Move Review: Bigger, Stronger, Faster

Synopsis:

Christopher Bell and his two brothers were typical kids of the 80’s. They grew up watching Hulk Hogan, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Like their idols, all three of the Bell brothers began lifting weights. Christopher’s brothers even pursued wrestling careers, and used steroids to enhance their performance. Bigger, Stronger, Faster explores the impact of steroid use on Christopher’s family and America as a whole.


My Reaction:

This movie hits close to home on many levels. Christopher is my age, and like me, he’s a formerly chubby kid who to turned to weights in his teenage years. I can also relate to his admiration of Hogan, Stallone, and Schwarzenegger (I bought Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding) when I was a teenager.

I think this is the best documentary I’ve ever watched. Here are a few of my impressions:

*I’m embarrassed by the amount of time and money our government has put into the “steroid problem”—is this really a national crisis? All we have to show for their efforts is legislation based on zero research.

*There’s a great deal of hypocrisy in the way America looks at steroids. Getting corrective eye surgery is not cheating, but steroid use is. We pay millions to watch athletes to perform at super-human levels, but we get upset when they use every means necessary to do so.

*The people you “meet” in this movie are fascinating case studies. They represent our obsession with both physical perfection and false hopes.

*I love the way Bell exposes the media hysteria regarding steroids. Bell neither promotes nor condemns steroid use. Instead, he attempts to present both sides of the issue.

If you want to see a brutally honest look at the steroid issue, buy this movie.

Note: Just in case you are wondering, I've never used anabolic steroids.  At some point I may talk about this issue in more detail.