Week 5 Story: Talking Into the Sunset Podcast
A microphone to represent both Sita singing and the podcast in my story.
Image Link
Author's Note:
I watched the film Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley. The movie follows the Ramayana from the point of view of Sita, along with some occasional interludes showcasing Nina Paley's personal experiences. I liked the movie as a whole but the narrators really stood out to me. They reminded me of a podcast so I decided to write my story in the form of a podcast transcript. The movie was already a shortened and less detailed version of the Ramayana than the readings, so my own story is inspired by very little of the original details. The sister is loosely Sita who has struggles she needs to work through. The sister's boyfriend is the dramatic and not all that helpful Rama. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to, it was a challenge for me to come up with an original story that still follows the Ramayana. Hopefully it's still an interesting read though.
Story:
Kiara: Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode of 'Talking Into the Sunset.' My name is Kiara and my partner in crime here is Minchi!
Minchi: Hello friends!
Kiara: As our frequent listeners may know, each week we talk about what we've been up to in our lives.
Minchi: Kind of like a vlog but in podcast form.
Kiara: Exactly. So what great story do you have for us Minchi?
Minchi: Well I went to visit my family out west for a few days last week and heard some interesting stories.
Kiara: Oh no that doesn't sound so good.
Minchi: You know my sister is dating that one guy right?
Kiara: The one that slid into her DMs?
Minchi: Yeah. He is just as dramatic as he's always been.
Kiara: Lordy.
Minchi: He's always buying her gifts...- did I tell you he got her a promise ring? It's so ridiculous my family was like okay bro calm down you're barely adults.
Kiara: No you didn't tell me that. How did your sister react?
Minchi: She really liked it but she's got the love goggles fully on. Anyway she was over at her boyfriend's apartment the other day and got her car towed out of his parking garage.
Kiara: Oh no!
Minchi: He lives in a student apartment complex right by their school so she stays there a lot and just walks over to class. Apparently when you're a guest visiting someone you have to register your car if it's in the garage.
Kiara: Did he not tell her that?
Minchi: He did. But my sister didn't know that you have to register it every 24 hours and had only registered it one time thinking it was a one time thing. So she gets her car towed. Comes back to the apartment and finds her car gone and is freaking out.
Minchi: So my sister calls her boyfriend and is like 'your stupid apartment towed my car you need to take me to the tow yard to get it.'
Kiara: Good, he should take her.
Minchi: Mhmm although it wouldn't surprise me if he had said he was busy and made her take a Lyft or something. Eventually she makes it to the tow yard and the employees are even more smug than the apartment managers.
Kiara: What do you even say once you get there? Hello you towed my car for no reason can you give it back?
Minchi: I mean that sounds pretty much like what my sister said. She was like 'I'm having a bad day can I just get my car?' And after paperwork and a $250 bill...-
Kiara: $250?! That's insane!
Minchi: Especially since the car was only there for a couple hours. I really felt bad for her, a poor college kid can't swing that nonsense.
Kiara: She should've made Mr. Boyfriend pay for it.
Minchi: Pfft, sure. She said the worst part was when she saw the tow employee bringing it from the yard. He was treating her car like it was his Sunday joyride instead of being a professional.
Kiara: Isn't that car her baby?
Minchi: Yeah she was telling me she just washed it a few days before this incident but thoroughly cleaned it again after she got it back.
Kiara: I would too.
Minchi: Then she went straight home. Didn't even go to her last class that day or back to her boyfriend's apartment, just to our parents house and into bed.
Kiara: Getting my car towed is like a worst nightmare.
Minchi: Yeah I can't even imagine. And it could have been prevented, that's why it's so annoying.
Kiara: Because her boyfriend didn't tell her about the fine print in the visitors parking rules?
Minchi: That and she practically lives with him but he won't tell the building managers that she lives there. If he did she could park in resident parking. It's so weird that he's all 'here take these gifts and promise rings but I won't make your daily life any easier.' I don't get it.
Kiara: Not such a valiant knight when it counts huh?
Minchi: They've broken up a few times, I don't even know what's going on with those two.
Kiara: He should pamper her for the rest of their relationship since she had to go through all of that and he wasn't very helpful.
Minchi: Yeah, I try not to concern myself too much with their relationship. Alright Kiara, what's been going on with you?
Kiara: Okay girl let me tell you about my experience at the po...-
Hey Mariah!
ReplyDeleteYour story was definitely interesting and I read it with enthusiasm. I was able to get through it but I did not really feel like there was a main idea here. I can see how you tried to incorporate the love-blinded Sita and her ever-so-ignorant Rama, but then the idea got lost somewhere and I think it felt like it abruptly ended. I like how you took the idea of the narrators and turned it into a podcast because I would not have ever thought of that, but I thoroughly enjoyed your story! I suggest, however, ensuring that your main idea remains throughout the story regardless of its similarity to the original. It is fun to drift so it is okay if it is not exactly the same, but make sure you really hit the main idea before moving the story along!
This was a super creative Idea! It was also executed very well. The characters were very conversational, just like people would be in a podcast. One thing that I would have liked to see is a common lesson learned between the Ramayana and your story. I felt like adding a theme or lesson to the story would help it stick with the reader!
ReplyDeleteHey Mariah,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your idea of turning the story into the podcast. However, I found it a little difficult to understand the main idea. You put in a lot of details into the story, but I think details like the sister washing her car again because the old, sweaty employee could be taken out. Instead, I suggest you put in details of the main idea. Like expanding more on "it's so weird that he's all here take these gifts and promise rings but I won't make your daily life any easier." Also, there are some incomplete sentences you may want to revise such as "So she gets her car towed. Comes back to the apartment and finds her car gone and is freaking out."
Your classmate,
Joanna
Hey Mariah!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen anyone write in this style before and I like how you did it. It was easy to read, and I felt like I was actually listening to a podcast on the radio. I was wondering if there was a specific reason you decided to put the Author's Note at the beginning? Also it was cool and new to me how you decided to tell a story based on Sita's struggles from the third person as a podcaster in general, because I didn't watch Sita Sing the Blues.
Hi Mariah,
ReplyDeleteYour own work based off Sita Sings the Blues (and by extension the Ramayana) is definitely unique! I can see several parallels between the events in the Ramayana and your story, so I think you followed the epic close enough. Did you also watch the Ted Talk "Copyright is Brain Damage" by Nina Paley also? While I don't fully agree with everything she said, I thought she brought up some interesting points and it might be helpful to see the director behind Sita Sings the Blues.