Perspective: Arnold Schwarzenegger tries to show Russians a different kind of strongman
Will anyone in Russia actually see this video? After all, the war effort has been buttressed at home by misinformation and media blackouts enforced by Vladimir Putin’s regime. Schwarzenegger seems to anticipate this, saying he’s sending the message through “various different channels,” and encouraging viewers to share it with their Russian friends.
He also seems to anticipate something else: that his international celebrity might count for something here. That he embodies some of the same shirtless physicality as does Putin. And that the people who associate masculine strength with moral authority might be more likely to believe the words — and pass on the videos, through secret channels if necessary — of a man like Schwarzenegger than a man like, say, Joe Biden.The idea of the physical body is the backbone of this entire video.
And it’s present in Schwarzenegger’s opening anecdote, when he speaks of meeting Yuri Vlasov. He chooses to present himself not as the Austrian Oak, but rather as a small, star-struck 14-year-old with “boy hands,” in contrast to Vlasov, who had a “man’s hand that swallowed mine.” He was bowled over by Russian might, and by the strong things he saw a citizen of Russia do.
He knows these citizens have the power to do strong things again. “Let me close with a message to all of the Russians who have been protesting in the streets against the invasion of Ukraine. The world has seen your bravery. … You are my new heroes. You have the strength of Yuri Petrovitch Vlasov. You have the true heart of Russia.”
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