Pumping Iron's Dark Side - Arnold's Nazi Past? #bodybuilding #pumpingiron #arnoldschwarzenegger

[Nichole-HP]

" I was always dreaming about very powerful people -- dictators and things like that " - Arnold from pumping iron

[mosesgoldbergshekelstien]

To be fair the Prussian marching songs do get you pumped up and timing the lifts with the bass drum beat is satisfying

[adtjtjdjsj]

I think this has a lot to do with Arnold's father who was a SS officer during the war

[shinysharma]

“So never hide away, Show them the whole thing” -Arnold Schwarzenegger

[williamj.dovejr.]

Arnold was smart as hell to purchase all the footage when he did. He somehow pissed George Butler off something bad...if he never bought them, George probably had enough to torch Arnold's life and career to the ground if he was really serious about it.
However, Butler doesn't have clean hands here...in pictures and the written words, Butler obscured these things because he was friends with Arnold and was very supportive of his goals.
When he was interviewed about Arnold before he won the governor's race and after leaving office, he looked and sounded so bitter...you could feel his resentment and anger in those interviews before he died. Make no mistake, George Butler's hands are not clean in these matters.

[saintlouis]

Arnold was wearing his SS hat when he was plowin his house keeper

[Reg_The_Galah]

The man is Austrian of course he’s going to have some sort of admiration for the guy. Much like how the Mongol people still admire Chinggis Khan, though Chinggis is an absolute chad not going to lie.

[cebukid]

When Arnold said in Pumping Iron that he admired dictators I've always wondered if he was referring to Hitler..this confirms it

[MS-bhuw]

I know this claim was widely circulated in the 80s and prior to that, in the late 70s, just after the film was released. However, the rumors subsided after Arnold set his sights on becoming a major actor, carefully cultivating his image, which led to his political aspirations and a return to film. We all make mistakes in life, and his are pretty ideologically egregious, but he seems to be truly redemptive.

[heavyrightfoot]

Watch "Europa the last battle" might shine a light on this other side.

[makzee]

A biography of Arnold says that before he came to America he was a male prostitute. Which was common in the European bodybuilding scene.

[WhyAreTheyOverHere]

Knowing why virtually all of an artist's speeches were never subtitled because the viewer would see it all actually surrounding him today...
"...but my spirit will rise from the grave and the whole world will know I was right."

[JoaquinBarrios]

I saw some time ago that Arnold is part of the bohemian groove

[eddiebear]

Would it matter if he admired him? He did have great leadership skills, decent artist, great speaker. He just aimed it all in the wrong direction. But there are still things to admire about him.
His father would have brought him up having him believe Hitler was great.

[gregarious]

Well one of the DARKER Sides was when Arnold unethically sued Dan Lurie and when he Unjustifiably Won the 1980 Mr. Olympia.

[FirstnameLastname-tlbq]

lol as if this would change my opinion about him. It says more about how good the ideas are than how bad he is for supporting them

[MelJohnson]

Even if he did, does that disclaim everything he achieved in his career?!

[ashton]

Arnold says in the documentary that he has a strong admiration for dictators. He’s also from Austria.

[Broccoli_Highkicks]

Well, the dude looked up to Richard Nixon, ffs.
Having said that, can we acknowledge that it is possible for people to grow and change? He's been very active for charity in recent years, rejected Trumpism, called out toxic internet trolls... Maybe a person's life is more complex than tawdry sensationalism and hearsay would suggest.

[LUTIE]

Didn't really need it. Arnold said in the film that was actually released that as a child, he admired various dictators, so 🤷‍♂️