Notes on the Videos of Sadie Benning

“I’ve been waiting for that day when I could walk the streets and people would look at me and say, “That’s a dyke.” And if they didn’t like it, they would fall into the center of the earth and deal with themselves”
“Me and Rubyfriut” The videos of Sadie Benning

“If Every Girl Had a Diary” In this technically well done video the eyes of the character start to portray a face, without a mouth. You are looking at a lesbian, facing this queer person who is coming out without showing her mouth. In Benning’s videos she often uses metaphor. In one shot she closes shutters to hint at her friend becoming a Nazi, closing herself up to this fate. This work inspired me to think of using B-roll for Symbolism when making TQ.
Benning’s use of place, being stuck behind the bars on her window, an empty couch to signify aloneness, all set the stage for these deeply emotional interactions with the camera. We the viewer become her diary. The single hand to gesture as she speaks was mesmerizing to watch. Benning shares a story through the gestures of a single hand, her hand, to examine one body part and give it a life. I really liked this observational narrative.
“Me and Rubyfruit” I appreciated Benning’s use of text and notes to have a dialogue with you the viewer and herself. There is no “Other,” just a teen alone telling a story. In this video the eyes start to become objects not related to a body, they become foreign, almost grotesque without the context of a person behind them. Benning talks about how her stomach hurts and then shows a series of heterosexual porn. I like how it is always linked back to her body and feelings, Benning relates to the world from a somatic place that makes you immediately feel connected to her and her struggles.