Netflix has been off
its game lately – it has now found itself in the middle of another controversy,
becoming the No.1 trending topic on Twitter on Thursday last night.

The streaming platform
is releasing a new French film called “Cuties”,
which is about a young girl who joins a “free-spirited
dance clique” with the aim to withdraw from her dysfunctional family.
Critics are citing this new venture as disgusting, as they believe the movie is
sexualizing young girls.

The movie released on 9^th
September after which #CancelNetflix has been trending on social media worldwide.

There’s also a petition
on Change.org making rounds on social platforms, which urges subscribers to
cancel their subscription immediately. The petition claims that this streaming
platform “exploits children and creates
a disturbing vibe.” The petition has earned over 600,000 signers up till
now.

Source: Click Lancashire 

Back in August when the
platform released the promotional poster of the film, people were outraged.
They accused Netflix of showing the young case members in provocative poses and
inappropriate clothing.

Netflix was quick to apologize and released a statement that it is sorry for using inappropriate artwork for Mignonnes/Cuties and has now updated the description and pictures.

Cuties was earlier
premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival where it surprisingly received the
World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award.

Apparently, the film is inspired by
Doucoure’s short film “Maman(s)”, which is based on the life of an 8-year-old
child who is furious when her father invites his new bride into their apartment.
This short film, too, received an award for short film international fiction
jury at Sundance back in 2016.

Sundance had described
that the film Cuties depicts the young teens, their youthful energy, as well as
their vulnerabilities. It further taps into their eagerness to explore their
sexuality.

It further added, “Fathia Youssouf captivates as Amy, shifting
like a chameleon between the different identities her character is juggling and
deftly anchoring the film’s immensely watchable, vivacious young cast.”

Mary Margaret Olohan is
a reporter representing a conservative publication – the Daily Caller. She
tweeted a snippet from the film on Thursday where the girls are dancing rather
inappropriately for their age. She said:“Netflix
is comfortable with this. Plenty of people will defend it. This is where our
culture is at. I understand this video is upsetting and depicts little girls in
a gruesome light. I tweeted it for those who will say that ‘Cuties’ is
innocent.”

Parents Television
Council, which is a conservative advocacy group, is also adamant that the movie
is sexualizing young children and is completely abominable.

The group believes that
the children were trained to dance in a hypersexualized manner and were asked
to use foul and vulgar language. They were also made to wear revealing clothes
– in fact, in one scene Amy pulls down her underwear to post her genitals
online. The girl was also seen seducing a man to get out of trouble.

Melissa Henson – the
program director of PTC spoke against Netflix: “By removing the offensive poster and replacing it with a more innocuous
one, Netflix might actually have made the situation worse by suggesting that
‘Cuties’ is nothing more than a cute, coming-of-age movie. Although the film
tackles an important topic — one that under different circumstances we might
even applaud — it’s the way the film goes about it that’s problematic. This
film could have been a powerful rebuke of popular culture that sexualizes
children and robs them of their innocence.”

It’s fair to say that
Cuties is an extremely provocative and detestable film, and
Netflix has made a morally corrupt choice by allowing it on the platform.