Arnold

"Arnold" is a three part, three hour, Netflix documentary series on the life and times of Arnold Schwarzenegger. When I was a teenager, fifteen I believe, I remember watching "The Terminator" in the basement of my father's home with my stepbrother and cousins. The format was VHS and the year was 1985. I thought to myself, this movie is dumb, but it did pull me in. I also thought, this Arnold Schwarzenegger guy, what a meathead. It took a long time to change my mind about Mr. Schwarzenegger. I grew to like him more and more over the years, over many action films. I came to admire his environmental action when he was governor of California. When I finally watched "Pumping Iron" (about seven years ago) I had an all new appreciation of the man. Now this series. This is a warts-and-all portrait - although his infidelity and elevator groping are only dealt with in the last twenty minutes of the series. However, it lands as an ugly stain on the fabric of  Schwarzenegger's extraordinary life - hence, for me, it gave the series some emotional gravitas. I found the series to be fascinating and inspirational (although I don't think at this point in my life I need any inspiration to do the things I love). Catch this documentary series on one of the most influential people in the world of the last half century, now streaming on Netflix.