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.