The Betrayal

The documentary The Betrayal is a documentary about the life of a boy named Thavisouk Phrasavath and his family struggle. The movie takes place over a span of twenty years, and we see the drastic changes the family goes through, and the heartache moving from Laos to New York takes has on the family. The film documents their trip from Laos to New York. Thavi's father fought along side U.S. forces when the U.S. had bases in Laos when they were fighting in eastern Europe. However when the U.S. forces left Laos, Thavi's dad and his whole family were seen as threats and traitors, and thus they had to find a way to leave their homeland, and in so doing came to the U.S. because they felt they'll be well received. But when they came to the U.S. they had to leave two of their children still in Laos, and when coming to the U.S Thavi started getting into trouble and became affiliate with Asian gangs. Then their father calls them and visits them for a week, and then reveals that he can't stay because he had married another woman, and had other children. This revelation then tears Thavi apart. In the end, I see alot of different cultural differences between me and Thavi, being that he is Hmong, he does many things connected to the Hmong culture that I don't know of. However we both grew up in a urban setting, and were both immigrants to the United States, with traditional families.