A long time ago, I wrote an article about band boosters called Don’t Feed the Plants in the article I stated my opinion that band directors should care more about their students and less about the money that goes into their pocket. I was so enraged with this problem, which I witnessed in my High School; I tried to send the article as a warning for not becoming aware with this issue. Then I was told not to send the article at all, because if I did so people would think I was too extreme; that day made me think about how many people are unaware of the corruption of band directors and the environment they create around their students. Until one day, I ran face to face into a real Dr.Terwilliker, my band director at collage. Her mannerisms seemed as if she was afraid of me even though I had not done anything detrimental to her, she cleverly hid it by acting as if she was helpful and supportive but it was all a seemingly quick trick to hide her extreme anxiety towards me. She said that normally most band directors of collages would not accept a student with Aspergers Syndrome but things got worse as the months went by. Then she did something that almost broke my strength as a musician, she kicked me out of band because I missed two days. During those two days, I had decided not to go to band after hearing in arms length that she told my mother whom is also my advocate, that she did not have problems with rhythm because I was not in the band. Then I realized the true meaning of The 5,000 Fingers of Dr.T, not only did this film dwell on the fears and anxieties Dr.Seuss felt during the McCarthy era, but that even adults can be bullies too. Then I asked myself why this still is going on even in a collage setting. Then I knew that there are band directors from an older generation, like Leo and Nancy who direct our Flint New Horizons band, that have a mellower, concrete, and helpful way of running the system. So when did band directors acquire the Terwilliker Complex, rather than the Harold Hill Method of kindness and compassion? Pull your Happy Fingers away from the piano, and let us go on a journey with Bart and myself through the real Terwilliker Academies, the Immense Collage music schools.


A long time ago, band directors used to make their students there single priority before their own wants and needs. Whatever the students wanted him or she would want the same thing, which in turn creates a bond of understanding and compassion with their students. If you had a hard time with a piece of music, they would help you overcome your difficulties; but now band directors from our era are taught that if you do this you would be told that you are too soft with your students and that you are cheating. I remember my High School band director saying that if he helped everyone he would be cheating; since when was helping a student with a problem called cheating, why these people have the ridiculous expectation that we are either Mozarts or Bandbots. The reason why is because traits of understanding and compassion are considered too feminine and less masculine and now the anti-soft method is mostly adopted by young males whom want to become band directors. However it’s not only the Immense Collage music schools that put this message out, it’s also the media that surrounds these young men with the message that men should be emotionless, tough, and encourage their fellow men to be the same. Sadly, this is why hazing men that seem goofy, nerdy, and awkward at marching band camps and in marching bands in general still goes on. I was shocked when I first heard the news about a drum major for the Florida A&M marching band that died on a bus because of this behavior, which was called by the students a rite of passage. Tragically, nothing was done by the band director or the collage to find the culprits; but if Harold Hill turned into Super-Music-Man he would save the drum major, use his super strength to throw that bus into the sea and erase the Band Director’s memory. In reality however, understanding and compassion are super-powers even though we do not have super-strength or mind powers, or do we…

In The 5000 Fingers of Dr.T, Terwilliker has the power of hypnotism, which he uses on Bart’s mother Heloise to control her, so she does not think about Bart, and work on his evil plan. His hypnotic powers could be a metaphor for the way words and ideas can be twisted by saying something encouraging or tempting to trick us into doing something that seems not quite right in our mind and heart. Take for example the scenario where there are two bands, one is the concert band and one is the symphonic band. The band director would say that he treats both bands equally to the parents and band-boosters, however when he teaches the concert band his attitude changes. He yells at the students instead of problem solving with them, refuses to help the weaker students by saying intimidating things to them or not helping them at all; and pushes students by saying things like, “The symphonic band is better than you” or “If you can’t do this you won’t be in symphonic band”. This in the end forces student to an emotional point where they immediately quit. Now let’s see the way the symphonic band is treated; unlike the attitude towards the concert he is very enthusiastic with the symphonic band, “I so glad to see you, what did you do this weekend?” he says to the band members very delightfully. Then when the band is playing, he gives encouraging comments to the members, and if a student has a problem, he promotes himself and other students helping the student. When they leave, they feel happy about their work and practice their pieces all night long. Sadly, this scenario has a terrible consequence on how the students feel about each other and their environment; the symphonic band students start to act as if the only students that can be accepted are each other. Therefore, they exhibit a clique/status-based habit of encouraging concert band students to join them only if they audition for it; then if your audition goes well you are inducted into their social realm. At first, you feel glad you did so until they exhibit manipulation, incense teasing, and belittling toward not just concert band students but each other! Dose the band director know about this…probably not, thus he or she creates a hostile environment for the students and they do not notice it. They do not observe because they are singularly focused on their next meeting, conference, and competitions, which are sources of income for band directors everywhere. However, another form of income for band directors is their student’s parents.


