and endless drum solos.
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