Footage of next summer’s video game adaptation Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has popped up online, and with it has popped up some minor controversy. Apparently, viewers are speculating that Jake Gyllenhaal’s abdominal muscles, seen prominently in at least one shot, are not actually his own. Because this footage is from the set and not from some post-production house, it can’t be an airbrush job, but it might be a prosthetic plate covering up his own less-toned abs. The “conspiracy” theory originates with commenters at Towleroad and was brought to most people’s attention via Kyle Buchanan at Movieline. But is it worthy of discussion?
I just recently watched Chris Bell’s steroid documentary Bigger Stronger Faster*, so I’m concerned with the allegations, and whether or not they’re of importance. Shouldn’t we be glad that Gyllenhaal may not have needed to get juiced? Or, should we instead demand that the actor, if not so ripped, show off his own body, so as not to fool young men who might grow up thinking they need a body type that isn’t in fact real? We know, thanks to Bell’s film, that such image issues are as harmful to men as skinny model types are damaging to women, so perhaps this is indeed a necessary discussion.
Unfortunately, the ab conspiracy/controversy has only been brought up by a few so far, while other blogs are merely taking the bait and talking about how amazing Gyllenhaal looks. Check out parts of both discussions after the jump:
…Read more
This review originally appeared, in a slightly different form, during Sundance 2008. Bigger, Stronger, Faster* opens on six screens today.
A personal interrogative doc, more Morgan Spurlock than Doug Block, Christopher Bell’s Bigger, Stronger, Faster uses his family’s experiences with steroids as the in point to tackle the larger roles of body perception, performance inhancement and competition in contemporary American culture. The voice of the film, delivered via Bell’s constant narration, can be hackneyed and a bit too reliant on a faux-naivete which belies some of its stronger conclusions, but on the whole Bell mounts a surprisingly sophisticated argument––surprising because he’s a first time feature-maker, surprising because it’s clearly on Bell’s agenda to please his crowd, surprising because this is a film that relies on footage from Rocky 4 to explicate its thesis argument––that steroid criminalization amounts to hating the player whilst willfully ignoring the dynamics of the game.
…Read more
Interview with Chris Bell who made Bigger, Stronger, Faster –opening tonight. A doc going way beyond body building into the essence of an unspoken American pastime: Cheating. Karina reports back on Cannes and everything the media missed that it shouldn’t have: Tyson, Frontier of Dawn and Everything is Fine.
FilmCouch #72 - Karina on Cannes, Kevin on steroids [31:03m]:
Play Now |
Download
(Subscribe to FilmCouch–
Spout’s weekly movie podcast–in the
iTunes store or to our
RSS feed and an episode will download each Friday)
FilmCouch #72 - Karina on Cannes, Kevin on steroids
Bigger, Stronger, Faster; Tyson; Frontier of Dawn; Everything is Fine
A lot of folks are talking about Sundance doc Bigger, Stronger, Faster, including Karina (full review here). Director/narrator Chris Bell explores the hot-button issue of steroid use with both intensely personal passages and darkly comic Moore-esque exposés. In this interview we talk about steroid use, the war on drugs, stumbling into documentary filmmaking, and a new script about the LA dating scene.
Chris Bell Interview [6:16m]:
Play Now |
Download
Chris Bell
