10 Movies That Are Popular For All The Wrong Reasons

10. Whiplash

Whiplash is a film often considered inspirational, what with the likes of basketball players Kobe Bryant and Kyrie Irving loudly lauding its depiction of a person striving for greatness, and even the movie's critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes calling it "inspiring."

The film follows an ambitious jazz drummer, Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), who is pushed to perfect his skills by an objectively abusive instructor, Terence Fletcher (an Oscar-winning J.K. Simmons).

But like so many other movies on this list, the drum-tight technical execution by director Damien Chazelle and pitch-perfect performances make it easy to see Whiplash as a celebration of such abuse rather than a condemnation of it.

For many, Whiplash has been held up as a frank indication of just what it takes to reach the pinnacle of any profession or art form, that sacrificing almost everything you have is a necessity to join the 1%.

But let's be real - Whiplash is really a tragedy in plain sight, that Neiman's pursuit of perfection led him down a path of self-destruction. Hell, Chazelle himself even believes that Neiman ends up dying of a drug overdose a few years later, which seems to settle the argument.

Whiplash is a fantastically entertaining film any way you slice it, but to uncritically hold it up as something to be genuinely inspired - rather than concerned - by? That ain't it.