Sita Sings The Blues, Reading Notes Part B

Rama, Sita, Brahma, Agni and Shiva
from Sita Sings The Blues
via Wikimedia Commons

Finishing the second half of the movie, Sita Sings The Blues by Nina Paley, (available for free on YouTube!), one can't help but finish out the movie smiling.

One of the very last images of the film is Lakshmi getting her feet rubbed by Vishnu, as Chandra, the Moon God looks on. Lakshmi gives a little wink, as if to say that women can have the upper hand, if not at least an equal hand. This confirms the way that Sita portrayed her ending, by getting revenge on Rama. She is forced to prove her purity to him again, "Ok," she says, "I'll prove my purity, again, Rama," and she asks Mother Earth to take her back into her womb through a hole in the ground. Her two twin boys and Rama, as well as all of the onlookers are left stunned at what has just happened. I believe that Rama truly did love her, and probably would have taken her back had she survived another purity test, however, Sita decided to end it for herself once and for all, proving her own agency at work even in this ancient story.

Here is a pictoral representation of how we expect the story to go versus the actual ending of one of the stories of the gods, the Ramayana, as told in Sita Sings The Blues.

Parvati rubbing Vishnu's feet, at the beginning of Sita Sings The Blues
From spontaneousderivation.com

VS

Lakshmi getting her feet rubbed by Vishnu, near the end of Sita Sings The Blues
From New-Savana Blog

How the gods were depicted was also of interest to the overall style of the movie, and I enjoyed getting to learn the different physical markers of each that indicated who they were intended to be.

Nina Paley is a creator that I aim to learn more about, as I will seek out and listen to some of her talks, follow her blog, and anticipate the next body of work that she produces. She wins loads of brownie points for allowing her work to be accessible free of copy right restriction, specifically from this college student who struggles to pay for all of the price tags now associated with a modern education.