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| It was a few years ago, (prior to John Kennedy Jr.'s untimely death on July 16, 1999) that Kellie Everts was watching a tv interview of MARIA SHRIVER: subject, her book on facing death, published Feb. 15, 1999, "What is Heaven?" They chatted and the interview was most telling. What caught Kellie's attention, had nothing to do with the book, but when Maria talked about Arnold. She said, as soon as people would meet her, they would say, 'WHAT IS ARNOLD LIKE?' And as she said this, SHE WINCED.
Kellie understood that wince. She, also, whenever it was mentioned that she knew Arnold, would wince. What could she say? If she told someone the dark side of Arnold they looked at her like she was crazy. I mean this is a hero. He's good looking, talented, rich, and so on. Your image is you, as far as the public is concerned. They go by image and image is CREATED by public relations. The TRUTH can seem so weird that it's a lie.
Thirty years later, the hate wore off and vision descended. Kellie Everts finally understood how love and hate can be INVERTED. The more you love, the more you hate. The sting of rejection corresponds to the strength of the desire. Kellie Everts had dealt with a lot of pain, and it wasn't only from Arnold. It was the whole setup of male bodybuilding. It was a Club, a Fortress of easy assumptions about male supremacy and female inferiority. Arnold was part of the bigger picture of Patriarchy and he fitted in nicely. The only thing he was fighting was the other guys. With men it was who had the biggest muscles; like saying who has the biggest car, the biggest bank account and biggest dick. Beat out the other guys and you're the King of the Hill. And Arnold was King. Kellie wasn't struggling with the Arnold affair alone, nor with her supremacy over other women. The niche given Kellie was something so comprehensive, that no one would see it until it was over. It was like God sent an Angel with a Key, and this Key was put in her hand. She didn't see the Angel nor the key, but she worked by instinct. This instinct surfaced in other projects which changed the world. (Which will be explained elsewhere.)
The Angel with the Key was concerned with God's Will, not human emotions. God's plan had to do with the ENTIRE WORLD and that was what mattered. We are but pawns in the hands of Fate, if you will. It's hard for us mortals to see the big picture, but when we see it, we find Peace. And what was the big picture? Men could not perceive the idea of women's bodybuilding and they tried to control it when it started. And so, it would not work to go to the Big Man, Joe Weider. What did he have to do with Feminism or Female Empowerment? Nothing. He had everything to do with Patriarchy and Male Empowerment, the status quo. Can you imagine Kellie, (if she could have articulated it at the time, ) going up to Joe Weider and saying the following, "Hey,
Babe. I think you've got it wrong. Women have muscles too. It wouldn't happen. But it could and did happen with the world media, albeit God sneaked it in on them, also. It was all a spoof, but the public took it seriously. When Kellie was asked to flex muscles for Esquire, she felt they were trying to make a fool out of her. Ten years later, she called the editor and asked him to do a retrospect. His answer, "These are more serious times." God sneaked it in on them letting them see it as a joke. They thought people would laugh. Except they didn't. Some men squirmed, like, what are you trying to prove? But women reporters admired the concept. Much of the media which came to Kellie tried to chuckle, like on the Mike Douglas show, a comedian had her crawl into a tent with him and made the sides of the tent buckle in and out: "Me big hunter catch woman body builder and go bang bang." Lots of silliness went on for Kellie and Arnold as well, but they had this in common - they fought back. On one show Arnold did, after a great demonstration of his prowess, the female audience was asked what they thought about Arnold. This was around 1976. Many of them pooh-poohed the idea of huge male muscles. Some even said, (like Jackie Kennedy...of all people...he was going to marry into their family... people always say what's politically correct... after all, muscle men are not the power brokers of the world.... Women want men's muscles in their brains and in their bank accounts, not on their bodies)...some even said they were NOT TURNED ON by huge muscles!
Arnold fought back. Kellie had never seen a man on tv that pissed, certainly not a body builder! (Most body builders, believe it or not, were rather timid and fearful when it came to talk...that was never a problem with Arnold...he used bodybuilding as a stepping stone to get to higher ground... later he said bodybuilding was a joke... meaning it was not an end to itself.) He told the women they didn't know what a real man was! And this, in English not completely perfect. But he made his point. When he told off the women you could feel the outrage, "This ain't the way it usually goes. You don't tell off an audience this way." In later years, Kellie told off many an audience and even a host here and there. So Arnold knew pain and Kellie knew pain, but yet, they were at cross purposes. Arnold's mission was Arnold. Kellie's mission was Female Empowerment. They both got what they wanted. The DESIRE TO WIN was super eminent in both characters. When Arnold succeeded, it was for Arnold. There was a niche for the next great macho man to fill up. There had been Errol Flynn and Clark Gable, and then John Wayne. Sylvester Stallone had skyrocketed to fame in a short time when Arnold came on the scene. Arnold knocked him out of the water. Arnold did not have to change culture to become the next macho star. He had to prove he was the right man for the right role, and he did. We all get what we pray for. Did Kellie get left behind or did she win? If you consider HER GOAL which coincided with the bigger picture God wanted, she had won. She herself did not benefit greatly from body building. Other people got the fame and fortune. She lived for a long time in poverty watching it grow. Everyone made money but her, everyone got recognition while she was forgotten. But what was happening to the world? The image of women changed forever. Women were stronger, wherever you looked. She and God had won. Maria Shriver had just finished her piece on Kellie Everts for PM Magazine, Baltimore. She now took Kellie aside into the production van and said softly, "TELL ME ABOUT ARNOLD."
Kellie almost choked. When she first met Maria Shriver had said her boyfriend was a bodybuilder. Kellie said, "Who?" Maria said, "His name is Arnold." Kellie gasped. "Arnold SCHWARZENEGGER?" Maria said yes. Kellie could not believe Arnold went for a woman so plain. This was how Maria portrayed herself that day. No makeup and baggy clothes. Kellie secretly thought, "He had a fling with her and she's probably taking it more seriously than he."
As Maria asked the question, Kellie understood. Stars were in her eyes. It was LOVE. And Arnold had steered Maria to Kellie. He did not oppose, mess up or bash the program - he facilitated it. Not having a mean bone in her body, Kellie had to make up a silly story. She could not say anything to put Arnold down. Maria kind of sighed like, "Oh, that's all?" Nothing juicy there. What memories! If only Kellie knew she was talking to a FUTURE GOVERNORS WIFE! AND THE GOVERNOR WOULD BE ARNOLD!
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