Peter Vander Wall argues that Whiplash's abusive instructor Terrence pushes drummer Andrew toward greatness through relentless standards. The film's core claim: "The two most dangerous words in the English language are good job." Vander Wall urges chasing unattainable perfection as motivation.
The two most dangerous words in the English language are good job. That's a quote from the movie Whiplash, and it's kind of a good point if you haven't seen it. The movie is about this jazz drummer named Andrew who wants to be one of the greats. And his instructor, whose name is Terrence, is what some might describe as batsh crazy. His standards are so incredibly high for his students, he flies into fits of rage when they don't meet his standards, which, by the way, is all the time. But instead of cracking under the abuse, Andrew is motivated by it, and he ends up becoming one of the great jazz drummers of all time. What if you had a mentor who never told you, good job. Would you crack under the pressure and just give up? Or would you be motivated by it? Look, if you want to be truly great at something, you can never be good enough. We all need a little bit of terence in us to keep us motivated and to make sure we don't get complacent. So make perfection something you chase and you never truly achieve. That's how you become truly great. And that's why.
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