Reading Notes: Part B of Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues

Sita weeps during her exile

(Source: sitasingstheblues)

The email that was sent by Dave to Nina was absolutely hilarious. I'm sure that was the intention to make light of an awful situation but its blunt nature along with its subject of 'dumpsville' was highly entertaining. That might be one of the worst ways to be broken up with. It was also worth nothing that he signed off the letter by saying 'love' which was also clever.

Bringing up the fact that Sita could have been impregnated by Ravana instead of Rama due to the quick announcement of the pregnancy was interesting. The narrators are having fun with the topic of Ravana like claiming his pure nature in the first half which was fun to see.

The portrayal of Sita's exile was incredible. Rama seems fine to welcome Sita in his home after sleeping in the home of Ravana until he hears a man below beating his wife for sleeping in another man's home. Rama then basically tells Sita to get lost. It was only because he felt that he had to relate to the common man if he were to rule them,

Sita's animation when she sings the blues during this half was priceless. She's a lot bigger given her pregnant state so she looks like a snake who just swallowed a exercise ball. Meanwhile, her waist is as skinny as can be. I love the art style.

It took me way too long to understand the correlation between the Dave and Nina story and the epic of Rama and Sita. It once I realized that, things became much more clear. It was to add a modern approach to the topics of the Ramayana.

It's still entertaining to me that Rama requires Sita to prove her purity once again. He has basically exiled her for the sake of being respected by his followers and this notion has caused her to mourn and be in pain. It was satisfying to see her leave.

Overall, I am extremely pleased I chose this film for my reading notes this week. I really enjoyed getting to witness something that was more from Sita's perspective after reading the Ramayana. The film did a great job of projecting her sorrows.

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Bibliography: Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues
Link to this reading guide