Review of Bigger Stronger Faster* (2008) by Everett J — 21 Jul 2008

Bigger, Stronger, Faster.

Directed by Chris Bell.

Written by Chris Bell, Alexander Buono, and Tamsin Rawady.

This documentary investigates the various uses and potential misuses of steroids since their synthesis in the 1930's. The subtitle of this film is ?the side effects of being American? and its sees steroid use as a symptom of a larger problem rather than merely as the problem itself.

Chris Bell narrates the doc which features his two brothers, ?Mad Dog? and ?Smelly? who as the film opens are both using steroids routinely as they see no other option to being the strongest they can be. The film dissects performance enhancers and does not come down emphatically either for or against the use of steroids. It points to the hysteria that surrounds anabolic steroid use and how the media has over saturated the public landscape using scare tactics and other measures of thought control. The biggest question regarding these drugs is are they really as dangerous as everyone says? One expert says that in low doses steroids do not pose a risk to health. Others claim that steroid use leads to brain cancer, liver damage, heart disease. The standard cry against these drugs has resonated for so long that it has been difficult to gain a working knowledge of their true and lasting effects.

The culture of Hulk Hogan, Rambo, GI Joe, professional wrestling and other testosterone driven icons are employed as a backdrop to create perspective regarding what has influenced particular individuals to dose. For these three brothers they worshiped the cult of exaggerated masculinity and it lead two of them straight into injections of synthesized testosterone in order to provide them with an edge that they insisted they needed to excel at their careers. These men are driven by the enigma of pure brute strength and it fuels them as they seek out whatever measure they can find which will lead them toward their goal. Unfortunately the goal continually shifts and there is no such thing as ?good enough.?

In the context of this film, steroids appear to be given the benefit of the doubt. Statistics are brought out that do not exactly signify a culture-wide steroid related health scare. Very few deaths every year can be attributed directly to steroid use. It is said in the film that steroids enhance whatever is already going on in your body but isn?t necessarily the primary cause. If your are going bald, you will probably go bald quicker on steroids. Despite a general leniency regard certain aspects of the present situation, this film does not outright endorse the use of any performance enhancing drug but it doesn?t demonize them either. It sits not quite in the middle on the subject, offering a slightly objective stance that is nevertheless skewed toward acceptance.

I admit to coming away thinking that ?hey, maybe steroids aren?t really all that bad. Maybe I should try steroids.? They truly didn?t come off as worthy of all the hype surrounding them. Yes, it appears that they create a situation where testosterone has run amok. It a culture where testosterone dominates every aspect, this is perceived to be a good thing. In this film, America is presented as a testosterone-driven nation of sensation junkies who need to be jacked up in order to feel that they are alive. The doc also contains a montage of sound bytes from various media sources where certain phenomena are said to be ?on steroids.? This film is not a hang ringing attempt to get people to stop taking or considering taking steroids. Indeed, a person on steroids would find quite a lot here to help them justify their deliberate choice to begin on the path toward increased muscle mass and shrunken testicles (or an enlarged clitoris, for the ladies).

Each segment is drawn back to the central issue that American culture has somehow encouraged the mass use of steroids for recreational purposes. There is something in the American psyche, the film argues, that encourages if not necessitates the experimentation with performance enhancing drugs. The film is part of a culture that deplores weakness and force feeds us image after image of powerful trucks, amped up entertainment, and extreme everything. The entertainment media routinely celebrates that which is biggest, strongest, and fastest; there is no limit as to how far these concepts can be taken by a film, for example. Power is rewarded with more power. The physically strong and agile are viewed upon as ideal and worthy of admiration and honor. We live in a culture where to fail is to cease to exist. Performance is anything and for nearly every profession save those in professional sports, enhancements are readily available and encouraged by the system that fosters such attitudes in the first place. The film features an orchestra where many of the players take beta-blockers to help them perform. Students are interviewed who take a pill that gives them energy and enables them to study more efficiently.

The film looks at the United States Olympic team back in the days when doping was as much a part of the competition as training or winning. It was done as a matter of course and there was no thought of regulating it primarily because there were no known side effects. Today, those side effects are disputed but according to this film, this has not stopped all the major sports bodies from banning the substances. What?s strange is that although steroids are a controlled substance, the stars of the film openly flaunt their steroid use as if it?s a badge of honor.

The multi-billion dollar supplement industry contains many products that have similar properties to banned substances and they are considered perfectly healthy and legal. Millions of people every day are taking something to boost their immune system, thin their blood, give them more energy, enhance their stamina, etc. The film might argue that these are all performance enhancers that haven?t all been tested effectively, so why are they still legal? It merely poses questions about the criteria that are considered before a substance is banned for general use and also what happens to the people who have taken a product that has been declared not safe and taken off the market. That might be oversimplifying it but the reality is that there are natural, legal alternatives to obtaining the same goal one would seek with anabolic steroids. There are properties yet to be synthesized which will allow people to skirt the laws and boost up legally.

Overall, this film is captivating and jam packed with a great deal of information that at times tends to obscure the issue. Nevertheless, the images and sound bytes work for the most part to create a fascinating account of the use of anabolic steroids in sport and beyond. Still, this isn?t necessarily a film about steroids as much as it is about the climate that has created so much steroid use. This is an indictment on American culture that is delivered in kid gloves but still manages to reach its target with a flurry of effective blows. Ultimately, this is a film that focuses its attention on the sickness at large of which synthetically rendered testosterone is but a symptom. The disease is how we as a culture disseminate and react to images of unadulterated strength and power, how docile we are before it. After all, at least some of us elected to the governorship a known steroid abuser who later said he?d do it all again if given the chance. Then he went on in one of his victory speeches to jabber about how if in America you work hard and play by the rules, the country is open to you, or words to that effect. If you take steroids and you fool enough people you can reach the highest office in your state. Cheating does prosper!