Week 4 Another Ramayana Reading Diary A- Sita Sings the Blues

Sita Sings the Blues is a very entertaining animation! There's so many different styles of cartoons throughout the movie so far, and there seems to be three stories happening at once. First, there is a modern type of character who is in a strained relationship with her boyfriend. The boyfriend moved to India, and has been acting different ever since.The woman still feels devotion to her boyfriend, but is obviously very sad. Next, there is a set of three Indian characters who appear to be retelling what they remember of the Ramayana. It's quite comical to hear their dialogue; they all remember different pieces of the story and slowly put it all together. Finally, Rama and Sita's characters are telling their stories as well. Intermittently, Sita sings blues songs by Annette Hanshaw. It's crazy how the animation makes the songs match what's happening in the story perfectly! I really like the blues songs, I might have to do some more research on the artist!

I'm kind of confused on how the modern story ties in with Rama and Sita's characters. There's a few similarities: both are separated from the one they love, both are reunited with the one they love, and both are given a "cold shoulder" by the one they love. However, I'm interested to see how the "modern version" of the story will end. I have a feeling it will end differently from Sita's story.

Movie poster for the film Sita Sings the Blues,

Date: 2008, Source: Wikimedia

The story of Rama and Sita is definitely abbreviated. The movie skips over how they met, and many of the specific demons Rama defeated. The movie also leaves out some details. For example, it doesn't explain why Ravana can't touch Sita. In the reading, however, it is explained that Ravana is under a curse and cannot touch a woman against her will or he will be destroyed. Although many of the details and smaller stories are left out, the movie does a really good job of giving a broad overview of the plot of this epic. Also, it does a good job of showing the story from Sita's point of view. The viewer really feels her misery when she is separated from Rama and is better able to understand her devotion to him.

I am anxious to see how all of these different stories happening will tie together. I will probably finish the whole movie in the next couple days!