For a former teacher, what is most alarming about the recent American film Whiplash is that it is based on the experiences of writer-director Damien Chazelle with his jazz instructor in the Princeton studio band. Initially the film seems to be following the tried-and-true formula of a martinet who is hated by his charges at first, but really has their best interests at heart. But Whiplash—the title refers to a piece of music played in the film—turns this expectation on its head. The narrative is told from the perspective of Andrew (played by Miles Teller) a freshman at Shaffer, “the…