If you’ve seen the controversial clip of adolescent girls gyrating in the up-to-date Netflix show “Cuties,” you know why parents everywhere are outraged. The series tells the story of 11-year-old Amy, who wants to rebel against the traditions of her conservative family by joining a dance crew. But this isn’t a normal dance crew. In the video, which has gone viral on social media, Amy and her crewmates can be seen twerking on stage during the competition and making other inappropriate moves.
Parents complained, but the show is still available to watch on Netflix. So a group of Republican attorneys general took matters into their own hands and wrote an urgent letter to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.
In their letter, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton demand the “voluntary removal of the video.”
AG to reject the creator’s view that the tiny film will facilitate draw attention to and combat the sexualization of adolescent girls. In their opinion, it works the other way around.
Mr. Hastings,
I strongly oppose the continued streaming of Cuties on Netflix and ask you to voluntarily remove it from your service due to the enormous harm it is causing to our children. While the filmmaker’s stated desire to combat the hypersexualization of adolescent girls is admirable, the way the film tries to do it is flawed and does more harm than good.
This film contains gratuitous exposure of a adolescent girl’s breasts; repeatedly shows children using their bodies sexually to get out of trouble; graphically focuses on children’s clothed genitalia; and shows the creation and publication of child pornography. Repetitive images of eleven-year-old children gyrating, “twerking” and simulating sex in tight, skimpy clothing simply serve as fodder for those with a criminal imagination and serve to normalize the idea that children are sexual beings. It whets the appetites of those who want to harm our children in the most unimaginable ways – in a way that I had to pursue.
In an era where we are fighting a seemingly endless battle against human trafficking, this film is counterproductive. The sexualization of our children causes traffickers to see them as a commodity that can be sold again and again. Traffickers often step in when children are struggling with problems similar to those of the main character in “Cuties.” We should be teaching our children about fit conversations and protected spaces in which they can deal with their vulnerabilities, not normalizing hypersexuality as a way to gain “popularity” and a way to work through problems they may encounter in everyday life.
In tiny, this video does immeasurable harm to all of us who fight to keep our children protected.
Several Washington lawmakers are also concerned about the presence of “Cuties.” In his own letter To Hastings, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) attached a list of questions for the director to answer by September 18.
Here are some of his queries:
“In promoting this film, has Netflix consulted any experts or authorities on combating child sexual exploitation and the psychological and emotional effects of sexualization of minors?”
“Did Netflix take steps at any time to protect the physical, mental and emotional health of child actors who were forced to perform simulated sex acts and filmed in a sexually suggestive or sexually suggestive manner?”
Meanwhile, Hawley repeated calls for Netflix to “immediately remove this film from your platform.”
