(Image Information: Bhavana Sita Contaminated
Nina Paley Source: Wikipedia)
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It is interesting to see how different authors and artists interpret the Ramayana. I have learned from my Intro to Hinduism class that Hindus in South India may interpret the Ramayana differently than Hindus from North India, for example.
From this animated film, I think I began to not like Rama as much. Maybe in the book by Narayana there was more of a neutral approach to Rama's action towards Sita after saving her, but from this film I just felt that Rama was actually a jerk to Sita. I know in both versions Rama was skeptical of Sita and her purity, but seeing that come to play in an animated film I became angry that Sita wasn't more independent.
When thinking about how I could potentially come up with a new Ramayana story, I thought about either making it more from Sita's perspective and expressing her thoughts, actions, and desires or making a story where Sita is more independent. Sita was very sacrificial and always put Rama first, even if she didn't agree with his decisions. However, I wonder how the story would be different if Sita was to go back with Hanuman when Hanuman first told Sita about Rama's whereabouts. I also wonder how the story would be different if Sita were to argue with Rama about her being pure, and if he didn't agree with her, move on.
What doesn't really make sense to me is how Rama doubted Sita's purity, but still managed to get Sita pregnant? If Sita wasn't pure, why would he commit in the act of having children with her? And since he did, why did he continue to question her purity? It also was really upsetting to see that after many years, Rama wanted his children with him back at the palace but still was not willing to take in Sita. Since when does reputation mean more than your significant other?
It will be interesting to see how my story turns out this week. I really enjoyed this short film, and hope that there is something like this regarding the Mahabarata. Nina Paley did an amazing job.
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Bibliography: Nina Paley's Sita Sings The Blues Reading Guide B
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