Thanks for the compliment. I’m actually surprised people cared about what I wrote, I wrote it at like what, 4 AM? When I think of success stories, yes I think Arnold makes a good success story and in that realm of context yes he is an inspiration. But I personally look at people like Frederick Douglas or somebody for “never give up” morals instead of a guy that started using dbol at 13 and use to hit on his buddies girlfriends and got caught for fucking a 16 year old girl while at a party (despite how "cool" that may seem lol). In the context of bodybuilding, yes Arnold has the number one success story, but I think it’s a big jump to take that and apply it to the rest of the world and say Arnold has the best success story period. That’s my view on Arnold.
On Sly I have a very different view. I don’t know why but I’ve never had respect for him. I personally think every rocky movie after the first one sucked (I know them all word by word so yea I’ve seen them a lot). Sly is not a boxer, period, he only played a boxer. That’s like looking up to a guy that played a soldier on TV. Sure he may have given an okay performance, but come on, it was just a performance. Didn’t Sly do a porn movie the year before he filmed rocky?
First, Arnold was an asshole and probably still is. That's art of his persona, you can see this beautifully in "Pumping Iron".
Second, on Stallone: You're missing the point. Sly may not be a boxer, and i think that nobody admires him as a boxer, that would be stupid to congratulate him on his "win" over the brutal Ivan Drago back in the 80s.
People admire him for what the story about a boxer that comes from down low, skyrockets, becomes and asshole, loses everything and starts all over again, to finally become a better person.
When you say every Rocky movie after the first sucked, you prbably haven't understood Rocky too good. It is way more than a boxing movie, it's a complete biography of a man, and i guess we have never seen that in the movies before, a whole life of a person, played by the same actor over so many years.
Rocky is Stallone's best role, he shows what is possible when you stay hungry, never give up your dreams, work hard and even harder. That's what the people love Rocky for, and acting as a boxer Stallone just pulls up all these images in people.
Rocky is no Rambo that could take out the vietnamese and russian army alone, Rocky is a man like you and me, he is so acievable, that what makes these movies so perfect.
Nobody wants to start a war after watching Rambo, but when you watch Rocky, you want to get up and do something, work harder to fulfill the dreams that you have maybe forgotten or abandoned.
Stallone doesn't want to be admired as a boxer, when he thorws his punches he wants to say: "Look people. here i am, this is what you can become when you work hard to make your dreams come true."
To me, as much as i love Arnold and i consider myself a great fan, but Stallone and especially Rocky gets me so fucking motivated... I have said this before (and fuck the drug discussion now), what Stallone has done all his life is so much harder than these bodybuilders do and Arnold did for the movies.
Sly was always in top shape for his movies (after Rocky 2 that is), and how hard is it to maintain that ripped look for days and weeks through filming a whole movie?? He was training in the heat of the desert for Rambo III, to me Stallone is simply amazing/ I wish i had his work ethics.
