Bigger Stronger Faster* (*The Side Effects of Being American)

When I was a kid, watching championship wrestling characters Chief Jay Strongbow, Haystacks Calhoun, and Killer Kowalski stomping around the squared circle demolishing everyone in their paths was one of my favorite pastimes.

But I don’t remember wanting to BE those guys.

My celebrity heroes were Groucho Marx (“I don’t want to be in any club that would have me as a member”), Wolfman Jack (whose growl and gravelly voice I could hear on WNBC-AM in the early ‘70’s), and Geraldo Rivera (his Emmy award winning 1972 report on the Willowbrook State Schooldrew me towards investigative journalism.)

Of course, I’m not nearly as witty as Groucho; my radio delivery leaves much to be desired; and as for my success as a journalist; well at least I haven’t become a shill for Fox News.

However, after seeing the new film by Chris Bell, “Bigger Stronger Faster* (*The Side Effects of Being American), I must ask myself: would I take performance enhancing drugs if I thought doing so would help me attain that sort of monumental success? I’m going to sideswipe the question by saying: given that my heroes probably didn’t use anything stronger than alcohol, nicotine, and maybe a little Mary Jane to enhance their performances (Rivera, I’ve heard, uses Botox), I’ve already failed in numerous attempts to use chemicals to create a better me.

But central to the theme of Bigger Stronger Faster*, lives the question: why does society accept some drugs and prohibit others? We know that the consequences of certain allowable substances play a much greater negative role in our social and financial lives, but it doesn’t seem to matter.

(Admit it though, you loved it when Rush Limbaugh got caught illegally buying the pain medication Oxycontin!)

In the film - opening at the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge on Friday, June 6th - writer and director Chris Bell and his brothers Mark and Mike, desperately wish to become as famous as their muscular and telegenic heroes Hulk Hogan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone. All of whom, it turns out, used illegal chemicals to enhance their physiques. Bell and his crew spend much of their time following the brothers as they fall just short of their goals of becoming WWE wrestling superstars and internationally recognized body builders.

The brothers – along with their mom and dad - grapple with insecurities around work and ambition and their continuing use of drugs that society at large has for the most part branded as evil. Taking an honest but sometimes maudlin approach to the brother’s disappointments, we get to see and hear all the family’s blemishes.

We learn that whatever side you take in the battle over performance enhancing drugs, the fact remains they are not magic bullets or virtual elevators to the penthouse as some proponents would have you believe. On the other hand, they probably are not the worst things people put in their bodies either.

It’s a personal journey but the film undeniably travels a political road as well.

Using perceived attitudes and actual polices towards anabolic steroids as his framework, Bell asks his audience to consider: what’s wrong with America today? And he comes up with three compelling answers: competition, hero worship, and a mind numbing hypocrisy over drugs.

At an early age, our institutions train us to believe that America is all about baseball, mom, and apple pie. But what we’re really all about is “win at any cost.” No ties or second place finishes allowed.

The problem, in great measure, is the isolated, all responses considered in a vacuum, piecemeal approach towards drugs. Rather than facing the mixed messages in our advertising, entertainment, and political spheres – “this is your brain on drugs” vs. “let our pills amplify your sex life” – we’d rather impose stiff penalties on individuals who dare to stray from currently accepted norms. This just serves to solidify the idea that cheating is ok, until you get caught.

Furthermore, the film asks, why does Congress become apoplectic over the use of steroids and human growth hormones in baseball but allows pharmaceutical companies to advertise their drugs (acknowledged to have dangerous side effects) on TV, directly to impressionable consumers? In an awkward and embarrassing scene for Congressman Henry Waxman, Bell asks the California Representative where 15 million dollars worth of federal drug education money has gone. It’s a legitimate and important question but Waxman has no idea; asking his aide standing in the background if he knows the answer. The segment also serves to remind viewers that several of the film’s producers worked with Michael Moore (who loves to chase after and embarrass elected officials) on “Farhenheit 9/11” and “Bowling for Columbine.”

Is Bigger Stronger Faster* worthy to be in the same class as Moore’s Oscar winning best? Even though I disagree with some of Bell’s conclusions, I do think the Academy will look at this movie favorably in the best documentary category.

Despite Bell’s implied support of legalizing substances such as the family of anabolic steroids used by athletes, the filmmaker approaches medical and legal experts and other stakeholders with differing and combative views on the subject. He asks simple but tough questions of all his subjects.

Bell talks to doctors, lawyers, and “gym rats” who tell him that the negative effects of muscle building and endurance increasing drugs have been greatly exaggerated. He speaks to experts who are much less sanguine about the lasting effects of steroids and HGH and testosterone on the human body and asks everyone to justify their positions.

In essence, he is fair and balanced.

The film ought to be required viewing for journalists who have forgotten the basic tenet of news gathering; one I learned years ago from Carl Bernstein: namely, that the best investigative work begins with the notion that a journalist should seek out the “best available version of the truth.”

It’s also a playful film, juxtaposing clips from TV ads and scenes from old movies, with Bell’s attempts to interview the ultimate chemically created monster, CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The filmmakers agree that hyper competitiveness and worship of entertainment icons can be misguided and destructive. Ultimately, however, Bell concludes that because politicians and the citizens who vote for them are disingenuous when it comes to drugs, their use is justified.

Also, he seems to be making the statement inherent in his question that if drug taking is rampant, and so many athletes do it, why shouldn’t Barry Bonds or Carl Lewis or Mike “Mad Dog” Bell do whatever it takes to achieve a competitive edge… All’s fair in love and war, after all.

Well, despite the duplicity and the hypocrisy, and the desire to believe that everyone’s cheating, NOT all athletes are taking performance enhancing drugs. We’re celebrating Manny Ramirez and Junior Griffey for reaching home run milestones this season and as far as I can tell, based on what most people in the know are saying, neither of those heralded players are on the “juice.”

Instead of equalizing the playing field by giving in and allowing all to use, perhaps the country should have a national discussion in order to clarify our attitudes about drugs. If we admit that competitiveness is driving us to take enormous risks – with our individual bodies and our body politic – perhaps we can come down off the arrogant and judgmental pedestals we’ve created and forge a more reasonable approach in the context of all our walks of life.

In the meantime, “Bigger Stronger Faster* (*The Side Effects of Being American) will give you plenty to get pumped up about.

Opening Friday, June 6th at the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge.

Film website: http://www.biggerstrongerfastermovie.com/