Rama turns his back on Sita Flickr
In part B of Sita sings the blues, a new part of the Ramayana was presented to me, which I did not read in Narayan's Ramayana. In this part of the story, Sita and Rama return to the castle and Rama becomes king. Shortly after, Sita tells Rama that she is pregnant and Rama again begins to doubt her character. He tells his servant to take her to the forest and leave her there. She has twins in the forest and they are raised to love, worship, and respect Rama. Rama returns years later and wants to take the boys back to his castle as his sons to rule, but he makes Sita prove her faithfulness to him yet again. This results in Sita's death (at least it is implied in this movie) and Rama feels some guilt.
I have enjoyed reading the Ramayana and experiencing it through film, until this last section. I want to believe that Sita is a strong woman and she is not dependent on Rama's love. The move ends with Rama rubbing Sita's feet and Sita winking, so I think that Nina wanted the story to end with the woman in power as well, but I want it to be less implied in my version of the story.
For my storytelling this week, I will write about Rama and Sita's love story in the 1920s. Sita will be a flapper girl and the story will unfold so that Rama again questions Sita's character, but this time, Sita will control the power and Rama will realize his mistakes in treating Sita badly.
Source: Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues: Video and Viewing Guide
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