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There are moments in a man’s life that stay printed on the soul like ink on wet paper.
For me, one of those moments happened long before I ever wore a military uniform, stood in an interrogation room, or investigated fraud for corporations.
It began with a Nike shoebox
Growing up under communism, access to the West was not just limited—it was mythical.
Hollywood existed on the other side of the Iron Curtain like an unreachable planet.
Movies came late, in whispers.
Western brands arrived in fragments. The State filtered information, while reality filtered hopes.
So, when I first held an empty Nike shoebox—just the box—I felt like I owned a piece of America.
A piece of the world we were told was bigger, brighter, and stronger. That box was identity, power, and possibility.
And then came Rocky Balboa.
To a boy raised on scarcity and propaganda, Rocky Balboa was not entertainment.
He was proof that ordinary men could rise.
He demonstrated that discipline, sweat, and heart could transform the weak into the extraordinary.
For decades, that belief travelled with me—through war, through 1,800 combat days, through intelligence work, through the trenches of human behaviour. It became part of my
operating system.
But decades later, I realized something devastating:
Rocky was truthful.
Hollywood became a lie.
And that lie has consequences much far darker than disappointment.
It kills people.
Literally.
Like the Russian fitness influencer who died last week attempting a 10,000-calorie viral stunt—another casualty of an industry built on deception, impossible expectations, and the total absence of accountability.
(Reference: NDTV, Nov. 2024— “Russian Fitness Influencer’s 10,000-Calorie Challenge
Turns Deadly”)
Today, we are not simply dealing with entertainment.
We are dealing with a public health crisis masquerading as inspiration.
Hollywood was never built on honesty, but it once understood boundaries.
Today, boundaries no longer exist.
Studios, agents, publicists, and marketing teams now manufacture:
“Natural body transformations”
“Clean lifestyles”
“Hard work only” narratives
polished humility
engineered authenticity
and chemical physiques presented as achievable
These illusions are packaged, monetized, and exported globally—especially to young men who believe they can achieve what is biologically impossible.
The examples are not rumours. They are documented patterns.
Let’s be clear:
The Rock is charismatic, hardworking, and disciplined.
His success is undeniable.
But his physique—especially into his 50s—is not the result of chicken, rice, and “clanging and banging” in the gym.
Longevity at that level of muscle mass, at that age, is scientifically improbable without pharmacological assistance. Sports medicine experts have said this for years.
And yet, The Rock remains silent.
Publicly, he positions himself as natural.
Privately, he benefits from the illusion.
This is not criminal—but it creates a false benchmark that millions of young men try to reach… and fail… and hurt themselves trying.
When leaders create unrealistic standards and hide the truth, it stops being inspiration.
It becomes deception.
In 2022, influencer Brian Johnson, known as “Liver King,” built a multimillion-dollar empire selling ancestral lifestyle supplements. He aggressively marketed himself as 100% natural, claiming steroids were unnecessary if men simply followed his primal doctrine.
However, leaked emails revealed that he was spending over US$10,000 a month on performance-enhancing drugs.
His apology came only after exposure—not conscience.
This is classic fraud psychology:
deny profit, then apologize when evidence becomes overwhelming.
The damage, however, was already done.
Boys and young men had followed his extreme protocols, believing they, too, could achieve superhuman physiques by eating raw organs and sleeping on wooden planks.
Some were hospitalized.
Some developed eating disorders.
Some developed hormonal imbalances.
This is not “fitness culture.”
This is harm.
Zac Efron told the world he achieved his “Baywatch” body through strict training and diet.
But even his coach later stated publicly that Efron’s regimen was “dangerous and unsustainable,” causing him long-term health problems.
Efron himself admitted he spent months recovering from the physical and mental stress of
that transformation.
He never used the word steroids.He didn’t have to.
Anyone with knowledge of sports physiology knows the signs.
And millions of young men still try to copy his “diet” without realizing they’re copying an illusion.
When young men try to reach chemically enhanced physiques naturally, three things happen:
Extreme fasting, dehydration, stimulants, overtraining, and black-market supplements.
Research from the Journal of Adolescent Health shows male body image disorders have increased 300% since 2005—directly linked to media exposure.
This often results in tragic events such as the recent death from a 10,000-calorie challenge.
Behind every viral stunt is an algorithm rewarding extremity.
Behind every unrealistic body is a marketing strategy.
Behind every influencer “inspiration” is someone selling something.
This is where your background in intelligence and social engineering matters, Mario.
Humans chase deception when three conditions exist:
People want someone to emulate.
The illusion of becoming someone “better.”
When society fails to provide purpose, people borrow it from celebrities.
These factors create a parasocial relationship—a one-sided emotional attachment where followers trust the influencer more than they trust themselves.
This is not weakness.It is human nature.
Propaganda works the same way.
Here is the core investigative finding: No one takes responsibility.
And the system is designed that way.
Celebrities blame PR
PR blames “brand strategy.”
Influencers blame followers for “misinterpreting.”
Platforms blame algorithms.
Brands blame consumers.
Consumers blame themselves.
