The only reason he lost all that size so he would be excepted. The general public would of never excepted him as a person if he was still huge. People envy looking like what Arnold did and but they cant achieve that, so they hate it. Arnold lost his size, so it could help his success. I think if he maintained his mass, if he never got interested in movies or government. I wonder where he would be today.
That makes little sense. Arnold was no longer concerned with being the best bodybuilder in the world (he'd been there and done that!!). As with all athletes who retire, they move to other pursuits.
Again, he wanted to be a movie star, like his hero, Reg Park. So he pursued that with the same zeal that he obtained his physique and he succeeded, when many thought (due to his muscle size that, though reduced, was still far larger than the average Hollywood actor) he would fail.
What you have to prove by maintaining your muscle size, when you've been deemed the best in the world (and by many, the best of all time)?
Nobody can take those accolades away from him.
People accept Arnold, because of who he is, not because he intentionally shrunk to please them.