Although I never personally devoted myself to any great extent to the musical arts, I can relate to a time in my earlier youth where I had the kind of attitude embodied by the film’s protagonist somewhat, so I still understand where the movie is coming from. The movie’s takeaway seems intentionally ambiguous, but I feel like it’s both an open-ended debate about the merits of relations that border between tough love and abuse and whether or not the pain and sacrifice on the journey to perfection is worth the risk/result. It’s an intense but interesting film in some respects, since these are questions a lot of people will find themselves having at some point in time.