I am so confused by how this story ended! In the prose version of
The Ramayana that I read for this class, the ending was completely different. In the book, Rama and Sita returned home and the story ended happy. However, in the animated movie, Rama rejects Sita AGAIN and sends her into the forest pregnant. So much for Rama being a virtuous man! Who would ever leave a woman when she's pregnant with their child (or children, in Sita's case)? This ending of the story makes me feel completely differently about Rama. Yet, somehow, Sita remains true in her love for him. It is Sita who is the truly virtuous human. In the movie version, Mother Earth swallows Sita back into her "womb" to prove that Sita has been pure the whole time. I loved how the movie started with Sita rubbing Rama's feet up in the stars, and ended with Rama serving Sita and rubbing her feet. I also loved the sarcasm hidden in the song the boys sang to their dad. Basically, in the end of the movie, Rama is made to look like a huge jerk who made a mistake and has mountains of respect for all of the wrong reasons. And honestly, I kind of love that angst-y tone against him.
I plan to do more research to figure out what the ending of the actual epic is. Since both of the versions I've read/watched are only modern interpretations, there could be some truth in both of the endings. It seems like in a story with so many characters, twists, and details, that a lot of information can get lost in translation. This movie has made me appreciate Sita even more than before! Not only is she virtuous, but she allows herself to be honored in front of everyone in the way that she knows she deserves. In the end of this movie, instead of choosing to end up with Rama, she chooses to let the world know the truth about her. Ultimately, the movie makes it appear that she is rewarded in the after-life.
I'm very impressed by the creator of this film, Nina Paley. Her creativity and subtle satire is smart and different from most other interpretations of this story. I enjoyed
Sita Sings the Blues much more than I expected to enjoy a film assigned for a class!
Nina Paley,
Hi Nicole, welcome to the world of ancient storytelling, where there is no "actual" ending: everybody tells it their own way! But the ending where Rama abandons Sita and she lives in Valmiki's hermitage and finally goes back into the earth goes all the way back to the epic version of the Sanskrit poet Valmiki thousands of years ago... but sometimes that last book is included, and sometimes it is not included — exactly because it makes people so uncomfortable. I should probably write up some page about the variant endings of the Ramayana, but here is some info:
ReplyDeletePublic Domain Edition: Ramayana. I did include the events of Sita in Valmiki's hermitage. (There are quite a few episodes in there not in Narayan's book.)
Literal English translation of Valmiki. You can get ALL the details here about what happened after Rama and Sita returned to Ayodhya.
Sons of Rama. This Amar Chitra Katha comic book tells the story also, focusing on the twin boys.