Much is said about Whiplash (2016) regarding the acting of its two main characters: the young man trying to be the best he can be, and the old man breaking souls in search of that one great student.
The pain Andrew Neiman has to go through to be considered decent by Fletcher, the literal blood he has to give, the relationships he has to give up on, and of course the psychological intensity he is subject to. All those themes have been addressed.
Understandably enough, since those two characters dictate the whole movie, however, little to none has been said about the minor characters in this movie that received 49 awards.
We know Andrew’s father: a poor writer that is at best a highschool teacher. He is extremely ordinary and all the activities he and Andrew share are so bleak: going to the movies, eating, having some chitchat.
Jim Neiman is used to being ordinary, his life revolves around that. He understood that he would not be Faulkner, T. S. Elliot, and he had to be content with that.
At a certain point in life one understands one’s potential for great things, and Whiplash offers us the two sides of the story: the resignated one whose greatest achievement is having odd tastes for snacks at the movies, and the young one, in that very defining moment of his life where he will either be great or be ordinary.
Chazelle presents us this in the dinner scene, where rather than supporting his son’s dreams, he plunges into telling his son that he should not be a dreamer but rather set the feet on the ground, because he will most likely not succeed.
It is not fortuitous that right before that iconic final scene, Neiman is pondering exactly this: “Am I content with being destined to the realm of the ordinary”? His dad is certainly okay with that, he has experienced that first hand and he knows that it will eventually be fine. The hug is nothing more than the expression despised by Fletcher: “‘Good job’, let’s go home”.
It is then and only then that Andrew understands he is not okay with being ordinary, he wants to be great. What if he just embarrassed himself, he will prove his worthiness.
The most important moment in the movie, from this perspective, is not the amazing drums composed by John Wasson, but rather Jim Neiman’s first sighting of what his son is capable of. He can barely get a glimpse and he clearly does not understand it. He is a stranger to his son’s achievements because he is ordinary, while Neiman is exceptional.