‘Cuties’ is a French film written and directed by Maimouna Doucoure. It is scheduled to release in the United States this September. Getting to know about movies was easier as the movies were premiered during the Sundance film festival and the audience would give and understand the reviews. The story revolves around Amy who is a Senegalese immigrant who joins a dance group for girls from her middle school. The kids are 11-year old girls and the story is set in Paris.
When Netflix released the official trailer, they described the film as Amy getting fascinated by twerking and she ends up defying her family traditions to explore her femininity. Amy and her family are Muslims and they have strict rules to follow their culture. After this, a petition started to float around asking Netflix to remove ‘Cuties’. The audience claim that the platform is sexualizing minors. Moreover, choosing a black girl as the protagonist makes it even worse.
Why are people protesting against the movie?
Around 47000 people have signed the petition saying that the movie is sexualizing 11-year-olds giving pedophiles the pleasure they are looking for. The movie is also a negative influence on the other kids. People have accused that this is promoting child pornography and such content is not needed. Netflix released the poster with young girls posing with dance poses led to all the issues. Later on, they apologized for its inappropriate marketing. Netflix has also changed the description for the trailer stating that the movie is about the girls trying to build their self-confidence through dance. The trailer has already crossed 2 million views. You can watch it below.
The movie has not been released in the US yet. People have not seen the movie or even watched the trailer before signing the petition. The movie actually portrays a family with certain traditions and culture growing up and trying to identify the femininity and womanhood. In doing so, it tackles the family restrictions and freedom. The movie is said to be a coming-of-age film about a black girl portrayed by a black woman director. Maimouna Doucoure has written and directed the movie. It won the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award during the Sundance Film Festival even after this being her debut film.
Every person watching the film will have their own reviews. But, we should at least wait for its release before reviewing the movie. Understanding the fine line between what is acceptable or not is something that the platform should take into consideration while releasing any content. Let us know in the comments section your thoughts regarding the movie.
