Building muscle or ego?

To say that today’s Hollywood standards of male beauty are unrealistic would be a crude euphemism. The aforementioned action heroes dehydrate their bodies as much as possible just before filming, then tricks with makeup and lighting come into play, and behind it all is a dark secret in the form of widespread use of anabolic steroids, even among the top Hollywoods.

However, none of this is written in the subtitles, and when these ideals of beauty roll on skinny teenagers from all sides, it is clear that it is a problem. This compares well with this comparison of Hugh Jackman’s appearance as the superhero Wolverine between 2000 and 2013. And he is far from the only one.

For the sake of their roles, anyone has developed unrealistic proportions, from Chris Evans as Captain of America to Jason Moma as Aquaman, and outside the superhero genre it’s not much better – just look at Daniel Craig, who added muscle piles to the figure of James Bond, whose the previous leaders did not rely so much on the re-enacted physics.

Male bodies in the media and in toy figures have been growing and growing for decades, and when actors with unlimited time for diets and training hit the limits of physical and mental possibilities, other methods come up. Eating disorders not only affect women, they also increasingly affect men. While in the first film he has a body that, with a little effort and with a good genetic basis, can be built by many in the gym, on the second he looks like a blown cartoon. This is largely due to the changing ideals of beauty and unrealistic patterns on social media – but on closer inspection, the male desire for the character of a Marvel superhero is much more complicated.

For men, strengthening is the surest and most direct way, because their own muscles are something they still have full control over. Just look at the life reality of today’s young people – uncertainty is caused by the housing crisis, climate-threatening future and precarious work in the so-called gig economy, but still live the ideals of classical masculinity celebrating strong and independent men.

Individualist ideology claims that no one will help you, and everyone must help themselves happily, and when those promises of the American dream refuse to come true, the more it forces us to lift weights – the mistake must be in you and in the fact that you work little on yourself. A lonely young man can hardly change major social problems, but he can still at least improve his own body.

Thus, a change in the standards of beauty on film screens would certainly help against a dangerous epidemic of muscle dysphoria, but in addition to it, there is also a need for an open and positive discussion about problems with male identity – one that fortunately has been going on also among women for a long time.