Existential Deadlifts: For the Love of Arnold By Geoff Jackson

Later this month I’m going to a SciFi film fest I helped underwrite in Jenkintown. Of nine movies offered, I plan to enjoy five personal favorites. The Hiway Theater will show a doubleheader of Arnold Schwarzenegger flicks on a Saturday night - his 80’s classic TERMINATOR paired with his early-90’s hit TOTAL RECALL. Both are big, dumb action films coupled with old school toxic masculinity, and I love them. That combo’s so out of favor today it’ll be refreshing to revisit it.

Like a lot of dudes growing up in the 1980s, I had a man-crush on The Big Guy. And I still do. Hero worship’s a thing that’s been around since the dawn of time, and Arnold Schwarzenegger was Hollywood biggest hero for over 20+ years.

Who can forget classics like COMMANDO, PREDATOR, and TRUE LIES? He got so big playing these roles, he even made a film called THE LAST ACTION HERO that parodied the genre and entertained audiences with a “meta” experience by being totally self-aware.

But there’s so much more to Arnold Schwarzenegger than his Hollywood image — he’s no prototypical Cro-Magnon man; he’s the “real deal” for many reasons.

Five years ago I read his autobiography, also cleverly titled TOTAL RECALL. In it, Arnold talks broadly about conquering three distinct fields of personal endeavor - bodybuilding, filmmaking, and California state politics. By dint of determination and personal discipline, he succeeded in a way no one else has before or since. (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, you’re getting close. I look forward to your Presidential aspirations!)

Arnold’s real life examples dovetail nicely with another book I read called A Wonderful Life by Frank Martela. The author (a PhD philosopher) discusses finding meaning in certain life pursuits, recommending four specific areas to focus on because they’re basic, universal human needs: autonomy, competence, relatedness, and benevolence. For Martela, fulfilling these things provide a strong sense of personal well-being. I believe Arnold excelled in all of them— so well in fact, he’s now known the world over simply by his first name - ARNOLD (or “Ah-Nuld”)!

How does Schwarzenegger measure up?

Arnold clearly exhibits the values of authenticity and self-expression — doing something so unusual and (to some) almost physically grotesque, transforming a skinny body into a hulking mass starting at 15. Inspired by other weightlifters featured in niche fitness journals, Arnold chose to dedicate himself to something he found uniquely appealing and worth pursuing, even if others couldn’t appreciate it. Doing so clearly required an enormous amount of mastery and dedication — requiring an almost laser-like focus doing something many would find soul-crushingly monotonous — zillions of weightlifting reps — over and over for many, many years. Per Martela, these first two needs (autonomy and competence) relate to connecting with oneself — compromising a private victory of sorts. Yay Arnold!

But the second set of needs — relatedness and benevolence — relate to connecting with others, and The Big Guy’s done well with public victories, too. He helped create a strong sense of belonging and community among what was then considered a fringe group of gym-rat eccentrics. He sold newsletter subscriptions, wrote workout manuals, and competed in worldwide competitions to draw attention to a little-known sport. In his books, he advises readers to help others in their fitness pursuits.

Ultimately I think Arnold shines best as an inspiration in Martela’s final area — benevolence. As mentioned, from his sense of contribution, he hosted and promoted body building events; he also became an early ambassador for the Special Olympics, and helped promote physical fitness under the first President Bush to underserved communities. Arnold’s sense of dedication and contribution ultimately lead him away from Hollywood and into state-level politics (both pursuits fueled by a healthy dose of egotism, I’m sure — not that there’s anything wrong with that …).

Public service is arguably where Arnold best left his mark: spring-boarding from California to championing the need to address global climate change the world over, often publicly tussling with President Trump and the MAGA agenda in order to do so. His leadership on the world stage is indisputable, and he channelled movie stardom and near-universal name recognition into something greater in the service of others.

Social commentators from Ayn Rand to Gene Simmons extol the virtues of idolizing heroes and using them as exemplars of excellence to fuel our own ambitions. Arnold provides a solid example. When not killing mutants on Mars or hiding from aliens in jungles, he gives admirers a template for personal fulfillment, self-actualization, and moral direction — doing things both meaningful for himself and meaningful for others.

For these reasons and more, I believe Arnold Schwarzenegger exhibits some of the best traits we can aspire to ourselves, and those, I think, are the true secrets of his worldwide success.

Geoffrey W. Jackson

March 5, 2023