Does that hurt the fish? (2025)

“Does that hurt the fish?” is an experimental short film centered around a mundane exchange between a regular client and a paid affective laborer at an aquarium during an impending pandemic, but just before businesses are officially closed. The film aims to capture the complexities of specific kinds of affective labor—specifically sex work—under the landscapes of U.S. capitalism and healthcare. It highlights the enduring sexual micro-economies that defied the dire, apocalyptic warnings of the pandemic. [Overview courtesy of Dahlia Bloomstone]