Lola Karimi ’25
EE Editor-in-Chief
Is it worth it to give up everything you are for everything you dream to be? Today, that’s still up for interpretation. Released in 2014, this is one of many examples of Damien Chazelle questioning if humans can surpass perceived limits, both mentally and physically.
From almost the very first day, Fletcher saw Andrew’s talent. The first scene where Andrew was not “quite his tempo”, we see him quickly pick up on the critic and fix it after a few tries. Part of me thinks Fletcher just wanted him to be confident enough to say it. He never cared about Connolly, but that anger he placed in Andrew towards Connolly pushed him to practice even more. There was a day where he kept making them switch seats and increasing the speed of the tempo. He wanted Andrew to compete with him. He does it his own messed up way, but all the abuse he did was his way of trying to make Andrew the next Charlie Parker, a dream for both of them.
Throughout the film, there is some clear foreshadowing/plot outlining in the exchange regarding Charlie Parker. Andrew stated at dinner that he’d rather be remembered as one of the greats than to drift into obscurity. But at what cost? For those of you that are not familiar with Parker, it is well known that he suffered from poor mental health and addiction to heroin, which ultimately ended his life early, at the young age of 34.
Many argue the ending is not clear as to what exactly the character is feeling. Simply put, that is the whole point. Andrew has to literally destroy himself or allow himself to be destroyed in order to be that good. Maybe you think that’s a worthy sacrifice. Ultimately, that’s what makes the ending ambiguous. Obsession with the mind forces audiences to reconcile within themselves.
Fletcher says something along the lines of “See? All of that sh*t I did to you has made you great!” Andrew finally finds himself getting some pleasure for proving himself to Fletcher, but he knows he is only the product of his methods. I honestly don’t know where Andrew’s head is at by the end. He realized all the abuse has in fact made him great, and he actually, unknowingly committed to that tradeoff much earlier in the film.
Left with strained relationships, cut and bruised hands, a tired body and a sick mind, we see little of the Andrew we were first introduced to. This also raises the question of whether or not he also ‘sold his soul’. No doubt, he is in an abusive situation and manages to get out, just to end back there at the end. It is a tragedy.
Fletcher is the one who triumphs because he feels he justified his teaching methods and because he manages to destroy the person who he feels ruined his life. This is a man who has literally driven people to suicide and he manages to lure Andrew back into that unhealthy mindset and environment because he knows his ambition will win out over his sense of self preservation. That is not a happy ending.