Whiplash (2014) gives critical insights into mastery, how do we become a master in a particular field? The movie primarily is about the relationship between the student (ambitious jazz drummer Andrew, Miles Teller) and his abusive teacher (Terence Fletcher, JK Simmons), but underneath that the movie provides learning about how does one become a master. The movie specifically explores two themes in detail a) seeking out a mentor b) finding your own authentic voice
A) Seeking out a mentor: Whenever you enter a new field, everything is ambiguous and uncertain to you, how do you navigate your way through? How do you learn and accelerate the process? The best way for humans to learn is by imitation, even better than language (be it oral or written). Choose your mentor who is an expert in the field, who knows the intricacies, who knows “how things work”. In the movie, Andrew knew of the bad reputation of Fletcher, but still wanted to learn from him because he knew Fletcher was a master in his field and he could absorb a lot to improve his drumming skills. Your mentor may turn out to be good or bad, things might turn south after a while but the important thing to remember here is you need to seek out a person from which you can learn about the field, who can challenge you at every juncture, bring the best out of you. Obviously the selection won’t be flawless, but you have to extract the maximum from the person as you can. In the movie, Andrew was challenged to his limits by his teacher, which he might not have known by himself. After the episode of “were you rushing or dragging”, he put in extra effort to be better, to be one of the greats.
B) Finding your own authentic voice: After plunging yourself into a field and learning the tools of the trade, now it’s your time. You have wired your brain with the little details, you know “how things work”, you are in flow while doing work (you don’t realize how time went by), here your brain will form new connections and you will find your authentic voice. In the final act of the movie, when Fletcher leads the band with a song that Andrew doesn’t know, Andrew doesn’t give up, he returns to the next piece by cueing the band in (he basically drives the band). In this moment, Andrew’s grit and his love for the field shows. When song ends, Andrew continues drumming, this the moment of epiphany for him, Fletcher and even his father, he has reached a place he has never gone before. He has now become a master
