Synopsis

Shot in stark black and white, the video follows an unnamed young man from his first-person perspective as he steps out of an elevator onto a Los Angeles street. He encounters Shirley Manson, follows her to an apartment, and soon finds himself stripped, restrained, shaved, and subjected to a disturbing ritual. After being returned to the street, he appears changed by the experience. Intercut images of Manson and Garbage performing on a rotating platform reinforce the video's claustrophobic, confrontational mood.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed in Los Angeles in July 1995, with locations including Fairfax Avenue and the area beneath the East 4th Street bridge.

• Its first-person viewpoint makes the audience experience the encounter as the victim, while keeping the man's identity largely anonymous.

• The concept grew from the filmmaker's personal idea of being emotionally "shredded into pieces" by a beautiful woman, an image that appealed to Garbage because of the song's ambiguity.

• MTV requested an edit before placing the video into rotation. The shot in which Manson blinds the protagonist was obscured, and parts of the struggle were trimmed.

• The video premiered in North America on August 14, 1995, and later received heavy MTV support. MTV Europe designated it a Buzz Clip in December 1995.

• "Queer" was nominated for Breakthrough Video at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, where it lost to the Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight."

• The video was first commercially issued on the 1996 VHS and Video-CD release *Garbage Video*, alongside outtakes from the shoot.