"This is one of the oddest movies I have ever seen (funny/accurate summary from the Wikipedia article: "It intersperses events from the Ramayana, illustrated conversation between Indian shadow puppets, musical interludes voiced with tracks by Annette Hanshaw and scenes from the artist's own life") ... It's like nothing else I've seen, a weird mix of 1920s/30s music and four kinds of animation and...I don't even know what to tell you except to try it and see if it's to your tastes as well."I watched it last night (which you can do online for free. But I'm probably going to buy it too, since I liked it so much and I want to support the artist.), and YES it definitely was to my taste. Hello, new favorite movie! It is so, so strange, but also incredibly creative and FUNNY. And I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a way to feel like you are a little high, without actually being high. There were some moments wherein I was completely entranced, staring at the screen with a glazed-over look and a half smile. It was great.
**The rest of this post contains some spoilers from the movie, just FYI (but they are also things that are on the web site).**
The other thing I liked about Sita Sings the Blues was the running theme of heartbreak and breakuppage, both in the Ramayana and in the artist's own life. It is the story of a woman so completely devoted to her man that she will do anything to prove her love and to be with him, to the point of being walked all over and heartlessly cast aside. Hey! There's a feeling I know! That's not meant to be a jab at KC; I'm only saying that the general feeling of the movie was something I could identify with. I watched it with a friend who had also semi-recently gone through a breakup and at one point in the movie we looked at each other, nodding. Yeah. That's what it feels like.
There was also a particular scene in the movie wherein Nina (the artist) calls her ex and begs him to take her back. Oy. I remember that about a month before KC and I broke up, KC's brother actually broke up with HIS girlfriend (Interestingly, KC's other brother was also in the midst of a divorce at the time. Draw your own conclusions.). I remember talking to KC about it and KC telling me that he was impressed by his brother's girlfriend's response, "She didn't flip out or cry or anything. She was just like 'Okay' and then she took off."
I wish I could tell you that I handled KC's and my breakup with similar ease, that I shrugged it off and instantly realized I was better off without him. But that would not be true. I DID cry, and I cried HYSTERICALLY and for a GOOD LONG TIME. And flipping out? Check. I was so blindsided by the breakup that I had to have KC explain it to me numerous times before it really sank in. I kept saying things like "Wait. You're really breaking up with me? Like, we're not going to be together anymore?" and "So you're just... moving on then? I don't understand." and "BUT WHY? [heave, sob] WHAT DID I DO WRONG? Whatever it was, I'M [choke, sob] SORRY, I'M SO SORRY." I just didn't get it. It was unfathomable to me that our relationship would end. And if someone were to make a movie of that part in my life there would definitely be a scene that involved me
It's humiliating to think about; I'd like to just go back and reframe it so that I was in the mindset where I am NOW. I'd like to gloss over it and just say it was a mutual breakup, blah blah it just didn't work out, we wanted different things, he wasn't right guy for me. But I wasn't the one to end the relationship, even though those things are true (that we wanted different things and he wasn't the right guy for me). So I admire Nina Paley's courage to share the heartwrenching moments from her life. Everyone has pain. How we respond at the time doesn't define us.
KC may have broken my heart, but I lived and grew and healed and a hundred people put it back together.
0 comments:
Post a Comment