this is the barry we knew.
this is barry now.
as you can see, there is a big, buff difference. we are all here for the thrill of a good workout, but someone just forgot to tell us that barry got buff?? as can be seen in our commentary for brad's status (located on our insta), there is a genuine startle when (switching to third person) katie has to break the barry-buff news to annie. clearly, katie had a clue in barry's new workout regimen, understandably starting - or at least heightening - around the time he did the eternals, but annie did not know. (out of third person) hence this huge shock, we felt it necessary to discuss it here, in our sidenotes.
to begin our discussion, let's take another look at the photo to your left <--------------------------------
this is a person in distress. this is a person in distress to hear how another small boi started bulking. now, we don't want to give off the impression that we are shamming barry keoghan for his choice to build muscle on his bod. at the same time, we want to take this time to address something that we feel is very important:
❌stop❌ shaming the small-bois!!!!
sure the muscle-y, broad boy look is supposed to be reflective of an all-american standard, despite its conflicting fact the u.s. struggles with obesity. heck, they got captain america all hunk-ed out. but these aren't the expectations we, as a society, should be setting. that said, on the other hand, the expectations that society puts on women are far more severe and absurd, but we will start by just addressing the men in this sidenote. men, stereotypically, only listen if they are mentioned or involved, so let's start with them. (but please note, that we are not shying away from acknowledging the false and unachievable body images that women have to live with on the daily. that shiz is very aggravating, and we take it uber seriously. it just deserves its own place and not just slapped in the midst of the buff-barry sidenote). with that said,
LET'S BREAK IT DOWN
sorry to break some hearts, but the cappy (captain america) you see above, isn't the real cappy.
^^^^this is the real cappy. the before and after. the look at what is there before the hollywood machine gets a hold. sure, this is a transformation for his role, but it's for a role of a role model. captain america is a hero to many, and his spotlight is only further promoting this ripped bod. luckily for him, his body works with the additional muscle. he doesn't look like a walking 'wtf', but this isn't the first time this has happened. and people aren't always this lucky with their results.
we all remember troy bolton. oh, the simple troy bolton days, when all you had to worry about was if scrawny troy could be with gabriella. but much like our hearts during the tragic "gotta go my own way", after zac efron left disney, our eyes couldn't prep for what happened next. zac went from b-ball troy to botched ken doll - and it started with the bod before the face. gaining a role in the 2017 baywatch film, zac had to lose what was left of that scrawniness. that resulted in training and lots of it. 'til the point that he didn't even look real. his body, like a typical body builder's, looked fake. are those muscles?? or are those plastic??
at the same time as troy is roid-ing, we can't forget to mention our tweety birds. those like timothée chalamet have brought in the fad for peg legs and lanky bods. this may give the chance to counter whatever massiveness is happening above, but there are still some isswas (issues). for one, not everyone is born a green bean, and most boys broaden out at a certain age. two, timothée has it easy. he has that indie boy vibe going for him, but, if you aren't in for the indie boy look, you don't cut it for being that lean. as our dad has informed us, if you are just a gawky guy, you can be picked on. it's stuck around this stupid idea that when the first boy, from early on as middle school, starts hitting the gym, you should too. like we said above, a good workout is great, but the peer-pressure around workouts shouldn't be enforced. some guys are meant for a small bod. that's not their fault. that's just how their body is. zac efron's body was definitely better off being slimmer. likewise, if timothée chalamet became the hulk all of a sudden, we think the world might shutter.
honestly, we shouldn't give a rip about this. if barry wants to be buff, then, barry, you do you. but we are going to do us, and that apparently means nosing our way into your business and having a care about you bulking out all of a sudden. we just want the small bois not to feel like they have to throw the weights on the ground at the gym to make a point that they are manly or something. that's gross. why can't small bois just be small?? are we even making any sense??
sorry if we aren't, and you just wasted your time reading this 🤦♀️
-- the twins, xo