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You will probably have seen talk about the Netflix CUTIES movie set to debut on Netflix starting September 9 unless you’ve been living under a rock these last few days.
The original poster art for the Netflix CUTIES movie garnered SEVERAL charge.org petitions to have the show taken down entirely such as “Cancel CUTIES on Netflix” and “Petition to Remove Cuties from Netflix“.
Based on the ORIGINAL artwork and show description, I too was appalled at the apparent sexualization of 11-year-old girls. It is interesting to say that after the petitions and mass outcry, Netflix did change the description AND the photo to something more subdued for their CUTIES show.
updated show description of Netflix CUTIES movie
In the ORIGINAL description, the dance crew is called a “twerking dance crew” whereas in the UPDATED description it is referred to as a “free-spirit dance crew”. Either it is a twerking dance crew or it is not.
Also, the original says Amy defies her family’s traditions. The updated description seems to be a dig at those who wrote the petitions by saying Amy defies her “conservative” family’s traditions.
updated show poster for Netflix CUTIES Movie
The ORIGINAL poster (on the left) shows the girls in skimpy clothes striking sexual poses in their (twerking) dance crew. In the UPDATED poster (on the right) the girls are making kissy faces.
Both posters express sexuality but the original was amped high with the provocative clothing and poses and the new poster only hints at the sexuality to come with 11-year-old-girls making kissy faces at the camera.
The MA Rating for Netflix CUTIES Movie
One of the reasons that Cuties caused such a huge outcry is that the movie is rated MA. Meaning – no kids aged 11 or even 13 should be watching this movie. Girls, the age of the girls in the movie, should not be watching this movie.
So who is the targeted audience for Netflix Cuties?
Adults. Adult men and adult women. Hence the outcry. In a time when child pornography and sex trafficking is a hot topic, the idea of handing what appears to be kiddie pornography to a bunch of adults is causing controversy and rightly so.
Moral of Netflix CUTIES movie
According to decider.com, the main lesson learned is that there is a difference between “sexy” and “slut”.
Frankly, it boggles my mind that an adult who watches MA movies needs to learn said lesson and that said lesson which might actually do modern preteens a world of good is told in a movie too “mature” for their eyes and ears.
Decider.com recently posted a new commentary on Cuties entitled “Netflix’s Cuties Doesn’t Advocate Sexualizing Young Girls – It Condemns It.”
I would happily applaud said storyline about condemning sexualizing young girls. But when you put this type of movie out there for the mass public to watch do you not have a duty of care for other young girls?
There are perverts out there who will see this as an easy outlet for kiddy porn watching a bunch of pretty young preteens gyrating and letting loose in moves they learned from a porno movie. I doubt – highly doubt – the so-called condemnation will even be picked up on by the said audience.
As someone who has not seen the movie, I cannot honestly answer the question of whether Cuties lives up the current controversy. What i can do is leave you with the Decider.com reviewer’s words, wording from a petition, and also a Scripture verse from 1 Corinthians.
You must choose for yourself whether you’ll be watching Cuties.
“[Cuties] is a heartbreaking commentary on society’s ceaseless objectification of women, and the downstream effects that has on girls too young to understand.”
Petition: Cancel Netflix Subscription
“As we are becoming more aware of the horror of child sex trafficking, and child sexual abuse we need to come together to end ALL forms. One way we can achieve this, is to cancel shows and movies that exploit our children! The movie Cuties shows children dressed provocatively, dancing sexually and is rated only for adult viewers. It was created for the entertainment of adults who are pedophiles. Please sign the petition to protect our children from exploitation in movies.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
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Continue the Conversation
What are your thoughts about Cuties and hiring young girls to twerk and jump around in skimpy clothes to promote a message, no matter how good that message is?
This movie was appalling! The parents of these girls – they should be charged criminally & so should all the adults involved with the filming of it. The young girls should receive therapy. They need to know that it is NOT what an 11 year old should do or be made feel like that have to do to win in the world. Makes me wonder if they weren’t sex traffic finds. Breaks my heart.
