Adonis Factor, The

Beefcake everywhere you look, and why? "The Adonis Factor" takes to three cities to investigate (primarily Los Angeles, San Francisco and Atlanta, with a side trip to Palm Springs). Director and narrator Christopher Hines is on his second tour of this turf after his "The Butch Factor" in 2009, which was broader in focus. In "Adonis," he asks why big beefy men are the template for 'beauty' and talks to a bunch of them.

He also sidelines with talks with Titan Films, a plastic surgeon, a nude yoga instructor and a bunch of WeHo Twinks (who are all about ten years away from serious therapy). While the Adonises in the film fall into the spectrum of kind of sweet to genuinely annoying, it's the other interviews that shed light on the subject. The Goth Model Clint Catalyst is the most intriguing as a man who discovered his alternative nature and used it to his advantage. The trip to Lazy Bear is almost as interesting. One point I really wish Hines had spent more time on is the aging Colt Model as he muses on becoming the invisible former star. Which is amazing enough in the fact that he still looks like a million beefy bucks.

There are enough beefy men here of various ages (and several of them nekkid) to intrigue the voyeur viewers, but the underlying message is that the subset of A-Listers who cluster with fellow A-Listers aren't always as beautiful as you think. A trip into some smaller cities might have given the film more depth, then again, once goes where the pickings are best. Granted that finding poorly adjusted muscleheads in LA is like shooting sharks in a barrel, "The Adonis Factor" does a pretty good job at balancing the sexy and the smart.

This could have been a thoughtful retrospective on the shaping of male body image. Instead, it's a collection of facile observations superimposed on a constant barrage of voyeuristically-photographed shirtless men.

The key points include:

A. Pretty people are eye-catching.
B. Men are visual creatures.
C. Some gay men are image-obsessed.
D. Some gay men are insecure.
E. There's a feedback loop that results from physical fitness or the lack.

The first half of the movie is primarily interviews with shallow people describing their pressure to mold themselves into whatever physical ideal they feel their peer group demands. We then get a survey of industry practitioners that capitalize on body image: pornographers, a naked yoga instructor, therapists, and the like, followed by an off-key advertorial on medical anti-aging techniques. The film closes with commentary from older gay men who have found ways, whether by choice or force, to make themselves attractive outside of physical beauty.

All well and good, this, but not particularly insightful. What long-term harm might we expect from an overemphasis on appearance? Was it a backlash to the appearance of the AIDS-afflicted in the 1980s, or did the cultural shift begin earlier? To what extent is it reinforced by the fashion industry, or those that would seek to profit from insecurity? Are there parallels with metrosexuality in the straight population?

Grabbing this low-hanging fruit would have made for a vastly more interesting documentary. As-is, I can't recommend it.

This could have been a thoughtful retrospective on the shaping of male body image. Instead, it's a collection of facile observations superimposed on a constant barrage of voyeuristically-photographed shirtless men.

The key points include:

A. Pretty people are eye-catching.
B. Men are visual creatures.
C. Some gay men are image-obsessed.
D. Some gay men are insecure.
E. There's a feedback loop that results from physical fitness or the lack.

The first half of the movie is primarily interviews with shallow people describing their pressure to mold themselves into whatever physical ideal they feel their peer group demands. We then get a survey of industry practitioners that capitalize on body image: pornographers, a naked yoga instructor, therapists, and the like, followed by an off-key advertorial on medical anti-aging techniques. The film closes with commentary from older gay men who have found ways, whether by choice or force, to make themselves attractive outside of physical beauty.

All well and good, this, but not particularly insightful. What long-term harm might we expect from an overemphasis on appearance? Was it a backlash to the appearance of the AIDS-afflicted in the 1980s, or did the cultural shift begin earlier? To what extent is it reinforced by the fashion industry, or those that would seek to profit from insecurity? Are there parallels with metrosexuality in the straight population?

Grabbing this low-hanging fruit would have made for a vastly more interesting documentary. As-is, I can't recommend it.