MA Media Practice - Sita Sings The Blues

Let us start with what we all know about the epic tale of Ramayana by Valmiki. It speaks of a ruler whose benevolence was boundless, good deeds were countless, chivalry was endless, and character was flawless, or so is what we're taught and insisted upon to believe in. The "protector of the weak" failed to help or protect the woman he should have been most responsible for, keeping in mind that era's position of a married woman.

Growing up, I often heard people from yesteryears use the term 'abla nari' or the powerless woman, one who has no position and influence in the society; expected to be in the husband's shadow and follow them like the same. Sita in Valmiki Ramayana is an epitome of the typical 'abla nari'.

In the film 'Sita sings the blues' by Nina Paley, Rama gets jittery for a few moments when he's asked to leave his throne and go to the forest for 14 years. It seemed weird because never in any previous adaptations, as far as I can remember, have Rama been shown to feel any kind of panic or trepidation except in this. He accepts the decision soon, but that shock in his eyes lingers in the viewers' minds, giving them the first impression that he's only a mortal, one who can commit mistakes. However, Sita readily ties herself up to Rama and embarks on a journey to last more than a decade. Sita becomes his shadow, his dutiful wife, and they're shown to have spent a good time together until Ravana kidnaps her. Then all hell breaks loose, or it should've, as Ravana is often depicted as the vilest character but not here. Ravana here is not as spiteful towards Sita as is the popular belief and never, in fact, did he violates her dignity.

Nina Paley runs a commentary on the events of the Ramayana through the three shadow figures. They discuss what could have happened had Rama acted in different ways at different times, and they criticize Sita. One of them calls her a bloodthirsty woman because she is obsessed with the fact that Rama would rescue her. She refuses Hanuman's proposition and thus, consequently, plays the role of the catalyst in the war, which could have been avoided if she had gone with Hanuman. Nina Paley's depiction of Sita nowhere shows her as an individual who is critical of the cause of the fate that befalls her, angry at the person who abandoned her. Instead, she is shown almost as a person who's obsessed with her lover, which comes directly from the predated ideas of the expected conduct of an ideal woman, which demands them to be enduring, accepting, faithful towards only one man etc., etc.

Rama had to win over his subjects by banishing his wife despite Sita proving her purity through the trail of fire. This seemed like a move that jeopardized Rama's ability to play a dutiful, supportive, understanding, and caring husband. He seemed to care about his subjects and not his family. This is hardly a good note for someone who is often referred to as the perfect human being.

This film, throughout its runtime, provides the audience with satirical and sarcastic remarks in the form of dialogues, commentary, and songs. The film is different from other adaptations of the epic tale because here, Paley juxtaposes her own life's adventure with Sita's story and draws a comparison.

Getting dumped unceremoniously, feeling that nothing matters without her partner, begging him to return, all of these events almost reflect images of specific excerpts of the epic itself, except that her story is no match with Rama and Sita's in the scale of grandeur. Paley makes this film larger than an adaptation by showing the viewers that despite facing similar unfortunate events, she bounced back, made this film which is a running commentary on the portrayal of Sita in Ramayana, and, most importantly, showed a way out, showed us that once a damsel in distress Nina Paley captained her ship to success.

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