• “Cuties” was a film that was both a Sundance favorite and a critically-acclaimed piece.
• Netflix bungled the promotion of the film & turned it into “pedobait.”
• This has sparked a renewed insistence to #CancelNetflix — but its proponents still don’t get the point of the film.

Let’s be clear: no matter how badly Netflix bungled the promotion of the film — and certainly, it was in their top five promotional bungles — “Cuties” is not, in any way, “pedobait” or promoting pedophilia.

If it were, I’d be the first one to call for its immediate cancellation and the demolition of Netflix and all its pomps and circumstances.

Yet, no matter how many times I — or other critics with an ounce of sense — try to convey the message, the screams of #CancelNetflix seem to echo above the din.

So let’s try this again, and hopefully, the message sinks in this time.

‘Cuties’ Is Criticizing the Very Thing Its Detractors Are Accusing It Of

By now, you’ve no doubt seen the tweets calling for people to #CancelNetflix thanks to the streaming giant’s release of “Cuties.”

Too bad not a thing mentioned in this hashtag has to do with “Cuties” on any level. Anyone who watched the film knows that it’s actually against the very thing its detractors are claiming it’s about.

We’ve Said This Before and We Shouldn’t #CancelNetflix

We’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: “Cuties” does not glorify pedophilia. As The Guardian explains :

[The film], according to its synopsis, [is] about Amy, an 11-year-old Senegalese Muslim, who is torn between the traditional values of her background and a group of rebellious young girls. Accordingly, the artwork selected to accompany previews of the film on Netflix, depicts Amy and other members of the gang in various twerking poses, presumably acting out some kind of routine. The picture is fairly tasteless, featuring the girls in flesh-baring tube tops and sexualised poses, which is what led to the online calls for the film’s cancellation (from people who hadn’t seen it).

There are actual children out there that are missing, exploited, and even dead. The “far-right” proponents of the #CancelNetflix hashtag don’t seem to have this energy for the thousands of children dead from COVID-19 or shot up in the Sandy Hook massacre, or even for the children that are current victims of rape and molestation. No — they only seem to have this smoke for “Cuties,” and their criticism is both intellectually dishonest and reeks of political polemics.

And it needs to stop.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.

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