INDEPENDENT LENS: Happiness

See how television may affect a Bhutanese child isolated from commerce, materialism and celebrity.

Peyangki is a nine-year-old monk living in Laya, a Bhutanese village perched high in the Himalayas. The nearest road is a three-day walk distant, and Peyangki has never even left his village. In 2012, however, the world comes to him: Laya will at long last be connected to electricity, and the first television will flicker on before Peyangki’s eyes. He will have access to 46 television stations for 13 hours every day. How will these images shape a child so isolated from commerce, materialism and celebrity? INDEPENDENT LENS: Happiness airs Monday, November 17 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV.