Flat Is Beautiful

Yet another example of someone having too much time and money to waste. Incomprehensible plot (if any), laughable costumes and production values, and pointless sexual explicitness. Given the adult nature of this piece, one wonders why a child actor was allowed to participate in such a production. Will only appeal to those who enjoy experimental or fringe art (and even that's being kind).

Sadie Benning is to New Queer Cinema what Andy Warhol was to Pop Art. Warhol's work traded identity for repetition, while Benning's cinema empties identity, replacing it with fragmented narratives of desire. When Benning acquired a Fisher-Price toy camera - the PXL 2000 - in the early 1990s, she created a body of work that made film-makers envious as the PXL 2000 is now extinct. Flat is Beautiful is comprised of strangely monochromatic images, like Michael Almereyda's pixilated vampire flick Nadja (1995). The images float across the screen like crudely enlarged photocopies. On an aesthetic level, pixelvision irons out the kaleidoscopic image, while on a narrative level, pixelvision conveys an alarming sense of psychological intimacy. Flat is Beautiful charts the anxieties of adolescent Taylor (Sammy Steel) who, like her friends and family, has a cartoonish mask for a face. Taylor is starting to realize she can't be a tomboy forever, it just doesn't gel with menstruation. Taylor's relationship with her absent dad is played out over the phone. Her mother is addicted to televised therapy and says to their gay flat-mate Quiggy, "How am I supposed to deal with my inner child? I have my own child to deal with." Quiggy thinks he'll never get laid, until one day a postman delivers more than just the 'male'. Family interaction is feigned, providing a space for Taylor's Sapphic sexuality to emerge. While this scenario smacks of Freudian slippages, Benning's dream-like aesthetic gives it credence. The kitschy mise-en-scene abets a sense of awkward childhood reverie, overriding psychosexual cliche. It is Taylor's fantasy world of rock stars and Atari computer games that dominates. But it is the one toy that we don't see that really steals the show: the Fisher Price PXL 2000.

Can anyone please explain to me why this film was even made? I mean, couldn't the filmmaker have produced something even remotely interesting for people to watch? I was slightly offended, not because of the explicit sex scenes but because I felt a young female actor was inappropriately exploited in what was obviously an adult themed film (e.g. the bathtub scene). I believe in freedom of expression and am opposed to censorship. However, looking at this film, and other works by this particular filmmaker, I really think she should seek psychiatric help.

First off, I can understand if the filmmaker Sadie Benning intended "Flat Is Beautiful" as a personal film that draws upon her own experiences. Still, I really couldn't help wondering if it was rather inappropriate for Benning to utilize a child actor in such a project, given the nature of the movie itself with its overt sexual themes, nudity and graphic depictions (including a scene with oral sex).

That said, I'm not saying the movie is pornography or that it should be banned. All I'm saying is that you want to make a political film with such graphic content, please don't get children involved in its production.

Sadie captured what young girl might have gone through at that age. Very pure and innocent. She is a brilliant artist and person. This film was not about the taboo but was a glimpse in the mind of a young girl becoming aware of different sexuality's..ms.a die say. Enningba so proud of your work and continued success,love Mr. Qhawnsa .gee male to think it all started upstairs in your head and the brownie. Best of luck from Morgan F. and I. Betty said to say hi from California/would like to see your new collection. Kansas is a far way and I lost one of my red shoes. you do remember my brother George, he is green with envy. I enjoyed the puzzle with the resin