Week 9 Reading Diary: Sita Sings the Blues Part A

This week I decided to watch the film Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley. I felt that watching an animated film will allow me to connect better with the characters. Also, it looked really fun to watch. Furthermore, Sita was one of my favorite characters so focusing on her will be great. Below is my analysis:

Source: Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues

·       First impression is that the images are very creative and fun to look at. It helps me picture Sita and Rama better.

·       I am glad that there are footnotes with times. It allows for me to follow the story better without stopping the video.

·       I am glad that they stayed with the originally plot point in that Sita was kidnapped by the golden deer Ravana was portrayed as.

·       It really is focusing on Sita only which I enjoy because I felt that the originally Ramayana strictly focused on Rama. She was vital in all of the story plot points which makes this take more interesting.

·       Ravana isn’t portrayed as such a bad character in this story. I enjoyed the villainous nature of him in the original Ramayana. It is weird when he is playing the instrument with his insides though.

·       Sugriva and Vali are not mentioned in this story. I loved the dynamic between these characters so I wish it was mentioned at least. I wanted a change from Rama sneak attacking Vali to him fighting him straight up.

·       I enjoy seeing Hanuman setting the city of Lanka on fire. He was one of my favorite characters so I am glad to see him in the animated film.

·       I like the troops of Ravana. They are very animated and funny to watch run. The battle scene was actually pretty gory! I enjoyed it but I would have rather seen Rama fight a lot instead of the monkeys. I do like the long bow and arrow shot of Rama to slay Ravana.

·       I think the title is great because she really is full of sorrow once Rama rejects her. I still do not like how the Ramayana ended so I was a little disappointed that this didn’t change the ending. I may write a story that changes the ending and allows for a happy ending.

·       Finally, I am liking the parallels between Rama and Sita and Nina and Dave. I am looking forward to seeing how their relationship ends.

·       Overall, it is a very funny and entertaining take on the original Ramayana. 

Source: Youtube