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Disappointing portrayal bodybuilding short film - Gain (2021)

Millard

Millard

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So I enjoy watching indie short films and I came across this 25-minute film about bodybuilding. Sure, I normally expect these types of projects to be filled with anti-steroid propaganda and/or negative stereotypes. I read that the actor/producer Daniel Stisen had been involved in the bodybuilding community for a couple decades. Ok, I suspended judgment hoping that the portrayal of bodybuilding and steroid use wouldn't be as bad as mainstream films.

I was disappointed. The film protagonist is a caricature of the no-personality, one-dimensional bodybuilder. The steroid use isn't even realistic - he meets his steroid dealer in a shady back alley drug deal; he requested to double to an extreme dosage which is apparently only 2 ampules of testosterone; and we are told will hurt his bedroom performance and requires a complimentary viagra. The steroids seemingly play a role in tragic destruction of his romantic relationship too. There are cautionary tales of steroid use that could be told. This isn't one of them. It only serves to demonize the substances.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j8vydcooPA
 
Upsetting and disappointing.

Upsetting as it was sensational rather than informative. Disappointing just in the sense that the story was slow and uninspired. Generally on a film like this at least the passion for the subject shines through. This film seemed to be lacking any real value.
 
The one you are thinking was an afterschool special with Ben Afflec lol.Worst protrayal of roid rage ever lol
 
I skipped through this, but what the fuck. That was really, really bad. I mean the protagonist was boring as fuck and a complete idiot. There was SO much in there even just skipping around that made no sense.

Why was the girlfriend puking? Is she bulimic or something?

Why are they even in a relationship? They seem miserable. I didn't waste my time watching the whole thing, but it didn't seem like there was any allusion to any message of "before he started steroids they were so happy." The only thing he has to say at dinner is "I did 6 reps of 200 today." And then she just sits there and somehow he gets to, "Our relationship is great, we have sex, we hang out, I gave you a key, (as though that is such a huge deal nowadays) what more do you want?" How stupid is this guy? Like what an asshole.

Then she gets all upset when she finds his fucking TUB FULL of steroids? Like, I have a solid stash, but that seems like an inordinate amount of gear to have laying around under you bed lol.

Any then WHAT THE FUCK did she kill herself at the end in the shower? How mentally unstable do you have to be to fucking kill yourself because your idiot boyfriend is doing steroids?

I will say that the main actress, Péline Liberty, is pretty damn cute. She's got a cute face and a nice body. She's wasting her time on that fucking idiot, in real life she would've moved on already unless she had some weird underlying confidence issue/messed up past that kept her chained to toxic assholes--which is unfortunately far too common in today's society as we still really don't teach women to be strong and independent.

Overall, just really bad/ Shitty story line. Made no sense. The guy was a terrible actor. Just really, really bad. I don't even understand why they wasted their time making this thing.
 
MFAAS said:
I skipped through this, but what the fuck. That was really, really bad. I mean the protagonist was boring as fuck and a complete idiot. There was SO much in there even just skipping around that made no sense.

Why was the girlfriend puking? Is she bulimic or something?

Why are they even in a relationship? They seem miserable. I didn't waste my time watching the whole thing, but it didn't seem like there was any allusion to any message of "before he started steroids they were so happy." The only thing he has to say at dinner is "I did 6 reps of 200 today." And then she just sits there and somehow he gets to, "Our relationship is great, we have sex, we hang out, I gave you a key, (as though that is such a huge deal nowadays) what more do you want?" How stupid is this guy? Like what an asshole.

Then she gets all upset when she finds his fucking TUB FULL of steroids? Like, I have a solid stash, but that seems like an inordinate amount of gear to have laying around under you bed lol.

Any then WHAT THE FUCK did she kill herself at the end in the shower? How mentally unstable do you have to be to fucking kill yourself because your idiot boyfriend is doing steroids?

I will say that the main actress, Péline Liberty, is pretty damn cute. She's got a cute face and a nice body. She's wasting her time on that fucking idiot, in real life she would've moved on already unless she had some weird underlying confidence issue/messed up past that kept her chained to toxic assholes--which is unfortunately far too common in today's society as we still really don't teach women to be strong and independent.

Overall, just really bad/ Shitty story line. Made no sense. The guy was a terrible actor. Just really, really bad. I don't even understand why they wasted their time making this thing.
Click to expand...

Well now i have to watch it. You made it sound too interesting to pass up.

i'll return with cheers or jeers after i check it out. Thanks for the write-up.
 
Being only 25 minutes in length, they didn't have nearly enough time to flesh out the two main characters.

They were able to depict the man's obsession easily enough, but portrayed him as Neanderthal like, which can be seen in the way he eats and interacts. It was taken a step or two too far past simply being self absorbed and selfish.

The girlfriend... again, not enough time to flesh out her character, so she comes off as overly dramatic and mentally ill with that shit ending.

It wasn't nearly as silly as that after school special with Ben Affleck, but that's like comparing diarrhea to a solid turd.

For being "hard core" you would think he wouldn't weigh himself on a scale that's sitting atop thick shag carpeting, but i suppose with the time constraints, attention to small details like that wasn't pertinent to the story.

All in all, i could have used that 25 minutes for something more constructive or educational, but it was worth watching once.
 

MisterSuperGod said:
Being only 25 minutes in length, they didn't have nearly enough time to flesh out the two main characters.

They were able to depict the man's obsession easily enough, but portrayed him as Neanderthal like, which can be seen in the way he eats and interacts. It was taken a step or two too far past simply being self absorbed and selfish.

