13th
Body images, realities and numbers, an example
Given my recent cosplay post combined with a conversation from last night I figured I’d share with you a fun factoid on the power of movie magic and perception. Also, probably a good lesson for all on the “OMG if I lift weights I’m going to look like a monster!!!” myth.
Here’s my cosplay from this summer, the super-macho Salt from A little snow fairy sugar:
Believe it or not, my height matches, within an inch (I’m 5’8”-5’9”, he’s 5’9”-5’10”, see edit note), and my weight matches (if not is slightly more than), to the error level of my scale (200 pounds), this guy:
Edit: A more knowledgeable tumblr than I (many thanks) pointed out Tom Hardy’s height is 5’9”-5’10”; I must have read his vital stats from a bad source. I’m somewhere taller than 5’8”, so I rounded down for the sake of a closer example there, so I’m within an inch or so… carry on, my bad…
Now, there’s some body composition differences, but we’re fairly close in muscle:fat by the looks of his midsection. He probably worked his chest/traps/upper body more for the role than his lower (since that’s what’s showing in the film) and it would surprise me if he’s using creatine for larger muscles for filming, but one would assume someone in a movie like Bane would in real life be some hulking monster. Granted, I’m a bit big to cosplay Salt, but still, it kinda goes to show the power of Hollywood production in making people huge, versus the reality of these people with you put them in normal clothing.
(Also, the obligatory shot at BMI goes here: by the numbers, we’re both medically obese. Not overweight, obese, according to BMI charts. Just saying…)
Of course, this becomes a bit more obvious when you take an image of him before post-production kicks in:
So, the morals of this story: ladies and gentlemen, don’t be afraid of lifting weights, seriously. I can squat 300, bench 180 and press 160, all for reps. In theory I’m nearly as big as this guy is. But the reality is you’re not going to be some sort of monster. More importantly, don’t let Hollywood image and magic discourage your self-image of your body - they have much better post-production budgets than you do ;)
