[JoeJustice]

This kinda got started in the 'Nitro' thread, I wanted to offer a little visual aid.

First let me say that I do like the Batman movies and Christian Bale seems like a decent guy. But I don't know anything about him other than what his PR people want me to know. I mean, I don't know that I'd trust him alone with my wife, if ya know what I mean.

People get really defensive about actors, but I think that's because they associate them with the characters they play. So whenever you say, "Christian Bale took steroids," I think people interpret that as, "Batman took steroids." This shows an odd detachments from reality. Hollywood is fake and people don't like to admit that. But I'm kind of getting off into a little rant here...

This is Christian Bale in The Machinist...


This first one here is Batman Begins (second is from Equilibrium (2002))...


Weight gained: over 100lbs. Elapse time, six months. Draw your own conclusions, I guess, but if you're going to try to tell me this was done 100% drug free don't be all indignant when I say you're naive.

-Joe

[Andy62]

Hollywood is in the busniess of fantasy and illusion. The rewards,but ego and financial, are so high that the actors are willing to risk anything in the hope that they will be able to escape the consequences.

[bundaberg]

The bottom right picture is actually from BEFORE he got skinny.

The picture in the bottom right is actually from 2002, the film was "Equilibrium"

The top two pictures are from "The Machinist" which came out around 2004.

The bottom left picture is from "Batman Begins" which was 2005.

Bale was in good shape in movies like American Psycho, Equilibrium, etc, then he got real skinny for The Machinist, then eventually did gain 100lbs in six months for the Batman role, he then lost it all again, going back to the super skinny look to play a POW in the film "Rescue Dawn" in 2006, he then bulked up yet again for "The Dark Knight".

I'm a fan of his acting but have no doubt he used steroids to bulk up for Batman Begins.

[JoeJustice]

Thanks bundaberg! I corrected the information.

-Joe

[bundaberg]

No problem, Joe.

You're right about the steroids, though.

[John Peterson]

Hey Guys,

I really appreciate having the kind of people we now have on this forum. Seriously, it's truly a pleasure to read the new and informative threads and the always helpful and reinforcing kinds of feedback that our friends are now giving each other.

Granted, It took a little time for us to get it right, but once we began removing people that are here for the sole purpose of disagreeing just to disagree, and arguing just to argue, our forum took a giant leap forward. In fact, now it is easier, much easier, than ever to weed out the people that are here to be disruptive because they stick out like a sore thumb.

So, please accept a special thanks from me to all of you that have hung with us during this transition and have helped to make our forum what it is today. You have my commitment that we will be vigilant in protecting our forum and not giving voice to, or allowing people to post here that do not belong.

---John Peterson

P.S. The only kind of people that need to worry about our 'thought police' are those that are here to disrupt by posting their own 'sick thoughts'. No person that is here to help and reinforce others has anything to even remotely worry about. BUT, as soon as we see the other type show up, their post will be removed and they will be gone permanently.

[mts]

Even forgetting the Machinist, the difference between the picture on the bottom right to the picture on the bottom left would be indicative of steroids. He has a lot of MASS in the Batman begins that he never had before even forgetting the German concentration camp look he was going for in the Machinist, which as an aside, I can't believe he even lived through that physical abuse.

All in all, if a hollywood actor goes on the juice for 3-6 months for a role, I would doubt that it has the same effects that it does from repeated abuses by football players and wrestlers over the course of entire careers. I would also add the kid that played Anakin in the Star Wars movies, he was significantly bigger in the Revenge of the Sith movie than he was in the Clone Wars. Brad Pitt in Troy. I feel like anytime an actor says that they "ate high protein meals 6 times a day" what they're really saying is "I took steroids"

[Andy62]

Certain bodybuilding instructors promoted physique contests and sponsored bodybuilders to promote their courses and their food supplements while the contest winners and their sponsored bodybuilders were really getting their muscular growth from steroids. The wrestlers in the WWE also had to take steroids to attain the development that the fans demanded. I won't even mention Major league baseball and football. The owners and promoters just stayed in the background and denied any involvement in steroid use and let the participants egos and ambitions do the rest.- culpable deniability.

[kenpopaul]

mmm interesting thread. It makes me wonder about these Internet bodybuilding courses you see everywhere. You know the one's - they have the before 'I was always a skinny kid' picture then after 12-16 weeks on their so called 'new natural course' they are huge, ripped etc.

In the past I actually bought a couple of these courses and never gained on them, in fact doing one course I actually lost size, felt drained and kept getting injured. Even emailing the authors for advice all I was told was 'Eat more protein'.

Makes me wonder. I mean, if I wanted to make money on the net I could go on a diet, lose a few lbs, then go on the roids for 6 months and workout & eat everyday like crazy then take my after pics - invent a 'new, never seen before' course!

I see roid abuse all around me in my home town. I live in a small beach town and every summer I see 17-18 year old guys built like a brick outhouse with zero fat. I know for a fact that some of them are on the juice. You then see tham in the winter months and they look skinny again. It's sad really as in 10+ years they'll either be dead or have serious health problems.

Kenpopaul

[ben alexander]

Regardless of whether or not Mr Bale was on the juice, I can't help but wonder what long term damage he's doing to his body. Extreme weight gain followed by extreme weight loss - especially to the extent he did for "The Machinist", just can't be good for him. His internal organs might pack up on him if he tries that sort of thing too much.

I'm reminded of something Sylvester Stallone said about various regimes he put himself through, back in the day. He notes that extreme diets, coupled with the overtraining he did as well, has left him with various aches and pains. Sadly, I can't remember where I read it. It may have been from his fitness book "Sly Moves"

Regarding steriods in WWE and other wrestling organisations. I recently read Jimmy "Mouth Of The South" Hart's autobiography, and he raised the issue. He said that obviously steroids helped to build the outrageous physiques required, but there was also a more down-to-earth reason to use them.

Pro wrestlers, despite their skill and training, frequently get injured. Given that they are on the road and performing constantly, there's precious time to let injuries heal naturally. Missing work meant less money, too. Steriods meant that they could heal up quick and keep working.

I admire professional wrestlers a lot. When I was a teen, I used to go to the British wrestling shows, and, through a combination of my dad's bluff and some beer, met some of the wrestlers.

One of the nicest guys I ever met was Dave "Fit" Finlay, who wrestles as Fit Finlay, in WWE. Despite his Belfast Bruiser ring persona, he was (and is) a very kind and gentle man, and very intelligent.

I asked him about being a wrestler, and he told me that it was one of the hardest parts of showbiz. British wrestlers, unlike their American counterparts at the time, made little money, so even a top name like him, wasn't exactly living in the lap of luxury. He said that he was always worried about injuries, and said that he knew several top names who, despite their ring appearances, were living on painkillers, with hands that didn't work properly and hips that hurt. Yet they couldn't stop for fear of getting into debt.

That's why, he said, wrestlers hate people calling what they do, fake. They are literally the hardest working guys and gals in sports entertainment.

Ben