The Thing That She Carried
DVD, Color, Sound
16:17, 2003

flat·fish [flat-fish]
noun, plural
any fish of the order Heterosomata (Pleuronectiformes), including the halibut, sole, flounder, etc., having a greatly compressed body and swimming on one side, with both eyes on the upper side in the adult.

A mother and a daughter buy a flatfish. The daughter becomes disappointed to find out that the fish doesn’t have both eyes on one side yet because it is a baby. She names it Flatfish and is anxious to see the pale side of the fish.  The fish refuses to see only one side, so the eye migration never occurs and it stays “immature.”  The fish does not struggle, but the owners do because of people’s expectations for the name, Flatfish.  The mother/daughter finally decides to adapt it to others’ expectations. Now she is about to see the pale side of the fish.

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