I was just watching a television commentary
related to the video documentary, “Pumping Iron.”
I cannot hope to express what needs
expressing here without including a description of the documentary; taken from
the IMDb site:
“From Gold's Gym in Venice Beach
California to the showdown in Pretoria, amateur and professional bodybuilders
prepare for the 1975 Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe contests in this part-scripted,
part-documentary film. Five-time champion Arnold Schwarzenegger defends his Mr.
Olympia title against Serge Nubret, and the shy young deaf Lou Ferrigno, whose
father is his coach.”
In the commentary, Lou Ferrigno is
seated in one of those monogrammed casting chairs and refers to his childhood,
and eventual participation in the “Pumping Iron” documentary.
As a photo of the pre-adolescent
Ferrigno appears on the screen he wears a hearing aid, and the grown up version
of the boy shares his father’s early disdain for his deafness, what his dad
viewed as an imperfection, and what might be described as the love-hate
relationship which developed between the two of them.
And as the previous description of the
documentary infers, Ferrigno’s father takes on the role of his coach; in the
former’s bid to win the Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe contests.
And now we see the young Arnold,
Ferrigno and Nubret “strutting their stuff” before the camera as they mount the
stage, and enact various muscular poses in order to impress the judges.
Pt. 2
Ultimately, the decision “comes down.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger has retained his Mr. Olympia title. The three “giants
among men” take their places on the medals stand. Ferrigno and Nubret to the
left and right of the beaming Schwarzenegger.
After the massive young men step down
from the medals stand, Ferrigno’s father struts up to his son, violates his
personal space, and appears to be “giving him what for.” While this portion of
the film doesn’t include audio, there can be little doubt of the older man’s
feelings about his boy’s second place finish. After the “blessing out,”
Ferrigno turns on his heel, and walks away from the camera.
As the commentary switches back to the
sixty-something Ferrigno, he shares something of a very personal nature with
his audience, and enlightens us about the closing footage of the “Pumping Iron”
segment we have just witnessed. The accent which generally accompanies someone
deaf from birth is obvious.
“I’ve never talked about this before,
but you can tell in that last segment that my father was livid. And in no
uncertain terms he told me,
‘You’re a loser, and I want you out of my
house immediately!’”
I can only wonder whether the younger
and elder Ferrigno ever found a way to reconcile; especially poignant since it
seems obvious that the elder has long since gone on to his reward. (Obviously,
the burden of “making it right” lay with the father, not the son).
During the course of his monologue Lou
F. makes us aware that Arnold S. also struggled with acceptance by his own
father, though few details of that relationship are forthcoming.
It is interesting that the two
muscle-bound giants were not only competitors, but friends, and often trained
together. And, indeed, a couple of segments of that old film footage depicts
this activity. We see them ‘spotting’ one another as they do bench presses; the
most outrageous amount of medal on the bar.
Perhaps they found a bit of mutual
solace in their association.
Pt. 3
As Ferrigno detailed his account of
the way his father reacted when he placed second in the Mr. Olympia contest, I
was almost struck dumb with abject horror at the way that man behaved that day;
(and, no doubt had, for thousands of days which preceded the film segment).
Perhaps, this may account for Lou’s
decision to “make something of himself.” Of course, he went on to shape and
tone his body further, and to star in the television series, “The Incredible
Hulk.”
As for Arnold, the rest, as they say,
is history. Not only was he at “the top of his game” in international body-building
contests, but he became an acclaimed action movie actor, and, ultimately, won
the governor’s race in the great State of California. (Of course, I am not
oblivious to one very poor decision in which he was involved).
As a counselor I have heard the
stories of thousands of men, women and children, and some of these tales have
been nothing less than amazing. Fathers and mothers and their mindless,
demented mindsets and lifestyles, and the way in which they abused their
children, verbally, emotionally, and sometimes physically and sexually.
Of course, as their children moved
through their formative years, and reached adulthood, they were presented with
a choice to emulate the patterns which had been so negatively role modeled to
them, or whether to emulate one particular admonition of scripture.
“Leaving the past behind and turning
to all that Providence has prepared for me.” (Philippians 3:13)
As a Christian therapist I can just
about understand those who have been subjected to such poor behavior choosing
either course of action. However, it is refreshing to see them choose well, and
not ill, to reject the mindsets and behaviors which were once role-modeled for
them, and, in spite of it all, to go on to become people of excellence.
By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 82. Copyright pending
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