The third Bell brother, Mike (Smelly) Bell, has promised his wife he will stop taking steroids after he achieves his dream of power-lifting 700 pounds. He attains it, but later tells Chris he will use steroids again. Chris tells him, "I'm afraid you'll lose your job, your wife and yourself." Smelly replies: "If I lose my job and my wife, what else do I have but myself?" Both of Chris' brothers are remarkably frank in talking to him, as are his parents, who are "opposed to steroids" but are red-faced while cheering after Smelly lifts the weights.
Bell uses a clip from the movie "Patton," in which the famous general addresses his troops: "Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser." That is the bottom line of "Bigger, Stronger, Faster." We say we're opposed to steroids, but we're more opposed to losing. Steroids are not nearly as dangerous as amphetamines, he points out, but the United States is the only nation that requires its fighter pilots to use amphetamines. They may be harmful, but they work.
This movie is remarkable in that it seems to be interested only in facts. I was convinced that Bell was interviewing people who knew a lot about steroids, and the weight of scientific, medical and psychological opinion seems to be: Steroids are not particularly dangerous. Is the movie "pro-steroid"? Yes, but it is even more against the win-win mentality. We demand that our athletes bring home victories, and yet to compete on a level playing field, they feel they have to use the juice.
The movie goes against the drumbeat of anti-steroid publicity, news reports and congressional hearings, to say that steroids are not only generally safe, but have been around longer and been used more widely than most people know. Bell and his brothers grew up pudgy in a Poughkeepsie family, were mesmerized by early heroes like Hulk Hogan, Rambo and Conan the Barbarian, got into weight-lifting and still have muscular physiques. They all used muscles as a powerful boost to their self-esteem.
But think for a second. "America the Beautiful" quotes this statistic: "Three minutes of looking at a fashion magazine makes 90 percent of women of all ages feel depressed, guilty and shameful." I don't have similar statistics about bodybuilders, but I assume they study the muscle magazines with similar feelings. Those who cannot be too thin or too muscular are attracted to opposite extremes, but use the same reasoning: By pursuing an ideal that is almost unattainable and may be dangerous to their health, they believe they will be admired, successful, the object of envy.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7s7vGnqmempWnwW%2BvzqZmq52mnrK4v46boKCflad6tMDRqKWgnaJis6K%2F056pZmpgZYU%3D