"Sink or Swim" and "Reassemblage"

I especially enjoyed Su Friedrich's "Sink or Swim." The ending particularly resonated with me. She was singing the ABC's in a series of rounds and ended with a peculiar "What do you think of me?". "Sink or Swim" is easily one of my most favorite Avant Garde films we have seen thus far. As I was watching the film, I thought that each mini story referred back to certain part of her life. In a more societal context, whenever the narrator talked about Greek myths in which the girl was just as good as the boy, I felt she was using it as a metaphor for gender roles. I did not see the fatherhood nor divorce themes. The most enduring theme was gender roles and Friedrich was making a statement of that issue through her film. Her film comes around full circle with the provocative ending of singing the ABC's and her challenging question. The cinematic techniques utilized with the singing of the ABC's were visually as well as aesthetically pleasing to see on screen.

After our discussion in class, I have now understand and have greater respect for Minh-Ha's film, "Reassemblage." Her film makes so much more sense now. Through her editing of sound, she has distorted our perception of sound to the point that our previous perceptions of Africa as an underdeveloped society full of poverty and unhappiness is completed reverted. She induces a paradigm shift in our frame of mind, knowingly challenging the way we perceive Africa. We are made aware of our own judgmental perceptions of Africa. Needless to say, "Reassemblage" is a "reassemblage" of our perceptions of Africa. Minh-Ha breaks down the stereotypes through her distortion of sound in the film. Although, I was not immediately impressed by her film, "Reassemblage" is a film that must be digested slowly in order to be fully understood.