Man 2 Man: A Gay Man's Guide to Finding Love

The 16th Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival brings Christopher Hines's latest film Man 2 Man: A Gay Man's Guide to Finding Love to audiences of the Emerald City. You may recall Hines's previous works featured at prior SLGFF's, The Butch Factor in 2009 and The Adonis Factor in 2010.  This latest installment explores the topic of gay men struggling to find long-term romance in the digital age.  

Through interviews with gay men currently looking for the "one" and discuss the struggles they find from within the community and themselves.  Also featured are a married couple from Massachusetts who discuss the methods they have used over their long-term relationship, including being sexually non-monogamous for a period of time, only to return to being exclusively monogamous.

The documentary also provides a brief history of how gay men have traditionally and currently seek out relationships, including how gay men are often early adopters of new technology to that end.  The founders of Manhunt, Grindr and MyPartner.com provide interviews how they came to found their companies and how they feel they are impacting the gay community.    

Possibly the most informative part of the documentary is the statistical data which indicates that 80% of gay men are seeking a long-term relationship, but only 1/3 have found one.  The reasons for this according to the experts can include a variety of factors, with one of the main ones being childhood isolation that many gay men experience.  

Since there are fewer accurate representations of gay life growing up, gay men often undergo a second adolescent sexual awakening once they come out.  The result is that in comparison to their straight counterparts, gay men are starting long-term relationship game late.  However, the interpersonal issues facing gay couples are virtually identical to those of straight couples, according to the experts in the film.

While Man 2 Man may be intended as a film for gay men to better understand themselves, Hines has created a film that can provide a greater understanding to both gay and straight audience alike.  This is why it is worthy of being one of the Filmfreak Mafia's picks.