Extra Credit Reading Notes
Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Padley
After intermission, Sita is pregnant. The narrators tell a story about a man who beat his wife when she was unfaithful and negatively compared her to Sita. Lakshmana takes her to the forest and leaves her in exile. Sita sings a song about Rama being a mean man and she doesn't deserve to be treated that way. During this time, Sita wonders what she did in a previous life to deserve such a suffering current life. She meets Valmiki and gives birth to her two sons. The narrators had an interesting debate about Sita's choices and her issues. One point was Sita was so devoted to Rama that she made him come rescue from Ravana instead of going with Hanuman. If she would've gone with Hanuman, she would've saved thousands of lives. Also, they questioned her for being so devoted to someone that was so toxic to her and treated her so poorly. They concluded that Sita had an unconditional love for Rama even though he treated her poorly. Sita sang a song about love had it's time and it will eventually come back. Rama finds Lav and Kush in the forest then finds Sita and asks Sita to do another trial by fire to prove her purity. Instead, Sita proves her purity by having mother earth take her back, which leaves Rama upset. During this scene, Sita sings a song about falling for nobody else but Rama. I enjoyed the flaws of Sita that the narrators brought up a couple times, since she's typically portrayed as a perfect and ideal woman in the stories.
Once Nina got back to New York, her boyfriend Dave broke up with her through email. Nina really misses Dave and even calls him and asks him to take her back. At the end of the film, it shows Nina looking very happy and reading the Ramayana.
After intermission, Sita is pregnant. The narrators tell a story about a man who beat his wife when she was unfaithful and negatively compared her to Sita. Lakshmana takes her to the forest and leaves her in exile. Sita sings a song about Rama being a mean man and she doesn't deserve to be treated that way. During this time, Sita wonders what she did in a previous life to deserve such a suffering current life. She meets Valmiki and gives birth to her two sons. The narrators had an interesting debate about Sita's choices and her issues. One point was Sita was so devoted to Rama that she made him come rescue from Ravana instead of going with Hanuman. If she would've gone with Hanuman, she would've saved thousands of lives. Also, they questioned her for being so devoted to someone that was so toxic to her and treated her so poorly. They concluded that Sita had an unconditional love for Rama even though he treated her poorly. Sita sang a song about love had it's time and it will eventually come back. Rama finds Lav and Kush in the forest then finds Sita and asks Sita to do another trial by fire to prove her purity. Instead, Sita proves her purity by having mother earth take her back, which leaves Rama upset. During this scene, Sita sings a song about falling for nobody else but Rama. I enjoyed the flaws of Sita that the narrators brought up a couple times, since she's typically portrayed as a perfect and ideal woman in the stories.
Once Nina got back to New York, her boyfriend Dave broke up with her through email. Nina really misses Dave and even calls him and asks him to take her back. At the end of the film, it shows Nina looking very happy and reading the Ramayana.
Sita Sings the Blues (Flickr)
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