‘Bigger, Stronger, Faster*’ is a surprising documentary in several respects. Hardly a clinical look at the use and allure of anabolic steroids, the 105-minute documentary, written and directed by Christopher Bell, examines the myths and obsessions of a nation’s simultaneous love and vilification of muscle-bound heroes. Bell not only chronicles his childhood heroes — athletes, Olympians, wrestlers, celebrities, actors — and their use of steroids but also his two brothers.

The film will be screened in a public program Tuesday, March 31, at 7 p.m. in the City Library auditorium. Sponsored by the SLC Film Center, the presentation will include a Q&A with Olympic gold and silver medalist Derek Parra, the speedskater who was among the stars of the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City.

The 2008 film is part of the center’s ongoing Ripped from the Headlines series. The film earned a fair bit of critical acclaim. “You will leave ‘Bigger, Stronger, Faster*’ vastly more informed about the chemistry of a wide array of performance-enhancing drugs,” Reyhan Harmanci, film reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote. “You will also be forced to think deeply about the concept of ‘performance-enhancing’ in America, and why we require our (mostly male) heroes to be clean, pure, built like Mack trucks and winning at all times, without ever noticing the impossibility of those dictums.”

Similarly, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times picks up on Bell’s focus which is less about the widely cited effects of steroid use than it is about the values we pin on the debate. “We are devout in Congress but heathens in the grandstands,” Ebert writes. “That is one of Bell’s messages, and the other is that steroids have become demonized far beyond their actual danger to society. Which side do you vote on? Chris Bell marks his ballot twice: Steroids are not very harmful, but by using them, we reveal a disturbing value system.”

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