Depending on your perspective, Zyzz may be viewed as an early “lookmaxer”—even though the term had not yet been coined—or as one of the early influences on the online manosphere.
“I really see this as a cautionary tale,” Poster Boy director Selina Miles told WIRED. She explains that Zyzz’s rapid rise and premature death had a lasting impact on Australian millennials, while his influence continues to shape online fitness culture. “There was a change in him, and his story resonated with a lot of people,” she says. “We have to remain curious about why. Why did he have such an impact on men?”
Featuring archival footage of Zyzz, interviews with his close friends, and conversations with his older brother, Saeed Shavershyan, who remains a professional bodybuilder, the documentary examines Zyzz’s enduring appeal during a major transformation in digital communication. When he began sharing videos online, few people could have predicted the influence YouTube—launched in 2005—or Facebook would have on fame, fitness, and financial opportunity.
Zyzz’s earliest videos were informal recordings of teenagers spending time in their bedrooms. He and his friends later began showing off their physiques at music festivals, clubs, and other nightlife venues, hoping to provoke a reaction. That blend of bodybuilding, online performance, and controversy helped establish Zyzz as an early internet fitness celebrity.
Courtesy of Stan
Although Zyzz promoted self-improvement, confidence, and support among men pursuing a stronger physique, he also became known for confronting people who criticized him online or in public. Phrases such as “Are you mad?” and “Come here, bro” became closely associated with his public persona. He also appeared to recognize how conflict could generate attention, reportedly using staged or fake social media activity to intensify disputes with his critics.
“He created a Facebook page that said, ‘If you get 10,000 likes, I’m going to knock Zyzz out,’” Miles recalled, describing an episode that did not appear in the final documentary. “When the page was doing well, he renamed it to promote his protein brand.”
As his online profile grew, Zyzz’s public rhetoric also became increasingly homophobic and misogynistic, including comments that demeaned people who did not fit his idealized image of physical perfection. A 2010 post on his Facebook page declared, “I’d rather die than be ‘normal.’”
The documentary shows that Zyzz eventually attracted more followers on Facebook than Australia’s prime minister at the time, highlighting the scale of his influence during the early era of social media celebrity.
Behind the confidence and bravado, however, Zyzz appeared unprepared for the psychological pressures of fame. He used anabolic steroids to develop his highly muscular physique and was part of a group of fitness personalities known as the “Aesthetics Crew.” He also reportedly took Xanax to manage stress and paranoia, particularly after being harassed and confronted in public by young men looking for fights.
Source: www.wired.com