Delayed Reaction: Pumping Iron

The Pitch: Bodybuilders aren't freaks. See?

A documentary about top bodybuilders preparing for the 1975 Mister Olympia competition.

I was going to start this post by saying that there's no one quite like Arnold Schwazenegger. That's incorrect though. There's an almost exact modern contemporary: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Both men started off as physical performers in niche or under-respected pseudo-sports. They broke into movies because of their physical presence. Both rose in popularity because of a willingness to do anything and their undeniable charisma. They employed the same crazy work ethic that made them a success in their last jobs to rise in the movie ranks above more naturally talented performers. Hell, Arnold became governor or California and now people are joking (or maybe they aren't joking) that The Rock should run for President.

The most interesting similarity that I've found is that they both initially shot up in personality for being villains. I watched WWF WWE back in the day and when Rocky Maivia became The Rock, he was a heel. His character was a pompous jerk. Fans didn't love to hate him. They just loved him. Often in professional wrestling, the writers manipulate the audience to like or hate a performer. Occasionally, as it was with The Rock, it works the other way around and the organizers have to rewrite on the fly. Similarly, Arnold is the villain in Pumping Iron. In my notes, I compared him and Lou Farigno to Mozart and Salieri if Mozart actually did put in the work to be better than Salieri. Arnold is smug. He's cocky. My god is he cocky. That breakfast with Lou Farigno the morning of Mr. Olympia is a masterclass is cockiness. His interviews, like when he compares working out to cumming, is the insufferable ranting of the least likeable character in any movie. However, somehow I don't come away hating him. I don't know if it's his pure charisma. Maybe it's the fact that he's the best because I can believe that he also works the hardest. Whatever it is, after watching this, it's easy to see how in a decade, Arnold would become one of the biggest stars in the world despite all his limitations as a performer.

The rest of the documentary is nothing special. Some voice-overs fill the audience in on some things. Cut to some interviews and profiles on different competitors. It's all building to a competition. It's transparently edited to tell a story that's more heightened. Very standard stuff. I did enjoy learning about the bodybuilding. Without Arnold, I can't imagine this being worth watching. It would be like King of  Kong without Billy Mitchell. And, who wants to watch that?

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend*

*I thought about bumping it up to Strongly because there's nothing weak about these guys