Are gay men born gay? It seems the evidence says they are, but if that’s the case, how could same-sex attraction, a trait that prevents reproduction, evolve into the human race and survive generations of history? This question boggles the mind of proudly gay filmmaker Bryce Sage, who sets out on a cross-country adventure to understand the science of homosexuality and uncover the truth.
The film follows Bryce on a fabulous expedition across the globe, as he seeks answers from top scientists. He first goes to Chicago and gets into testing of his penile erection after watching few videos and similar test is done for his brain scan. Bryce's arousal pattern and MRI results are unsurprising in that he perfectly fits the homosexual profile. But The documentary wants to focus more on evolution. He interviews a range of experts from zoologists to anthropologists, each with their own intriguing theories as to why homosexuality has survived natural selection. His quest takes him to a farm where he meets a woman researching on gay goat. He also travels to Samoa, where people don't accept openly gay men but acknowledge the third gender. We see his talks with multiple doctors and scientist around theories of nature vs nurture, science, genetics, chromosome theory etc. I am not sure it finds an answer but at just under an hour, the pace is fast and going are funny and entertaining.
One of the obvious things that stand out in this documentary is that the sole focus is on males. No discussion is done on lesbians or bisexuals or any other gender or sexual orientations. You don't really get to learn a whole lot about evolution of gay men from an overall perspective but its reassuring ,multiple times that there is a whole lot of science involved in all this. Its just that we do. Not yet understand the whole spectrum. Th biggest triumph of the documentary is its lively and engaging narration , which is huge win and a big part of that is due to Bryce's personality and enthusiasm. Mixing scientific facts, personal story touches, multiple travels etc make this one for an interesting watch. Don't expect anything ground breaking really. (6/10)
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