Even since I was a little kid, I wanted to have big muscles. I wanted to be tough looking and rugged like my GI Joe dolls. I wanted to have superhero strength and muscles like Batman, SuperMan, Aquaman and Spiderman. As I got older, I set my sights on looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stalone.
When I was a teen, I decided to do something about it. I got a Sears weight set for my birthday and started working out. I faithfully followed the program listed on the chart that came with the set. Six months later, I was still a fat, weak 13 year old. The weights then sat in the corner for a few years untouched.
In high school I had a growth spurt and got thin. I still wanted big muscles and set
my sights on doing whatever it took. I bought bodybuilding magazines and supplements. I followed the routines of the pros. I ate 6 times a day. I did the chicken, white rice and tuna diet for years.
But I never came close to looking like any of my heroes. Today, after 36 years of dedicated working out, I still don’t look like a bodybuilder or a movie superhero.
But now I know why. They all use steroids! Sure, some people are naturally more muscular, fatter or skinnier than others. But for that Wolverine, Hercules or Rocky Balboa supernatural look, drugs are required.
Fortunately for me, I’m now happy with looking like I did in high school, with maybe a few added muscles and a little leaner. Plus a lot more wrinkles and less hair.
When I was getting my yellowing teeth cleaned at the Dentist 10 years ago, I asked about getting my teeth whitened. They sold me a $200 mouthpiece a pricey tube of whitening goo. I was told to put the paste in the mouthpiece and wear it when I slept for a few nights and my teeth would get whitened.
Well, they sorta did. Instead of being a dull yellow, they lightened to an offwhite yellow. Of course my gums were irritated by the goo and I had a hard time sleeping with the mouthpiece in so I quit using it.
Last year, I spoke to my dentist again. I asked how people on TV all have perfect teeth that are dazzlingly white. I said, “I can’t believe they all naturally have perfect teeth – what do they do?” My dentist told me that they either had every one of their teeth capped or they veneers put on all the teeth that are visible.
No thanks. The process and the price for that aren’t worth it to me.
Stars on TV and in the movies always look so young, wrinkle, free and healthy. It is from makeup, airbrushing, botox injections, collagen injections, facelifts, tummy tucks and implants. And photoshop. And “filters”.
Eventually these people start to look like monsters to me. The weird plumped up lips, the expressionless eyes, the wax figurine faces and the distortions from plastic surgery eventually take a toll.
The same goes for instagram and other social media sites. If someone looks beautiful, chances are you are not seeing the real thing. Filters, camera angles, photoshop, editing and effects are used to create an illusion of perfection.
I read an article a few years back by a writer who visited Iceland. She wrote about going to the natural geothermal hot springs that are very popular with the locals.
She said that Icelanders of all ages, shapes and sizes all regularly soaked together in the hot springs. Some wore swimsuits and others wore nothing at all.
She said that Icelanders seemed much less hung up about appearances than Americans. She attributed this to them seeing normal people, with all their “flaws”, up close and personal every week.
Maybe we can’t do this in the US. But if you want to see what real people look like, go to the mall. Or an amusement park. Or the library. Or the public pool.
It’s OK to admire the movie stars, the athletes and the models. Just remember, what you are seeing is not real.