Ramayana may upset Malaysians; netizen prepares viewers from unnecessary rage

 

THE screening of Ramayana today on Deepavali is a masterful stroke, since the festival of light revolves around this epic tale of chivalry, love, and spiritual devotion.

Practitioning Hindus in Malaysia have every reason to embrace the timeless epic in theatres nationwide. But what about the followers of the many other faiths here?

On that note, netizen nisha_shanisha made a post on threads, cautioning people about the spiritual content in the movie so that some of them would not get upset.

“If you feel your faith might waver, or anything of the sort, please don’t watch it,” she said.

“Do not blame your insecurities on our religion because soon or later there will be one idiot who will talk nonsense about our religion and destroy everyone’s peace,” nisha_shanisha added.

Her remark was understandable, since living in a multiracial Malaysian community can at times feel like walking on egg shells.

And reinforcing her words was a fellow netizen by the handle of shalene_sharl, fearing that right wingers may assume that the movie will be used to convert people to Hinduism.

Thankfully, a good number of Malay netizens turned up in the comment section to reassure nisha_shanisha.

According to a5thisa, he grew up watching the story of Sun Wukong, the goddess of mercy, Guanyin and the pig Zhu Bhajie.

justtolike13 added that he was excited to watch this animated movie every time during Deepavali and that his faith has never been shaken.

Also, doctorrowan pointed out that the Malays have their own version of the Ramayana too.

Netizen rabbit.5681104 continued, saying that the Kelantanese were well familiar with the epic, since it was part of their traditional wayang kulit.

“Many Malays enjoy watching Tamil films. It’s good knowledge, anyway,” said norahalib.

So what are the chances of the Muslims converting to Hinduism after watching this movie in the theatres? 

Netizen fireaxe23 thought the idea was laughable.

Away from all that conversion talks and racially charged comments that make up the mine field that is Threads, netizens would also want to know more about the very movie that prompted this post in the first place.

Netizen crystalwclee who claimed to have watched Ramayana gave it a 4/10 score.

According to her, a lot of important moments were missed. For example, Urmila’s sacrifice when Lakshman left for exile, the love and brotherhood between Ram and his brothers and how each of them performed their dharma as a brother, son and husband. 

“I know a movie has to shorten the story, but these moments are what build the emotion. Without them, it just doesn’t hit the same,” she said.

crystalwclee added that the casting was less than ideal, stating that Ram and Sita just didn’t work for her.

“And it’s not about looks. It’s the emotions, body language and vibes,” she pointed out. Her full review can be found on this post.

Whether Ramayana deserves a 4/10 or a standing ovation is another matter altogether. 

But perhaps the real disappointment would be missing a cultural experience simply because one is afraid that two hours of animation might undo years of religious upbringing.

Perhaps the real test of faith is not whether one can survive watching Ramayana, but whether one can survive reading the comment section on Threads without losing one’s sanity.

That, arguably, requires considerably more spiritual strength. Maybe it is time to have a little more faith in our own faith.— Focus Malaysia