We've just acquired the distribution rights to Christopher Hines’ new documentary “The Adonis Factor,” a follow up to his popular “The Butch Factor,” which aired on Logo. QC Cinema, our queer film label, will be releasing the doc on DVD on October 26.
Chiseled bodies, flawless skin, and sculpted jaw lines. In some gay social circles, these are like holy grails. Hines exposes how some men will go to dangerous extremes for the sake of “the Adonis factor” – the kind of god-like beauty only seen in ancient Greek sculptures. Through countless hours at the gym, medical procedures, and even self-starvation, many men are dedicating – and risking – their lives to attain one thing: physical perfection.
Hines’s search for the cause of this superficial obsession takes viewers on a journey through circuit parties, the set of a gay porn film, and avant-garde fashion photo shoots, all of which promote idealized body images. It seems that as gay men come out of the closet, they face increased pressure to stay manicured. Every “type” — whether bear, twink, or somewhere in between — within the gay community has its own code of beauty, and those who ignore it could risk social isolation.
Yet the rising standards for male beauty are not just limited to gay men.
“It's also a reflection of straight culture, where men are being objectified as never before,” says Hines. “We are a society held together by sexual desire, so obviously looks can be key to a man's self-esteem and his place in that culture.”
Breaking Glass Pictures President Richard Ross also sees this objectification of men as a wide-reaching issue, and notes the crossover potential of the film.
“The gay community is spotlighted,” says Ross. “But everyone will be transfixed by the obsession to be beautiful or ‘be with’ beautiful.”
“The Adonis Factor” premiered to a sold out crowd in June at San Francisco’s Frameline Film Festival and will continue its worldwide film festival tour with screenings at the Oslo Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Atlanta’s Out on Film, and more before its DVD release.
Take a peek at the trailer below, and try not to feel bad about your love handles:
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