As soon as the trailer for the movie “Cuties” became public, Netflix started getting so many critics for sexualizing girls, who dance in skimpy outfits and twerk in front of the camera. This movie was made by Maïmouna Doucouré, a Senegalese-French director, and was awarded for directing at the Sundance Film Festival.
The movie has a story of Amy, an 11-year-old Muslim Senegalese girl, who joins a dance school and participates in a twerking competition (a type of dance with an emphasis on moving the hips and buttocks, which upsets her mother because the dance is not in line with her religious beliefs).
Although the film has been labeled inappropriate for under-18s, criticism for girls’ over-sexualization and the overly provocative trailer and the poster continues. Some of them even compared the film and the girls with some of the best porn games on JerkDolls. “Netflix has a film ‘Cuties’ about 11-year-old girls twerking in a group. Some claim the film is a commentary on today’s child sexualization, but look at the poster! Consider that the lead actress is 11 years old, both in film and in reality.” is one of the comments.
Others pointed out the difference between a poster advertising a film in France and one advertising in the United States. On the first one, the girls return from shopping smiling, while in the second, they are in provocative poses, in very tight and short clothes. “It’s interesting to compare them. In the French version, children have fun, while the American version is disgusting. I think that the Netflix marketing team will have to answer for this,” one Twitter user wrote.
The film’s synopsis states: “11-year-old Amy lives with her younger brother and her mother Mariam and waits for her father from Senegal to join them. Surprised that the girls in the group are rejecting her and eager to escape from a dysfunctional family, Amy, aware of her growing femininity, encourages the group to accept some highly erotic dance moves and hopes that the girls will win the local dance competition. “
Although the film aims to comment on the dangers behind the sexualization of young people, some viewers are appalled by the way it is placed in public, saying that this film has pornographic content almost as mobile tranny porn games. “The problem with this campaign is that the girls are disgustingly sexualized. Someone should be fired,” is one of the comments.
Interestingly, twerking is not mentioned at all on IMDb, but only that Amy wants to dance, and her femininity is growing. Wikipedia points out that the film is a commentary on society and that it highlights concerns about the impact of social media on girls before puberty. “The movie focuses on the tail of a regular Muslim Senegalese girl who is divided between two different worlds, religious believes, and internet pop culture, and at the same time talks about the hypersexualization of pre-adolescent girls,” the film’s description states.