Just like Terwilliker kidnapping Heloise though temptation and manipulation of information, band directors do the same exact thing to the parents of the students in their band. When they comply with whatever the band director wants, they to form a kind of authoritarian faction and by doing this they become converted into Band Boosters. What is the best personality for a Band Booster? They have to meet the terms of their group, they have to enforce their students to work by intimidation or chastisement (just like the instructor on Dance Moms), be able to make their students highlight their abilities (encouraged by chiefly stage moms), and to worship the director with the almighty dollar, or check. In some cases, the parent will blame the student for a mismanaged behavior or comment made by the director. “Mom Mr. So-so yelled at me instead of helping me” the poor kid might say to his Band –Booster mom, “Then you need to practice more, that way he won’t yell at you in the first place!” This typical dialog eerily sounds like something on Dance Moms and nothing like Bart’s mother who at lease tries to be encouraging and helpful to Bart. So why are there not rules to prevent these stage-moms from hurting their child or scorning them by yelling and belittlement? Because the core fear of band directors today is getting their own mud pie slapped on their face by a parent, so they create an environment that make, parents feel ashamed about their student’s performance even if they tried their best. “I told you to burn that picture of your boy!” shouts Terwilliker at Heloise in the film; at first, I did not notice that scene until I watched it again and it frightened me and reminded me of how cruel it would be to say that to a parent of any child! On the other hand, stage moms actually like it when they get demanding advice from a band director about their child, since when did students become trophies instead of individuals that want to learn. This brings us into a horse race, where there is only one winner and if even the old stallion tries his best, the people who fed and cared for him shoot him down because he is not as fast as the horse that won. Bring on, the brutal world of the band competitions…





Just like the beauty pageants in Toddlers in Tiaras, many of these competitions give out massive amounts of money to band directors who win. Shockingly the judges of these competitions are other band directors. Now there are some directors that judge how the director teaches his students and use constructive criticism to not only help the students but the director too. However, there are judges that like to sling out the disciples of Harold Hill and replace them with the very young and narcissistic racketeers of the Terwilliker Academy; and many of them are picky, demanding, and have a clique-like attitude towards the Harold Hills of the directing world. These people believe that an older band director does not deserve to have his position because they have teaching styles that are outdated and that a younger director can connect and get along well with children, when the truth is that the older band directors (like Leo and Nancy) are more concrete, structured, and empathetic in their way of teaching. On the other hand, their motto is, “Getting Directors Younger is Better” which is very much like “Kids Getting Older Younger” in the child-marketing industry, where young children are sold products that make them look like adults or teens at the ripe age of ten or twelve. When Hans Cornried played Terwilliker, (I did some math for this fact) he was at the age of thirty-six, which is very young for an actor doing the role of authoritarian piano teacher during the fifties. Today, Terwilliker could get away with what he was teaching (excluding dungeons and a giant piano) all because he was young and had lots of money. If he taught, a marching band or a symphonic band he would win every competition known to man, and every young narcissistic adolescents who were bragged to be the best would follow him. However, just like joining a cult, it has physiological and painful consequences. Remember the hazing incident with the marching band; it probably stared as a form of jealousy and belittlement to weaken another person with position of power (Drum Major). When people act this way to become popular, they break hearts, make others week, or even force a band member to the point of suicide. All because of the thought, that they would be liked if they had more power by hurting another person adult or adolescent. What a bunch of Pickle Juice suckers…after all, it’s some strong stuff to swallow, even if you’re not Mr. Zabladowski.


It really distains me when people say fantasy and reality are like black and white; because fantasy really, like music, is a young person’s guide on how to deal with real life situations. In The 5000 Fingers of Dr.T, we learn a lesson that is not normally taught to young children; that just because an authority figure has the label of “Family” “Teacher” or “Band Director” does not always mean they have to be trusted or respected if they put you in a hostile environment, mental or physical. In our hearts, we know what is right and what is wrong, but sometimes like Mr.Zabladowski, we often forget our judgment and ideals so much that soon we forget our purpose and our desires. This happens to a lot of people who join bands and then quit because of directors and students that where hostile, the difficulty of a piece of music, or they feel as if they cannot fulfill their abilities because no one taught them or encouraged them to keep going. However, there are still some Harold Hills and Barts in this world, that have compassion and tolerance to help these people achieve their dreams and show the world that playing for the joy of it is better than a million dollars or a large trophy. This is why adult band camps and New Horizons bands are still here and ongoing; because the joy of music is ten times more strong and more atomic that the Atomic Noise Sucker itself, and if there are more Atomic Music Makers in the world… We will never see a single Terwilliker or Terwilliker Academy in sight for many years to come, because of the joy they bring to all musicians and students of music of the future.