Week 4: Reading Feedback

I chose to watch "Sita sings the Blues" for my assignment this week. I chose this piece because I actually had found this film about two weeks ago while I was doing some research. After reading a little bit about it and watching the trailer to the film (which is in my Curation post from Week 3), I was very excited to see this as a choice for the reading in week 4! I am very happy I went through with that choice.

I thought it was very refreshing being able to see how people who know the story by head understood the lessons and themes. There were moments in which the narrators pointed out things I never had even thought of. One example of this was their view on Ravana. They all had this understanding that he was actually in good moral character on everything except kidnapping Sita. He apparently prayed to all the right gods and was even said to be one of the most intelligent people in that time. However, from my point of view, I don't know who "the right gods to pray to" are or if Ravana had even prayed to them. 

I also enjoyed that they were not afraid to make fun of something so important to their culture. I really enjoyed the comic relief that they brought to the story. Not only was it fun to watch, but it also reinforced a lot of the storyline I may have been confused about. They basically went over every inch of the main plot so that anyone, even someone like me who does not have experience with ancient Indian Epics before this class, could understand. 

(Image Information: Nina reading the Ramayana with her cat. Source: Filmic-Literacy)