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I imagine that you've seen Kumail Nanjiani's 'glow up'? It caused a stir, a while ago, when he revealed his transformation for a movie. Well, that's what actors do when they have a role. Point in case: Thor, Captain America, Wolverine, Superman and even Star-Lord. Most of the actors who played them in the cinematic universe have had 'glow-ups. Not like it's unusual, but taking his transformation as 'normal' may be a little dangerous. And slightly disingenuous. According to Google, there are many things a play here that are usually not taken into account:

1. spending a lot of time at the gym does not translate into big muscles.
2. you'll have to eat a lot during the glow up to refuel your body and rebuild the muscles you tore down
3. building muscle and losing fat is difficult: genetics, hormones and god knows what comes into play and it takes time to achieve.
4. maintaining a ripped body all year round is not really possible. Professional bodybuilders gain weight and then get ripped. It's a cycle for them. They're not constantly jacked.
5. steroids (PED) are dangerous. Stacking, that is, using several PEDs together is twice as dangerous.
6. there are some signs of PED use: how long would it take them to get the results? Six months? it's feasible, but changes that are too radical and too fast are suspect. 
7. people who follow the 'workouts for the stars' know how insane and totally impossible to carry out they are. Don't believe the hype.
8. how long are these actors staying in shape? They need to stay fit for months in end. Sometimes years. Think about those franchises and what those actors need to do to fit in their superhero costume.




It's funny how people get defensive when somebody brings up the topic of body image and/or exercise being something that not everybody can do and not something everybody is able to profit from in the same measure. When the Kumail story broke a while ago, I was like, really? The conversation has to do with beauty standards, rather than body image and body shaming. It's the standards what I find disingenuous, not the idea that it can or cannot be done. The actors playing those superheroes for the screen prove that it indeed can be done. 

I think it has to do more with the impossible standards that some people have for the object of their lust than with the unhealthy and maybe dangerous process people would put themselves through in order to be totally hot and desirable? Yes, there are men who are genetically gifted but putting pressure on every man to look like a superhero is absolute madness. Of course, women have been put (and put themselves) through unthinkable measures for the longest time to fit into beauty standards that would drive any man crazy. It's so pervasive that it's become almost normal.




Ogling beautiful men is commonplace. I do it too. But I would never impose those standards on any man I know, date or am interested in. I know that many men have a checklist in their minds about the way the expect the man of their dreams look: fit, jacked and stacked. Oh, yeah. But the thing is, not every man can look like Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool. Not even like Tom Holland's Spiderman or Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man. Are there men you can take off the street who would look like they just need a cape and some spandex to look like a superhero? You bet your sweet ass they exist. Should we expect every man to have a 'glow up' and stay like that the duration of our relationship? Of course not. 

So yeah, go ahead and take a look at Kumail and enjoy the view. Just take into account that it took a lot of sweat and effort to go from his Silicon Valley body to his buff, ripped physique for his role in The Eternals and that he would take a whole lot of work to keep that beautiful body the way it is now permanently. No, men who have a little extra weight around their waist are not lazy, or slobs. They are just not getting ready to play a superhero in the big screen.

XOXO

Comments

  1. I'm still trying to find away to CGI a hot body onto me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha same!
      Some of those bodies are quite palpably real, though...

      XOXO

      Delete
  2. Right on. My wife will watch anything "Thor" over and over again until the scene where he takes off the shirt. She sighs, and then will change the channel. LOL. I know how tough it is to maintain...even for a guy who is rehearsing dance routines four to six hours every day. Well, sad to say, bro, those days are gone. 👀 XOXO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, yes!
      That scene! I could hear people gasp in the theater when it happened. He is a beautiful, beautiful man. But a body like that is really, really hard to maintain. That's what people never think about...

      XOXO

      Delete
  3. I remember when Matt Bomer did the opposite for The Normal Heart. Got to be bad for the body, either way.
    For some reason, this man in your post today looks better to me with his mask on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMG I remember that.
      So many actors have done radical body transformations for movies. And I think Kumail looks impressive. Mask or not.

