Saw this last night. As a piece of documentary film making it was uninspired. Bigger Stronger Faster was a much better product. This film should have been written and directed by Chris Bell. Generation Iron reminds us that most bodybuilders should be seen and not heard. The guys came across looking very bad:
Victor M.: too out of shape to compete according to his own mentor; jailed twice; and 4 kids from different baby mammas? He is barely competing and not winning contests so how exactly is he supporting his children (his own articulated goal)? It is not clear. We just see him kissing one of his daughters. Is he the custodial parent? Where is the mother? Hard to respect a “father” like that.
Dennis W.: nice family support behind him, but did not come across well on camera. He could barely read four lines in a script yet he wants to be an actor and is fantasizing about call backs & becoming the next Arnold? More than most, facially he looked like a chemical experiment. Time for a reality check.
Kai G.: didn’t know anything about his past (foster care, being institutionalized, etc.), but it explains a lot. Will not judge him after all his has been through; foster care can be brutal. His art was not to my taste, but it was nice to see him doing something relatively wholesome like painting. It is a far cry from public posing with that silly mask on his face. Doesn’t he have ANY friends? No one to cheer him on or console him after coming in second place? Not even a schmoe? He seemed very lonely.
Branch W.: Ostensibly removed from the circus world the other guys live in, Branch appears to have a nice home and family life. But his grounded world looks like a fraud when we see him thrown from his own horse like a rag doll. It begs the question: was that actually his horse? Has he ever ridden a horse before? Why couldn’t he manage it better? Watching him get thrown looked cartoonish and made him look like a poser of the worst kind. The spill was so bad they had to stop filming! Note to Branch: if you cannot ride a horse, do not pretend to do so just because your are being filmed in a documentary.
Roelly W.: He got too much screen time given that he is an uninteresting character. The grandma mentor/trainer was a nice angle, but doesn’t he have any family or friends in his circle? He seemed almost as lonely as Kai.
Hidetada Y.: On balance, he came across well, but he also looked small compared to the other competitors. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would not be in the top 10… which makes you wonder, why was he even there?
Ben P.: Pacman? Really? Who comes up with these silly aliases? He came across well too, but given his physique he looked out of place; like a junior varsity athlete trying to play in the big leagues.
Phil H. Given the clowns he was competing with Phil comes across looking pretty good. He has a network of supporters/fans. He is articulate (for a bodybuilder) and dresses well. He has a competitive spirit but not to the point of arrogance. The fact that he came to BB from another sport he still loves, gives him some perspective. He seems like a good ambassador for the sport. But watching him jog along that deserted road in the hills looked so phony. No one with a physique like that routinely runs for miles (or even one mile) on roads like that.
Bah!
