You’d think that Stephen Amell would be the last person who’d get body-shamed.
The Arrow star basically embodies the physical ideal — at the very least, he embodies the kind of build that every actor on television aims to have.
But that didn’t stop some trolls from opening their nasty mouths (on Twitter), and Stephen was not having it. He even put up a fresh picture to show that he’s still got it — see it below!
This time, they spotted a photo of him on Twitter and had all sorts of nasty comments.
“Looks like you getting a bit of a tummy Stephen.”
“Where is my oliver? He is not fat like that! you need to work out!”
“Is S6 going to be Oliver w a hysterical pregnancy for his moronic crayon-eating kid? Thus the belly? Or is Oliver also eating crayons now?”
It was this photo. …
Prepare to recoil in horror!
Oh, wait, that was just a normal picture of an unnecessarily attractive actor during his off-season.
Like, actors don’t usually spend hours at the gym every day when they aren’t filming.
Because they’re people.
And so, very naturally, their bodies can get a little softer.
Stephen’s own rant explains as much:
“So I take two months off after working non stop from July 2014 through April 2017… one photo shows up on the internet…”
Just reading that makes us want to take a nap, but that’s the kind of effort that gave us all of those wonderful salmon-ladder scenes.
“And people take to my timeline to poke fun at my stomach from a long lens photo. Who the sweet (expletive) do you think you’re tweeting at?!”
We don’t know what’s better — that line or the self-censorship.
“For the record, I could step into the GA suit today & kick more ass than I did on Ninja Warrior. So take your shitty tweets elsewhere.”
He then clarifies that everyone should read those tweets in his Green Arrow voice.
And then, in response to a joking jab from his cousin, Robbie Amell, Stephen posted this photo yesterday, showing off his abs.
Yeah, not that anyone deserves to be body-shamed …
(Because we’re all trapped in our meat prisons until technology gives us built-to-order bodies)
… but, like, how how out of your gourd do you need to be to go after Stephen Amell’s amazing torso?
Basically, we’re thinking that these are people who don’t really know how bodies work or how exercise changes the body when it comes to building muscle mass.
But it’s important to remember that all versions of Stephen Amell are good:
Soft, off-season Stephen Amell.
Hard, Green Arrow Stephen Amell.
Also baby-faced, butt-showing Stephen Amell from Dante’s Cove.
Even if Arrow can sometimes be more soap opera-y than I like my superhero media, Stephen Amell is a treasure.
And honestly, I still like Arrow anyway.
Unrealistic expectations of people’s bodies, whether you’re dating them or watching them on TV, can be toxic.
Some would argue that Stephen Amell somehow brought this on himself by “promoting unrealistic beauty standards” on Arrow.
But they’d be wrong.
An actor’s duty to look a certain way ends when they aren’t on camera or at any contracted promotional obligations.
Hand models can wear gloves when they’re off-duty. Lingerie models can bundle up.
And yes, Stephen Amell look like a soft-but-still-very-fit human being when he’s not playing archery parkour for The CW.
Viewers will be seeing plenty of Stephen Amell when Arrow Season 4 kicks off next month.
But they won"t be seeing much of the actor on social media for a bit, not after Amell stuck his attractive foot in his handsome mouth this week.
In response to the Ahmen Mohamed scandal this week, in which a 14-year old was detained by police in Texas because teachers mistook a homemade clock for a bomb, Amell Tweeted the following:
"Stereotyping Texas isn’t any better than stereotyping Ahmed. Just so we’re clear."
The message prompted some major backlash from those who believed Amell missed the point of this controversy, to which initially defended himself with a few follow-up Tweets:
I can"t believe I broke my rule and tweeted about an actual event. Staggering to remember that debates in 140 characters don"t work.
What happened to Ahmed was terrible. Obviously.
I happened to read a series of tweets pronouncing that this is a systemic problem in Texas, which is also profiling.
It"s profiling in a much less hurtful / destructive way… but it is profiling.
