Arnold Schwarzenegger had many lives. Monsieur Univers then Monsieur Olympe in the 1960s and 1970s, he became a Super star from the big screen in the 1980s, reigning almost unchallenged at the box office until the middle of the following decade. His domination fading, this Austrian of origin, naturalized American in 1983, reinvented himself as a politician by becoming governor of California in 2003. Bodybuilding, cinema and politics: three “lives” that are explored in as many episodes the docuseries Arnold, directed by Lesley Chilcott for Netflix. Back to one of the most improbable, but essential, emblematic figures of popular culture.
Improbable because, as he himself likes to laugh at with the satisfaction of someone who has won his bet, this immigrant “with an unpronounceable name” afflicted with a matching accent, had nothing to succeed in Hollywood. .
Nothing, except his body. By sculpting it as a teenager, Schwarzenegger “forged his destiny”. In the first episode, Schwarzenegger evokes his alcoholic and violent father, who had returned from the war, the subsequent alcoholism of his brother, who died drunk at the wheel, and above all, his desire to flee and realize the “American dream”. His main motivation for each challenge taken up? To be told that “it is impossible”.
Throughout, with a rather disarming frankness, he admits having for a time turned his back on his family, later reconnecting with his mother, to whom he attributes his perfectionism.
superhuman hero
However, at the time Schwarzenegger broke through in Hollywood, his body matched the image of power promoted by President Ronald Reagan. A real estate millionaire for having invested all his earnings there upon his arrival in the United States in 1968, Schwarzenegger shared Reagan’s capitalist vision.
As Dave Saunders notes in his book Arnold: Schwarzenegger and the Movies “Nowhere else, and at no other time than in the days of Reagan (not unapologetically a former limited-record actor) could Schwarzenegger have conquered the United States, and by extension the world. , as he did. »
After the human antiheroes of the 1970s played by Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino and others, make way for the oiled superhuman heroes of the 1980s embodied by Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger (who return in the second episode to their rivalry of yesteryear). His first big success, Conan the Barbarian (Conan the Barbarian1982), works because Schwarzenegger has, quite literally, a cartoon physique.
Even his accent eventually turns into an asset, a “trademark”. Director James Cameron contributed to it in 1984 with terminator. The robot from the future that the actor encamps there is almost mute, but his rare replies hit the mark: “ I’ll be back (“I will come back”) has entered the annals.
In his subsequent films, Schwarzenegger would require screenwriters to take the same approach to “killer lines.”
At the same time, this slightly rough “muscular gentleman” began to mingle with what the United States has closest to royalty: the Kennedy clan. In a relationship since 1977, Maria Shriver (niece of JFK) and him wedded in 1986 during a hypermediatised marriage.
In the cinema, Commando To predator, the action successes continued. Fearing shortness of breath, Schwarzenegger saw fit to change his image. In 1988, he formed with Danny DeVito a strange couple of non-identical twins in Twins (Twins), his first comedy and highest-grossing film to date, grossing US$216 million worldwide. It would now alternate the two registers.
In 1990, he was simultaneously an amnesiac spy on Mars in the science fiction thriller Total Recall (Journey to the center of memory) and a policeman passing for a kindergarten teacher in comedy Kindergarten Cop (Kindergarten Cop). Both films topped the box office. In 1991, Terminator 2, where he reunited with James Cameron, grossed US$520 million, a record that year. This time Schwarzenegger played the nice guy. Rebelote with Cameron, as a secret agent eager to win back his wife, for the action comedy True Lies (true lie), which pranced at the counters.
However, subsequent years saw its popularity decline. Open-heart surgery twice in a row on the same day, he did not tour for two years, returning in 1999 with End of Days (The end of time), between thriller, horror and action: honorable recipes. Nevertheless, the time had come to take up new challenges.
Gray areas and contradictions
The arrival in politics of Arnold Schwarzenegger surprised no one. Governor – or “Governator” as he was nicknamed – from 2003 to 2011, he proved to be a moderate Republican who was not afraid to annoy his party, for example by appointing, said the documentary, “an openly lesbian Democrat,” Susan Kennedy, in the key position of chief of staff.
He disappointed the LGBTQ+ community by voting against same-sex marriage, despite having been a celebrant in gay civil unions. In 2015, he reversed his position and publicly rejoiced at the legalization of marriage for all across the country: the “ Hasta la vista », his famous line of Terminator 2which he served on Twitter to a homophobic follower, went viral.
The third episode of the docuseries is in this case fascinating for anyone interested in American politics. We are indeed entitled to a revealing behind-the-scenes look, with the participation of former employees and journalists who are not at all complacent. We think of Carla Hall, of Los Angeles Times, which looks back on its investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct made by several women. After apologizing at the time without admitting anything, the ex-governor now claims to have acted badly, and that nothing justifies his past behavior. He speaks frankly about his extramarital affair and the child born of it.
We will accept his renewed apologies or not, in the same way that we will believe or not in the sincerity of his remorse, but the fact remains that here, Schwarzenegger does not slip away. Man’s gray areas are highlighted by the director, as are his contradictions: an ardent defender of the environment, he helped popularize Hummer pollutants, among other examples.
All of this allows Lesley Chilcott’s production, however “authorized” it may be, to transcend hagiography. This, while, on Netflix too, Schwarzenegger tastes success again with the series Fubar (VF) where, with self-mockery, he summons the memories of Commando and of True Lies as a retired secret agent who discovers that his daughter has the same job.
Anywhere Anytime
In his work Why Arnold Matters: The Rise of a Cultural IconMichael Blitz concludes:
“It’s not just that he transformed from bodybuilder to businessman to box office freak to politician; on the contrary, it is simultaneously and impossibly everywhere in our culture at all times. Arnold Schwarzenegger defines the essence of the American dream at a time when Americans have had to recognize the vulnerability and near impossibility of this dream. »
At 75, Arnold Schwarzenegger reaffirms his desire to be useful. How ? The answer may lie in his viral videos, whether he calls out to the Russian people to denounce Putin’s war in Ukraine, or whether he supports the global vaccination effort during the pandemic. Arnold Schwarzenegger, influencer? Or rather: Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Influentor”.