      XOXO

      Delete
  4. Quite apart from the constant workouts and potential role of steroids, they eat nothing but protein -- a pretty grim life from a foodie's point of view. But Marvel actors do "cycle in and out" of their max jacked physiques -- I read an interview with Chris Hemsworth once where he talked about the concluding "shawarma scene" in the first Avengers movie. It was filmed and tacked on in a reshoot months after the movie was shot. He's hunched over in the scene eating his food not because he's portraying Thor's ravenous appetite, but because by then the costume was way too big on him and he was disguising that it didn't fit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, right?
      People just see the final product on the screen. The amount of work (and sacrifices) that go into it are not even taken into account. And I can totally believe Chris talking about that scene. Once the movie is done, they have to go back to being, well, just men.

      XOXO

      Delete
  5. Hey...if you got a nice smile, sense of humor, varied interests, a dick, like to kiss and do oral, likes lot of sex, and likes to cuddle....Hello, my name is Maddie!!!!

    Nice built body is nice, but I also like the everyday guy too, or some slight weigh. But you got the list above and I'm there and on my back. I very seldom say no to any man. Am I a hopeless slut?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Like you said, this is an impossible state to keep up. I know he’s a lot older now, but look at Arnold Schwarzenegger. The body can only take so much stress of change. For the normies out there just keep yourself healthy. I understand the demands of the profession, and you can do it for a relatively short period of time. But reality will kick in.

      XOXO 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨

      Delete
    2. Haha same!
      A nice body is well, nice. But there's so much more to a man than being jacked. I think there's a culture of focusing on the physical aspect, on how we look, that all those other qualities you mention kind of take a backseat to the more obvious physical ones.
      A sense of humor lasts longer than a six-pack.

      XOXO

      Delete
  6. I remember when Sly Stallone got John Travolta in shape for Stayin' Alive. It was a terrible movie, but John's body was to die for. I don't like it. I don't approve. It's not for me. I like my body. It is older now, but I have always been one to maintain for health reasons. I work out 6 days a week. But I am not an idiot about it. Gym bunnies? How boring. My ex-best friend turned into one while he was living in Miami and he became something of a bore (and a meth head). I get that we want positive reactions when we go without a shirt. And I get that actors (TERRIBLE PEOPLE) have to do what they have to do to get work (TERRIBLE WORK). (Super Hero movies SUCK AZZ). But it sends terrible messages to everyone, especially the young. Let's all work to appreciate our healthy, ordinary bodies and maintain them the best we can. No tricks. No drugs. No deprivation. It's such nonsense. To be proud of that? What is that to be proud of you? They've temporarily altered the look of their body. When it all falls down, there will be all that loose skin to deal with along with depression, and all the body image issues. No thank you. Thanks for tackling this dear. You have a keen eye for good discussion material.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ok, so how can one become a gym-bunny and a meth head at the same time?
      Aren't those two things anathema? That does not make sense to me.
      And yes, the thing is that these actors are put through the wringer to promote an image that is seldom achievable without a lot of work. And that's my beef, too.
      When it all falls down, there will be all that loose skin to deal with...

      XOXO

      Delete
    2. Regardless of any up/down weight or muscle, collagen takes a hike. There will be all that skin to deal with when ya get old. This is why young folks say us old folks should not be on the nude beaches. I say, "Fuck 'em!" LOL. XOXO

      Delete
    3. Correct. And that's why I don't understand the 'keep the olds away from the nude beaches'? We start losing collagen the moment we turn twenty-five so there.
      Fuck 'em is right.

      XOXO

      Delete
  7. I didn't see it mentioned, but quite often studios will pay big bucks so these hunks can have the bodies we ogle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, of course.
      If anybody wants a body like that, they are going to need lots of time and lots of money to achieve it. The studios perpetuate an image that is not easily (or cheaply) gotten.

      XOXO

      Delete
  8. you're so right! love your wisdom!

    ReplyDelete

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