Happiness (II) (2013)
7/10
A troubling subtext
9 April 2022
This is an interesting snapshot of life in rural Bhutan as television and internet are about to be introduced for the first time. Notable is the subtext of abuse - it's clear the protagonist's sister is being sexually exploited at her workplace, a club where she's employed as a dancing girl, and where the girls also have to live and aren't allowed to leave the building. The dance shows the girls are forced to put on are so rudimentary that it's clear they're just a means for male punters to inspect the wares.

Even more troublingly, a lot of evidence also suggests Peyangki is being abused at the monastery. As well as telling his mother that the Lama beats him, he's also shown sharing a bed with an older novice who tells Peyangki he isn't interested in women and seems to really enjoy sharing a bed with him. A couple of scenes later we see an uncharacteristically sullen Peyangki ask his mother if he can leave the monastery or at least transfer to a different monastery, and he becomes very distressed when she says no. He's especially keen not to spend the night at the monastery.
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