Superhero Steroids

[uniqueweasel]

I don't see what the problem is if in fact any of them do take steroids, it's not as if they are competing in any type of sports, they are just getting a specific 'look' basically captain america and bane are more or less steroid abusers in their stories anyways and thor is a god, so actors have pretty high targets to hit straight away!

[Bruce Malone]

I sort of agree but the problem is by not admitting to using performance enhancers they set up false expectations for what people can achieve in limited times by just working out.

There are probably a good number of people who look up to them in terms of how they take care of their bodies and get disappointed when they can't seem to ever reach those results.

Even though they ate a whole lot of chicken like hemsworth said he did...

[uniqueweasel]

Originally Posted by Bruce Malone

I sort of agree but the problem is by not admitting to using performance enhancers they set up false expectations for what people can achieve in limited times by just working out.

There are probably a good number of people who look up to them in terms of how they take care of their bodies and get disappointed when they can't seem to ever reach those results.

Even though they ate a whole lot of chicken like hemsworth said he did...

I totally agree with that, if they do take any enhancements they should admit to it, very good point!

[Baramos]

Even the most famous bodybuilder of them all, Ahnold, used steroids back in the day (when apparently certain steroids were legal under the rules of the various competitions he was in such as Mr. Universe). I doubt he quit using them when his film career took off.

It's a personal choice. It's up to the actors to deal with the dangers of them. The consequences are entirely their own. Like uniqueweasel says, they're not sports athletes or something. And yeah, some of these actors look pretty terrible nowadays (Stallone especially, but Ahnold ain't looking that hot either). That might serve as a warning to some.

If people look up to them as examples for their own bodybuilding, I think it's more important to set the record straight with kids from an early age that the bodies and physiques they see in magazines and movies are unrealistic, dangerous, and often faked (either through steroids or just plain photoshop--I think there was a study of magazine covers featuring models and very few are not photoshopped to change the people on them into frankly impossible human forms). To depend on actors or models to do that for us is a mistake. Many will be up front about it or warn people, but plenty aren't going to bother. It's up to us to warn our kids about the dangers of anorexia, bulimia, steroids, etc. because at the end of the day media companies put one thing ahead of everything else and that is profit.