Professor Fletcher from Whiplash has entered my personal hall of fame of the best antagonists in movies.
Writer-director Damien Chazelle says that in creating the merciless, ultra-exacting master, he was influenced by the way the monster is introduced in the horror genre: you feel the danger, you sense the menace, but you can’t see it until… the evil creature attacks you when you don’t expect it.
Yet, to me, the most interesting comment on “coach” Fletcher is made by J.K. Simmons, the actor who superbly interprets the role in the movie. Interviewed by Elvis Mitchel during an episode of The Treatment on KCRW Radio, Simmons observes that we come to respect Fletcher, because we understand that he behaves out of love. To clarify his thought, Simmons, who also played in the stage release of A Few Good Men the part of Colonel Jessep, another great antagonist, makes an insightful parallel between the two antagonists:
“Because you know, at the end of the day, as twisted as this guy’s [i.e. Fletcher’s] pedagogy is, it comes from love. You know, it’s like the Colonel in A Few Good Men, which I had the brief opportunity to do in the original production on Broadway. You know, he is the bad guy in the piece, but if you understand where he is coming from… he is coming from love: he loves his country, he loves his corps, he loves his boys, you know. And, it’s the same thing with Fletcher, his driving force is a love for real, pure jazz.”
Professor Fletcher, Colonel Jessep… Antagonists motivated by too much love. Also Miranda from The Devil Wears Prada comes to my mind (love for fashion, love for her job)… And Christof in The Truman Show (love for his reality show and for the character he has created)… And Roy Batty in Blade Runner (love for the human life he doesn’t have)…
I am induced to conclude: “Make your antagonist love what he does passionately: it works”.
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