The girlfriend... again, not enough time to flesh out her character, so she comes off as overly dramatic and mentally ill with that shit ending.

It wasn't nearly as silly as that after school special with Ben Affleck, but that's like comparing diarrhea to a solid turd.

For being "hard core" you would think he wouldn't weigh himself on a scale that's sitting atop thick shag carpeting, but i suppose with the time constraints, attention to small details like that wasn't pertinent to the story.

All in all, i could have used that 25 minutes for something more constructive or educational, but it was worth watching once.
Click to expand...
I think with the time constraints, even greater attention to detail should be made. 25 minutes isn't very long for character development.

I wasn't too keen on how his obsession was defined. He watches bodybuilding videos, he injects steroids, he takes selfies, he works out, he buys steroids, he injects steroids again, and a box of steroids upsets his girlfriend. Steroid-related scenes ate into that 25 minutes. Obviously his AAS use seemed to be primary method for signaling his obsession. I guess it's an easy way to tell this to the viewer since most people are preconditioned to believe AAS = obsession/deviance.
 
MFAAS said:
Why was the girlfriend puking? Is she bulimic or something?

Why are they even in a relationship? They seem miserable. I didn't waste my time watching the whole thing, but it didn't seem like there was any allusion to any message of "before he started steroids they were so happy." The only thing he has to say at dinner is "I did 6 reps of 200 today." And then she just sits there and somehow he gets to, "Our relationship is great, we have sex, we hang out, I gave you a key, (as though that is such a huge deal nowadays) what more do you want?" How stupid is this guy? Like what an asshole.

Then she gets all upset when she finds his fucking TUB FULL of steroids? Like, I have a solid stash, but that seems like an inordinate amount of gear to have laying around under you bed lol.

Any then WHAT THE FUCK did she kill herself at the end in the shower? How mentally unstable do you have to be to fucking kill yourself because your idiot boyfriend is doing steroids?
Click to expand...
Spoiler alert. But not completely. You missed one important detail :D
 
The film's main message according to producer/actor Daniel Stisen:

"I think the film is important since it touches on a few areas that media and films haven’t covered much over the years – the male body image and men’s obsession with getting the perfect body. The increased use of steroids among very young men and teenagers is worrying – many don’t know what they’re doing and don’t think about the long-term consequences of their actions. It also has a message that whatever you do in life, there is a price to pay. The more you push in one direction the price is bigger, and you lose out on other areas in your life. It’s up to you if you are willing to pay that price."
Click to expand...

hollywoodstagemagazine.com

Steroids, social media and obsession: Daniel Stisen stars in new bodybuilding film ‘Gain’ | Hollywood Stage Magazine

hollywoodstagemagazine.com hollywoodstagemagazine.com
 
Well i think he tried to do too much. In a short you cant do that much. You have to chose a aspect and have it hit hard. This made me think of a bad depiction of calum von mogers life. She obviously had some pretty bad issues and so did he, nothing related to steroids.
 
I expected more since the producer was highly involved in competitive bodybuilding for over a decade still considered himself part of the community. I find it hard to believe that many in the community would find this an accurate/realistic depiction/portrayal of so-called obsession. The protagnoist was an asshole, lacked personality, treated his partner like shit, and happened to use steroids. None of which necessarily has much of anything to do with obsession nor is it reflective of a willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed in bodybuilding.

If increasing your weekly steroid dosage from 250mg to 500mg is representative of someone who will do whatever it takes to succeed, that stigmatizes practically everyone who uses steroids as an extremist. This isn't realistic at all. Maybe the misleading info was the intent?

So about Daniel Stisen, he achieved relatively high degree of bodybuilding success at the national level. I'm sure he's seen and been around a lot. And to him, this short film is what obsession boils down to?

IFBB Winner BB of Oslo Open Grand Prix 2002, Juniors
IFBB Runner-up BB SM Open 2003
IFBB Winner of BB Norwegian Championship 2003, Junior.
IFBB Winner of BB Norwegian Championship 2003, Senior.
IFBB Runner-up BB Stavanger Open Grand Prix, 2004, Senior.
IFBB Runner-up BB Norwegian Championship 2004, Senior.
IFBB Runner-up BB Norwegian Championship 2006, Senior.
IFBB Finalist BB Nordic EU Championship 2006, Senior.
IFBB Medalist BB SM open 2009, Senior.
IFBB Winner CBB Norwegian Championship 2013, Senior.
IFBB Arnold Classic Europe CBB Contender 2013, Senior.
 
Millard said:
So I enjoy watching indie short films and I came across this 25-minute film about bodybuilding. Sure, I normally expect these types of projects to be filled with anti-steroid propaganda and/or negative stereotypes. I read that the actor/producer Daniel Stisen had been involved in the bodybuilding community for a couple decades. Ok, I suspended judgment hoping that the portrayal of bodybuilding and steroid use wouldn't be as bad as mainstream films.

I was disappointed. The film protagonist is a caricature of the no-personality, one-dimensional bodybuilder. The steroid use isn't even realistic - he meets his steroid dealer in a shady back alley drug deal; he requested to double to an extreme dosage which is apparently only 2 ampules of testosterone; and we are told will hurt his bedroom performance and requires a complimentary viagra. The steroids seemingly play a role in tragic destruction of his romantic relationship too. There are cautionary tales of steroid use that could be told. This isn't one of them. It only serves to demonize the substances.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j8vydcooPA
Click to expand...

Wtf was that, this looks like like the life in the day of a drug addict rather than a body builder... where’s all the food, and gym scenes!
 
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