I find it ironic how Phil's bdb is among the best ever but from the front it's an abomination. Not to just pick on Phil I'm sure I can find one on Kai, Ronnie, Jay and many others.
It's just one more thing that shows how the whole mentality of bodybuilders has changed... back in the 70s or prior to that most bodybuilders were trying to create a beautiful physique, it was like an art
to them. It was not about just how much conditioned mass one can build but about the complete package and the results had to be pleasing to the eye.
This also applies to the posing - back then most bbers were trying to pose in an elegant and classical way. Remember the beginning of Pumping Iron where Arnie and Franco take ballet lessons? The posing had to look "noble" if you know what I mean... you would not have to be embarrassed to watch a posing routine unlike watching one of Kai's. I mean Kai is a great performer for sure but it has not the same elegance that the classical posing had. Today's posing is just about a) looking the biggest and leanest you can and/or b) entertaining the people with artistic moves and stuff like robotdancing/breakdancing ..
Back then everything was viewed as a complete package, you had to look good from every angle in every pose, every bodypart had to be in relation to each other. Nowadays everyone is just trying to get every bodypart as big as possible individually and every pose is hit in a way that it looks the most impressive to the judges.