This is the first time I am hearing about this and I agree that there are some areas that may be problematic. Changing the description wouldn’t do much with the main message being conveyed in the film.
I think that movie should be banned on Netflix because it’s over sexuality. 11 year olds that can be in dance academies or similar extracurricular activities have to be watched by their parents because they can become pedophiles Targets.
i haven’t really looked into this much. i will def have to as i have head a lot about it.
I’ve heard of this controversy before and the movie doesn’t really sit quite well for me. The description of the movie before the change sounds wrong as well. I probably be making a pass on watching this movie.
I feel it’s a bit strange that they have to do this to sell their entertainment! There are 1000 other ways to achieve the same goal.
I have read about this controversial movie poster last week, but i haven’t gotten to watch the movie itself. Maybe tonight I will. I want to see for myself why people are against this film.
I hadn’t heard of this show but it doesn’t look suitable for children. It needs to be removed from Netflix.
I am not going to watch this series no matter what. I really don’t know how anyone can justify such a disgusting content. At the end of the day, this is a business…if there are no buyers of a product, there will be no such product in the market. Time to Boycott it!
I just hope they become aware of its bad marketing. These children needs to be removed on the show. They should be protected and respected.
I definitely won’t be watching it. I don’t know how movies like this are still being allowed to air!
I won’t be watching it. It is crazing that a show about young girls, shouldn’t even be watched by young girls. I get it, it may be meant for parents and to show them how bad things are, but still, not a great job marketing the content.
Hhhhmmmm…..this movie has come my way again. I think I need to watch it first. So much has been said about it.
I’m not sure how to feel about this movie. On one hand, it seems like every dance team I’ve ever seen with girls this age have looked like this, AND pervs are everywhere no matter what. On the other hand, it’s hard for me to look at. In the end, I think the pedophiles out there will really use anything at all.
Oh wow… I had not heard anything about this movie, but after reading your story – I am not watching it!
As a mom of 2 I dont like this at all. it should be removed.
Great content! Thanks for sharing!
I keep hearing about this movie and very alarming. I don’t like it one bit.
It’s one thing to change the description of a film and another thing to remake the film. I’d be interested in watching it to see the messaging. I feel that it won’t be very enlightening or have any major twists that’ll make anyone think critically, but the optimistic part of me hope it will. I think I’m just kidding myself. It’s a reminder to be vigilant about what our youth are watching and engaging in an to whom they are exposed.
I think this has to be removed. Although it is eye opening, children should not be depicted on this show.
Changing the posters doesn’t change who will be interested in this movie or the content of the movie. And I am disturbed about the fact that the girls who were paid to behave that way are not old enough to WATCH the movie, yet they were encouraged to DO THE BEHAVIORS that were considered to risque for them to watch on a screen. Enough is enough.
The fact that adult men and women are the target audience of movie that sexualizes young girls is truly shocking to me. It’s really shocking that Netflix has allowed something like this on their platform.
I had no clue about this controversy, but this is surely something that needs to be removed
I have not seen this and thank God i did not! This is so wrong!!
Haven’t heard of this controvery ~ but good thing Netflix did something and changed the poster and the description. Although I think they should just cancel the movie altogether. If the 11-year-olds cannot watch it (and they are the ones depicted in the movie) then what’s the point? Thank you for raising awareness on this controversial issue.
This should not be permitted. It is good you are creating the awareness through your article to have the show removed from viewing.
Well said. If they really do want to raise awareness & condemn this behavior (which I doubt), this is not the way to do it. Instead, the film will do the opposite.
Certainly there is a movement to normalize pedophilia and such a movie by a recognized media outlet plays into the hands of those who say pedophilia is a sexual orientation and lifestyle choice.
I honestly haven’t seen any adverts for this movie, maybe because I’m on Aussie Netflix and it might not be available here. My initial gut reaction is really mixed, there’s a part of me that thinks ‘nope absolutely not that should not be on Netflix’ and the other side of me that compares it to my days as a competitive cheerleader and dancer and think the movie might not be that bad. The MA warning concerns the hell out of me though.
I think it’s disgusting and it needs to be removed asap.
Get rid of this crap. Its wrong.