The recent uproar about steroids use in baseball inspired me to check out the 1977 documentary Pumping Iron, often cited as the spark for increased interest in body building. This led to a virtual explosion in the fitness industry. Those old Charles Atlas comic book ads promising skinny kids the secrets to bulking up to stand up to those beach sand kickers suddenly bloomed into a proliferation of muscle fitness magazines. Fitness centers popped up all over the country, growing from the old sweaty hole in the wall dives for the hard core to well lighted franchises accompanied by the latest top 40 tunes. Nutrition outlets have sprung up to meet consumer demand for vitamins, protein powders, protein bars, and legal over the counter body building supplements like Creatine and Androstenedione. Of course, going to the darker side of this area lies steroids, and any current hard core body builder is certain to draw suspicion about using illegal means to bulk up his muscle mass.

But back to the days of innocence, in the mid 1970's when body builders were definitely a small sub culture, only a few hundred fans followed the incredible body sculpting practiced by a handful of men. That's the world that first-time filmmakers George Butler and Robert Fiore decided to explore, but with so little awareness of body building they realized that they had to center on body building's charismatic Greek god—six time Mr. Olympia, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Without the 28 year old Austrian there could be no movie, and Arnold was ready to retire at age 28. Little did Arnold realize that his decision to continue for another year would lead to the governor's chair after an incredibly successful acting career (though he reveals during the film that he dreams of being a movie star).

Outside the actual competition footage, Pumping Iron borders more on fiction than it does on the cinema direct techniques espoused by Robert Drew and his associates. Before shooting, the filmmakers lined up their plot line—namely to cast the good guys and the bad guys. Arnold naturally has the role of the hero since he is far too likable to be cast as a heavy, and he just dominates the screen whenever he's present. But to select an antagonist became problematic, because in reality ALL the body builders were actually friends—most of them working out together daily at the now legendary Gold's Gym in Venice, California, dining jointly on 3 lb. hamburger lunches, and partying at Arnold's bachelor pad in the evenings.

So the directors selected Arnold's main competition for Mr. Olympia, Lou Ferrigno (of The Hulk fame) to be the heavy. Since Lou lived in Brooklyn, that also leads to a natural contrast with sunny California; and Lou's sweaty little private dark gym where guys built like Michael Moore lift hand weights is light years away from the well-lighted Gold's Gym hangout populated with a crew of well-sculpted body builders. Serious Lou grunting "Arnold, Arnold, Arnold" to psych himself up is quite different from the joking and camaraderie enveloping Arnold and friends. The filmmakers also manufactures another fictional layer to their piece by casting Lou's father as Lou's personal trainer even though his father knows very little about body building—but it lends the element of the over indulgent father into the film.

Other sub texts are also falsely manipulated into the film as well, as body building buddies Mike Katz and Ken Waller are cast as antagonists in the upcoming amateur Mr. Universe competition, with Waller to play the bad guy who trash talks Katz behind his back and describes how he'll to mess up Katz' psyche by hiding his lucky T-shirt at the competition. The DVD extras show how both Katz and Waller hang out together, so that explains Katz's complimentary reaction when Waller wins the title. During the film itself it seems a bit surreal and fake, given the way the narrative is edited to highlight their antagonism. Waller also reveals that he was surprised to find out how villainous he appeared in Pumping Iron—so much so that he was booed on stage in subsequent body building events like he was a WWF heavy.

Thankfully, the filmmakers didn't include the footage they shot with Bud Cort (Harold and Maude) cast as the skinny kid who comes to Gold's Gym for training. Some of that footage is included in the DVD extras and makes an amusing footnote.

Even though it's now evident that the scenarios crafted in Pumping Iron are even less true documentary than Michael Moore's latest take on George W. Bush, the film holds up surprisingly well. Despite the fiction, the film teaches a great deal about the sport of body building. Arnold may keep his inner emotions tight to the vest; in fact, he even indicates that he must do so whenever he's into a competitive cycle. Nothing must interrupt his positive mental attitude, and he explicitly goes on to explain the orgasmic thrill he has when "pumping up:"

" It's as satisfying to me as, uh, coming is, you know? As, ah, having sex with a woman and coming. And so can you believe how much I am in heaven? I am like, uh, getting the feeling of coming in a gym, I'm getting the feeling of coming at home, I'm getting the feeling of coming backstage when I pump up, when I pose in front of 5,000 people, I get the same feeling, so I am coming day and night. I mean, it's terrific. Right? So you know, I am in heaven."