Didactic Mergers, Things r Happening, We r Aging and Here

By Dahlia Bloomstone

In Didactic Mergers, Things r Happening, We r Aging and Here, there is a collision of the animated and IRL, divided into three acts. The repetitive parts of the script are meant to think through aging in the sex work industry from different perspectives and timelines. Embedded is a constant questioning of intelligence and well-being with a humorous nod to the ever-present point and abiding addiction to sex work: the sound of cash. As the character repeats anecdotes, harshly drop-shadowed Reddit posts jump on the screen. The first reads: “What’s so bad about working into your 30s?” on r/stripper. The watcher is confronted not only by Reddit sex work discourse and memes, the second to last one being a highly upvoted and awarded post entitled “I’m so tired” on r/SexWorkers, but also by the character’s inability to shut off her work voice, or take off her work makeup, or stop positioning herself uncomfortably, in her home space—at times, the damask pattern layers on top of the character. Anyway, who has the time to take their eyelashes (Ardell Wispies) off after work with all this discourse metamorphosing online?