Meanwhile, the victims—the young men and women who believed the lie—suffer quietly.
Some lose their health.
Some lose their mental stability.
Some lose their lives.
And like all modern tragedies, the cycle continues because deception is profitable.
Whenever a celebrity or influencer is exposed for deception, one defence always appears:
“People should know better.”
“Nobody forces anyone to follow them.”
“It’s personal responsibility.”
On the surface, this argument sounds rational.
But academically—and from the perspective of someone trained in intelligence, interrogations, and the psychology of manipulation—this argument collapses under scrutiny.
Influencers design content intentionally to trigger:
desire
insecurity
admiration
urgency
fear of missing out.
This is not “sharing a journey.”
This is behavioural conditioning.
Platforms reward:
bigger bodies
bigger lies
more shocking challenges.
more impossible transformations.
This is not equal exposure. This is algorithmic coercion.
Research from the American Psychological Association shows that young people with low self-esteem or identity uncertainty are 5–7 times more likely to mimic harmful influencer behaviour.
In law, in intelligence, and in ethics:
Failing to disclose material information while profiting from its absence — is deception.
Celebrities who build entire brands on “clean living,” “hard work,” and “all-natural” narratives while privately relying on pharmacological enhancement are not inspiring.
They are misleading by design.
When I studied propaganda under communism, the goal was simple:
Control behaviour by controlling belief.
Today, influencers use the same principles—but voluntarily, for profit.
Hollywood sells:
superhuman masculinity
ageless beauty
perfection without effort.
transformation without transparency
Influencers sell:
shortcut success
extreme diets
pseudoscience
dangerous challenges
miracle supplements
unregulated coaching
And algorithms deliver these messages globally, 24/7, with precision targeting once reserved for state intelligence.
We are witnessing the largest psychological experiment in human history—and most people do not realize they are participants.
Most people would rather not be perfect.
They just don’t want to feel like failures.
But when The Rock, Efron, Liver King, fitness influencers, and Hollywood icons present enhanced bodies as “natural,” society begins to view normal bodies as inadequate.
A study in Body Image Journal found that 72% of men under 30 believe they are “not muscular enough,” despite being medically healthy.
This is not biology.
This is messaging.
And when the message is built on lies, physical and psychological damage becomes predictable.
Your war taught you that human bodies are fragile, mortal, and limited—and worth protecting.
Hollywood teaches the opposite: that the human body is endlessly upgradeable, fixable, and optimizable—even if the optimization requires lies.
Let’s be clear:
People are dying.
Not metaphorically—literally.
Deaths from viral stunts
Including the Russian influencer killed by a 10,000-calorie challenge (NDTV, 2024).
Deaths from steroid toxicity
Several bodybuilders in their 20s and 30s have died due to steroid toxicity.
Deaths from eating disorders
Influenced by extreme diets promoted as “clean wellness.”
Deaths from supplement misuse
Influencers with affiliate links are the driving force behind these deaths.
Deaths from mental health collapse
Body dysmorphia, comparison culture, and parasocial identity loss induce these deaths.
When an industry profits from selling illusions, the casualties are real.
And ground truth—the truth from the battlefield—tells us this:
Deception always costs lives. However, the consequences are not always immediate.
I am not writing this as a critic.
I am writing this as someone who grew up believing in heroes.
I believed in Rocky because he reflected something real:
Rocky embodied hardship, resilience, and a fighting spirit.
Hollywood today reflects nothing real.
Influencers reflect even less.
And yet millions of young men and women look to them for:
identity, purpose, meaning, aspiration, and guidance.
This is the danger.
As someone who spent 1,800 days in war, not as a movie but as a lived reality, I have seen the cost of lies.
I have witnessed what happens when truth is replaced by fantasy.
And today, the fantasy sold by Hollywood and influencers is not just unrealistic—it is harmful.
It tells young men they are never strong enough.
It tells young women they are never beautiful enough.
It tells followers that perfection is available—if they just buy one more product.
It tells ordinary people that success is instant and effortless—only because the struggle has been edited out.
No wonder so many feel inadequate.
No wonder so many chase shortcuts.
No wonder so many lose their mental stability.
You cannot win when you are competing against an illusion.
This is not an article about celebrities.
This is an article about responsibility.
What we need is simple:
transparency
honesty
accountability
regulated claims
truthful marketing
ethical influence
human-first storytellinga
culture where “authentic” means authentic
But we will never get this if we do not first acknowledge the scale of the problem:
Influencer culture has become a global deception marketplace.
And until we confront this, more people will die chasing bodies that cannot exist naturally and lifestyles that are manufactured in boardrooms.
When I was a boy holding that Nike shoebox, I believed in the dream of the West.
Today, I still believe in the dream—but not in the illusions.
The West does not need to be perfect.
Hollywood does not need to be perfect.
Influencers do not need to be perfect.
But they must be honest.
Because a society built on lies will always produce casualties.
And this generation is bleeding from wounds inflicted by deception—not bullets.
Truth, even when it’s uncomfortable, has the power to save lives.
And lies, no matter how inspiring they appear on screen, always demand payment in the
real world.
