Ramayana Reading: Week 5 A

For this "reading," I chose to watch the film, Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley. I'm really enjoying it so far. I love the different animation styles. I find it to be quite humorous and I appreciate finding that in something as serious as The Ramayana. Beginning with Nina and her boyfriend, the story sets up to tell the story of love and heartbreak in its many forms. I liked this touch. I'm writing this having watched through the intermission point, so I know about where it's leading, but I liked seeing the parallels between Nina's experiences and Sita's. It gives the story an extra feeling of emotional depth. We've all been through something like this. I think it's a great storytelling tactic, getting the viewer to connect with an ancient story in this way.

On another note, I love the music too! I never would have imagined blues and Indian epics would have meshed so well, but Paley does it skillfully. I find it to be humorously done, but not too cheesy, if that makes sense. I believe it to capture the story well, encompassing the important parts, while still being able to have fun creatively.

The narrators are so entertaining. I get the impression that they just sat some people in a room and asked them to talk about their memories regarding this topic. I wouldn't be surprised if that was what they did. It keeps it fresh and provides a fresh perspective to telling this story. My favorite piece of dialogue was about Ravana. They mentioned how he wasn't all that bad except kidnapping Sita. I thought this was interesting because you don't really get to hear about Ravana's redeeming qualities. In my project research, I found out that he was well-versed in many instruments and educated, which they also mentioned. I just found that to be amusing.

The story that I'm seeing here isn't entirely dissimilar from what we read last week. I like being able to see it told in a new way though! I think it's great that this is both free and offers a fun look at this timeless tale!

Poster for Sita Sings the Blues (Wikimedia Commons)

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