I. Thesis (topic + statement)
The side effects of being American. Bigger, Stronger, Faster is a documentary that on the surface appears to cover the use of steroids, but also goes deeper into modern American life. Steroids aren’t the problems, but a symptom of our culture. The real topic this documentary goes into is the cultural problem in America of being the first and on top. As well as “cheating” in sports and the role of medicine, always circling back to Christopher Bell and his family as an example.
In this movie bell covers the topics of medicine, but not the health costs, he covers the moral consequences. While he does not condone these behaviors, he does not accept them either. His movie is built entirely off facts and other people’s…show more content… That claim either being for or against steroids. The first person interviewed who was for steroids was John Romano the Senior Editor of Muscular Development. Romano is no doctor, but he uses common sense to counter the news’ reports. He claims that steroids are a “boon” in the medical world. He goes on to say that they are a miracle drug for people with deficiencies and help people recover.
The second person who defends steroids with evidence is Dr. Charles Yesalis who has published over 70 articles on steroids and is a top expert on drugs in the world. When asked are steroids killing people, he replies, “Steroids have been used in medicine since the late 1930’s, I hope we haven’t been killing people. Can they be used safely? Yea.”
Continuing on from Romano’s “miracle drug claim”, he interviews Jeff Taylor who has HIV and claims that steroids saved his life. Taylor said, “Back in 92’ I was left with two T cells, I developed PCP phenomena, and both my lungs collapsed, I almost didn’t make it.” He researched into medicines, and found a study for steroids which he signed up for and responded “amazingly”. He says he gained his weight back and went back up to 300 T