Mythic Physique The_Muscle_Men

Bring on the Muscle Men Part II

By Oscar Williams-Smith

Sword and Sandal movies were a hit in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The times were changing. The Baby Boom generation was growing up. The Baby Boomers were the Generation born starting nine months after the end of World War II. The post–World War II baby boom took place between the years 1946 and 1964. It was a huge jump in population the effected books and movies and television programs of the days. Most of the top selling Children’s books of last century, Dr Seuss etc were written in the early 1950's while the Boomers were still young. By the late 1950's the Boomers were old enough to go to the movies on their own. These young Boomers were the fans that made 'Hercules' a success in 1957.

The Heroes Named Reeve/s

Steve Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was the man born to play Hercules strong and handsome he looked like one of the stone carvings of Hercules by Michelangelo. By strange coincidence a modern version of the amazingly strong and almost completely invulnerable mythical hero was also played by a man named Reeves in the 1950's.

George Reeves (January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) starred in the TV series "The Adventures of Superman" which aired from September 19, 1952 until April 28, 1958. Even more ironically and actor named Christopher "Reeve" (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) would revive the role of Superman for 1978 movie "Superman" (but more on him later.)

Although Superman is often described as the modern retailing of the Hercules myth, Superman’s full bodysuit is a far cry from Hercules’s peplum. George Reeves as Superman wore a thick padded wool bodysuit costume weighing over 40 pounds. Muscles were added under the costume, however George soon developed an allergy too the early form of latex which was used to pad his chest and shoulders. So in some episodes the padding is missing.

The think wool Superman costume of the 1950’s unlike the modern body hugging spandex movie superhero costumes was as much to protect the virtues of the prudish 1950's audiences as it was to show off Superman's form. Superman’s red trunks and belt were worn high like the men's swimsuits of the day to cover the navel. (The navel was part of the human anatomy that would remain covered, especially on women in film and TV until the late 1960's.)

Superman's costume, which was originally designed 1938 by cartoonist Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and was based on the style of bodysuits worn by circus strong men and acrobats of the day. These athletic performers were forced, by religious groups and community organizations, to hide their well developed bodies from the eyes of the excitable public. These bodysuits were designed to be tight fitting, but not too tight, just enough to show off the human body but not enough to get anyone hot and bothered.

One circus troop was arrested by police in a small town in the Bible belt when it was noted that the bodysuits they were legally required to wear were the same color as human skin. Gasp, Shock, Horror!

Sex and Science in the 1950's

But attitudes about the human body began to change in the 1950's. In 1948 Professor Alfred Kinsey (June 23, 1894 – August 25, 1956) released a book called 'Sexual Behavior in the Human Male' followed by a second book 'Sexual Behavior in the Human Female' in 1953. Nicknamed collectively as "The Kinsey Report," and sold in some book stores, suddenly sex was no longer a taboo subject; it was "slowly" becoming an accepted subject of conversation. Suddenly the superstition around sex was being lifted and replaced by understanding.

But sex still had very real life altering (and life creating) consequences. Then in 1955 this too changed when Dr. Gregory Goodwin Pincus (April 9, 1903 – August 22, 1967) began the first test trail on the “combined oral contraceptive pill”. Know as the “pill”, it was a complete game changer. Suddenly sex was no longer to be feared for its life altering consequences!
It should also be pointed out in the midst of this turbulent decade Hugh Hefner (born April 9, 1926) published the first issue of "Playboy" in 1953. With this magazine Hefner started a lifelong crusade for the open acceptance of sex.

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