We all love an of coming of age story, don't we? We love to see a child entering the world of adolescence or a teenager entering the world of adulthood. Well, apparently the people at Netflix thought it would be a good idea to release that type of film but in a more sexual and exploitive way. This is Netflix's "Cuties."
The trailer for Netflix's "Cuties" (original French title "Mignonnes") dropped on August 18, 2020 (set to release on September 9), and as of writing this article, it has over 700k dislikes. Why all of the dislikes, I thought this was a good coming of age story? It is a coming of age story but its a story that might be seen as inappropriate. The original description reads as follows: "Amy, 11, becomes fascinated with a twerking dance crew. Hoping to join them, she starts to explore her femininity, defying her family's traditions."
Eleven years old? Twerking? That doesn't sound right. It doesn't end there though. The promotional poster for the French film has the four main protagonists in suggestive poses.
The reception of the upcoming film has been rather negative, with critics saying that movie is sexualizing young pre-teen girls. According to the director of the film, Maïmouna Doucouré, it's supposed to be a critic on how society and social media pressure young children into acting like adults. Since the backlash, Netflix has released an apology, changed the summary, and replaced the promotional poster. Despite the message the movie was supposed to portray, the damage has already been done.
In recent times, Hollywood (and other members of the elite) are being exposed for their very ugly and abusive treatment toward minors. With the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Jeffery Episten being exposed, the public is starting to realize that the people at the tippy top have unlimited power and that there's nothing the public can do about it. With all of this coming to light, it was rather tone-deaf of Netflix to release this film of underage girls dancing and posing in a provocative way.
There is a very dark place on the internet where certain types of people discuss their "attraction" toward children and try to justify it by saying that it's a "sexuality" like being straight, gay, or lesbian (I'll go more in-depth about these sub-humans in a future article. They're indeed real). With the existence of this movie, these "people" will use it to help fulfill their "fantasies." That's sick!
Children are the most precious and vulnerable members of our society and we have to protect them from harm's way. In today's day in age, our children are being exposed to adult content and with their still-developing-minds, absorb it like a sponge. We have to teach our children that acting in an "adult" way isn't appropriate and to act their age. There will be some push back with the child saying "that their friends are doing it" and that they want to "fit in."
Tell your (future) child that it's not ok to cave into peer pressure and that they should be their person. Childhood should be a worry-free time in a person's life and it should stay that way. Yes, children should be told about the harder stuff about life but they shouldn't be fully immersed. At the end of the day, they're still our precious babies.
