inh-Ha manipulates and controls how much knowledge the audiencehas. For example, Trinh-Ha translates the Senegalese language for us at certain points, while at other times she does not. Also, she tells us that women are thepossessor of fire and truth. Constant images of women working, laughing and talking, force the spectator to identify with these women who are active andknowledgeable--the equivalent of the male in Hollywood films. Both on screen and off (by way of the soundtrack), female knowledge and activity dominate inReassemblage. However, it can be argued that the images of women in the film are not all active. Indeed, many shots show women sitting in a static position while the camera looksat them. The snapshots seem to play upon Hollywood's style of voyeurism and fetishism, with extreme close-ups of the face, breasts, eyes, lips and mouth. Yet, thereare differences between Trinh-Ha's film and a Hollywood film. First, she does not restrict the female to this passive position, as Hollywood does. In Vertigo, Madelineexists in the film as an object that Scottie pursues in the search of truth. She is just a spectacle in the film--obvious from the modeling scene and the fact that Scottieis constantly spying on her. In Reassemblage, the women are not restricted to only being spectacles. They work in the fields, mash corn, and weave. Secondly, it isnecessary for Trinh-Ha to show static images of women in order to challenge the stereotypical Hollywood system. It is as though she is saying--look at how you areuse to seeing women portrayed--then look at these other shots.In the latter, the woman is not controlled by the male gaze. Trinh-Ha show us passive shots to emphasize the active ones and to challenge the stereotypes. Lastly, Reassemblage refuses to create the images of women into an erotic experience for the narrative. When she tells us about a man who sees a slide show onAfrica and then tells his wife "I feel like I've seen pornogr...
