Comments on: ‘Sita Sings the Blues’

By: Sonia Gaud Tiwari

Sonia Gaud Tiwari — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:24:27 +0000

I think the film has amazing graphic style which is inspiring. Hinduism has survived for so many years only because we have been open minded towards various opinions/ visualizations of gods and goddesses. I am working on my thesis project which is also very stylized and music-based like ‘Sita Sings the Blues’.

By: OMbama

OMbama — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:16:08 +0000

Did anybody notice that she has portrayed 'mother earth' as nude? those circles make good design elements, but where is the level of decency when dealing with somebody else's culture?? don't point fingers at khajuraho where we find similar images of our gods - it had a different history and different purpose.

Dayum, Khajaraho was on the tip of my fingers. But yeah, it was a different time and purpose, and now is a new time and purpose and Nina has made her animation to fit her time and purpose.

There is no time like the present. And there is no present like now. That's why it's a gift, er, is that how the saying goes?

By: Hari Viswanathan

Hari Viswanathan — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:07:49 +0000

To Sonia Gaud; I’m sorry that you feel offended by the Nina’s work; but unfortunately I’m offended that you’re offended by it!! Ha ha, but jokes aside, I think its a wonderful use of mythology to illustrate one’s own life story; I grew up with the ramayana, (and mahabharat to boot!) and I’ve never tired of looking at re-tells. However, I think it is wrong to impose your own reading or perception of the story unto others; and criticize their interpretation of it….how would you know that the gods are always clothed? Do you think they care if they were clothed or not? Do you honestly believe that they have such a fragile sense of modesty that the mere display of their nude images or accentuated breasts is enough to offend them? Why are you so offended by mother earth being naked? Isn’t it what she is already? I say this because so much of our art and culture is enriched by different viewpoints, different interpretations and I think its very sad if we start castigating anyone else who attempt to introduce new ideas and concepts into this rich fabric. I say this because not only is this an isolated case, anger against brilliant artists like M.F. Husain are also equally misguided; if you cared to look carefully at his art, you would not find an reason to feel insulted, in fact I find his work full of reverence and respect and appreciation. By covering up our gods, we do not honor them; much like forcing a woman to wear a burqa honors her…..Hinduism’s greatest gift to the world is acceptance and absorption of different cultures and ideas, and to break that great tradition is perhaps the greatest insult I could think of…

By: edgertor

edgertor — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:45:44 +0000

the whole movie is now streaming online here: http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/blog/watch-sita-sings-the-blues-online/347/

thanks!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:04:26 +0000

I just finished watching the Independent Spirit Awards and just found out about Sita Sings the Blues. As an artist and a lover of Hindu and Indian art, I have to see this film. The stills above are gorgeous and rendered beautifully. I am also a blues lover and am totally intrigued by this. Have to rent the dvd!

Michelle

By: rich

rich — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:57:25 +0000

Sita Sings the Blues is going to be broadcast on New York PBS station WNET Channel 13 on Saturday March 7 at 10:45pm on the series Reel13.

By: Falco98

Falco98 — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:20:14 +0000

The torrent is gone. Please, someone — anyone — create a new one and get it “spread around”. The tyranny of unreasonable copyright restrictions has put a stranglehold on this film which can only be broken by the sheer power of underground massive sharing. Lawsuits, threats, cease-and-desist orders, will not stop the power of a well-seeded torrent spread across multiple public trackers.

I haven’t seen the film yet, only the clips floating around out there… Help me out =)

By: nano

nano — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:19:35 +0000

unable to download the links from your site any alternatives

By: Sonia Gaud

Sonia Gaud — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:27:33 +0000

I also criticize Indian artists who make fun of American culture. I did not like it when a film like Hanuman-2 shows the statue of liberty and other American monuments being shattered and rebuild in Indian style. So I have the right to criticize a white woman who choses to portray my culture in the wrong way. As a designer, I just love her style and character designs – the overall look and feel-the colors – it’s all great! But I cannot shut my eyes to the casual-portrayal of Hindu mythology just because she wanted to relate to the story. For those American desis who are supporting her film – Do you even understand the meaning of Ramayana? It’s not just about a Prince’s wife being taken away and the rescuing stuff…that was an entirely different era called sat-yug, where the image of a king was more important than his own personal relationship – where laws were laws and following them was called ‘mariyada’. Things are different now, we cannot bring the same story in today’s context. It’s like how we have divided literature or art into eras, the same mythology had it’s eras. Taking any example and putting it in today’s context, that too just to vent out your own personal frustration – is absolutely wrong.

I like ‘Sita sings the blues’ in terms of it’s artistic values, but i dislike it for the casual use of Hindu mythology content. Did anybody notice that she has portrayed ‘mother earth’ as nude? those circles make good design elements, but where is the level of decency when dealing with somebody else’s culture?? don’t point fingers at khajuraho where we find similar images of our gods – it had a different history and different purpose. OPEN YOUR EYES fellows! We should not be liberal at the cost of letting anybody portray our culture without using their brains.

By: Great animation

Great animation — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:33:49 +0000

It's perfectly acceptable for Bollywood to steal american culture and material. Japanese anime artists constantly use american culture and references as well. However have a caucasian draw an indian story as a cartoon (which btw has been drawn before as a cartoon) and it's racist somehow?
The people complaining about this work are most likely the same individuals that go about honor killing their children.