A film on Netflix generated immense controversy, leading to legal action and reportedly causing an 800 percent surge in subscription cancellations.
The leading streaming service has encountered several obstacles on its journey to prominence.
In September 2020, it included a French film that incited global outrage.
Directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, the movie centers on a young girls’ dance group and initially premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier that year.
Although critics lauded the film, a promotional poster by Netflix, which allegedly ‘sexualized children,’ thrust it into the midst of a social media uproar.
Doucouré reported receiving death threats as a result, while Netflix publicly apologized for using ‘inappropriate artwork’ to advertise the film.
The film, as you might recall, is titled “Cuties.”
This coming-of-age story follows Amy, a Senegalese-French girl with a conservative Muslim upbringing, who defies her family by joining a ‘twerking’ dance crew, immersing herself in a risky online realm.
French-Senegalese director Doucouré shared with TIME that her personal experiences inspired the film.
She told the magazine: “For me, this film is sounding an alarm. This film tries to show that our children should have the time to be children, and we as adults should protect their innocence and keep them innocent as long as possible.”
However, the movie, along with Netflix’s decision to include it in its library, faced swift criticism.
Concerns arose that scenes of young actresses dancing provocatively might promote the sexualization of children.
In the aftermath of Cuties’ Netflix debut, subscription cancellation rates soared to ‘nearly eight times higher than the average daily levels recorded in August 2020 – reaching a multiyear high,’ as reported by Variety, citing data from analytics provider YipitData.
Soon after its release on Netflix, the company was indicted by a grand jury in Tyler County, Texas, on charges that it ‘depicts the lewd exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of a clothed or partially clothed child who was younger than 18 years of age… and has no serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.’
In an unusual twist, the district attorney was Lucas Babin, known for his role as Spider in the 2003 film School of Rock.
Netflix, however, defended Cuties as ‘a social commentary against the sexualization of young children.’
The case, and its subsequent appeal, were both dismissed.
Cuties remained available on the platform until it was removed in September 2024.
This removal was not in response to the controversy.
Instead, it was due to the expiration of a four-year license agreement with Netflix.
While the streaming service sometimes renews its licenses, it chose not to do so in this case.
As a result, the film is no longer available for streaming on any platform.
Despite the controversy, Cuties achieved a respectable 88 percent approval from Rotten Tomatoes critics, with the consensus stating: “A thoughtful look at the intricacies of girlhood in the modern age, Cuties is a coming-of-age film that confronts its themes with poignancy and nuance.”