'Cuties' Director Says She Got Death Threats After Controversial Netflix Marketing
Written by Black Voices on September 10, 2020
The director of the French movie “Cuties,” which was launched internationally by Netflix on Wednesday, stated that she has acquired loss of life threats and a proper apology from Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos after her movie grew to become embroiled in accusations of sexualizing underage women.
The film, directed by French Senegalese filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré, is meant to be a provocative exploration of the destructive impact that sexualized imagery can have on kids. It focuses on an 11-year-old Senegalese immigrant named Amy now dwelling in Paris who tries to flee her non secular upbringing by becoming a member of a risqué dance group. In accordance with Doucouré, it’s the “story of many kids who must navigate between a liberal western tradition and a conservative tradition at house.”
“I wrote this movie after I spent a yr and a half interviewing pre-adolescent women, making an attempt to know their notion of what femininity was, and the way social media was affecting this concept,” Doucouré informed Deadline earlier this month. “The principle message of the movie is that these younger women ought to have the time to be kids, to get pleasure from their childhood, and have the time to decide on who they need to be when they’re adults. You might have a alternative, you possibly can navigate between these cultures and select from the weather of each, to become your individual self, regardless of what social media dictates in our society.”
This message bought misplaced when Netflix promoted “Cuties” in August with a poster that emphasised the women’ revealing dance costumes, which was a far cry from the extra understated poster that accompanied the movie’s unique launch in France.
A backlash ensued, with petitions calling for the movie’s elimination from Netflix and describing it as “baby pornography.” Even 4chan ― a web site infamous for alt-right harassment campaigns ― allegedly banned its customers from posting “Cuties” imagery.

Netflix apologized and altered the poster, however Doucouré informed Deadline that she had already been focused with private vitriol.
“I acquired quite a few assaults on my character from individuals who had not seen the movie, who thought I used to be truly making a movie that was apologetic about hypersexualization of youngsters,” Doucouré stated. “I additionally acquired quite a few loss of life threats.”
The primary Netflix poster was “not consultant of the movie,” she stated, and Sarandos, the streaming service’s co-CEO, referred to as her to make amends.
“We had a number of discussions forwards and backwards after this occurred. Netflix apologized publicly, and likewise personally to me,” Doucouré added.
Regardless of the apology and the modified promotional supplies, tweets lambasting the film and calls to #CancelNetflix nonetheless trended on social media following its launch of “Cuties” on Wednesday. Numerous conservative voices amplified their critiques with a political angle, accusing the “left” of selling “Cuties” and supporting pedophilia.
Barack Obama may make one telephone name to his employer Netflix and have the pedophile movie ‘Cuties’ pulled from their catalog.
However he will not.
— thebradfordfile™ (@thebradfordfile) September 10, 2020
It is unusual how Netflix is selling “Cuties” (a present that sexualizes 11 yr previous women) and never a single company media reporter has requested Netflix staff Susan Rice or Michelle Obama why they have not condemned the present.
— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) September 10, 2020
It’s very telling that it’s solely Conservative Twitter that’s rightfully outraged about this Cuties factor.
The left stays silent as all the time: as a result of the rising normalization of pedophilia is part of their agenda.
And has been for fairly a while.
— Rob Smith 🇺🇸 (@robsmithonline) September 10, 2020
So the left is basically doubling down on its promotion of Cuties, huh? So out of contact. Because of this Trump must win. Cannot permit pedophilia to be normalized.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 10, 2020
Are we actually stunned that an organization that will give contracts to Obama, Susan Rice and is partially owned by Soros condones pedophilia and child-twerking?#CancelNetflix
— DeAnna Lorraine 🇺🇸 (@DeAnna4Congress) September 10, 2020
For those who name ‘Cuties’ artwork or a ‘social assertion’. I name you a toddler abuser. Now we have no time for niceties whereas kids are being sexualised for mass leisure. #CancelNetflix
— Sonia Poulton (@SoniaPoulton) September 10, 2020
Studying the #CancelNetflix pattern is an eye-opening show of the Left supporting and defending pedophilia.
— Pastor Greg Locke (@pastorlocke) September 10, 2020
Netflix launched that “Cuties” film about twerking 11 yr olds. Fuller clips of the movie are actually circulating. It’s method worse than I believed, and I believed it might be extraordinarily dangerous. VERY specific sexual dancing, women grabbing themselves, crotch pictures, and so on. These are kids.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 10, 2020
The movie Cuties is disgusting, however what’s much more disappointing are the variety of individuals defending it.
“Effectively ackshully, I believed the film was entertaining, so I am gonna give them a cross for sexually exploiting 11 year-olds.”
You are enabling pedophilia. Interval.
— Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) September 10, 2020
“Cuties” has been reviewed properly by skilled movie critics regardless of this criticism. It gained an award for steering on the Sundance Movie Competition in January, and a current evaluate by The New Yorker argued that it had grow to be the unfair goal of a “right-wing marketing campaign.”
“I doubt that the scandal-mongers (who embrace some well-known figures of the far proper) have truly seen ‘Cuties,’ however some components of the movie that weren’t offered within the promoting would absolutely show irritating to them: it’s the story of a woman’s outrage at, and defiance of, a patriarchal order,” wrote reviewer Richard Brody. “The topic of ‘Cuties’ isn’t twerking; it’s kids, particularly poor and nonwhite kids, who’re disadvantaged of the assets — the training, the emotional assist, the open household dialogue — to place sexualized media and popular culture into perspective.”
Rolling Stone reviewer David Worry shared this attitude, blasting Netflix’s advertising of “Cuties” however praising components of the movie itself and calling it a “delicate coming-of-age film [that] grew to become a culture-war goal.”
“Anybody who caught ‘Cuties’ at a competition, or who bothers to stream it on Netflix beginning right now, can attest to the supreme irony right here,” Worry wrote. “It’s a portrait of ladies that decries how sexuality is force-fed to them and/or considered as the one method to foster vanity at far too younger an age. It’s the polar reverse of what it’s accused of being.”