In Doucouré's words, it sounds like Cuties itself is a criticism of the very things it's being accused of promoting. I received numerous attacks on my character from people who had not seen the film, who thought I was actually making a film that was apologetic about hyper-sexualization of children. That was when I went and saw what the poster looked like. I hadn’t seen the poster until after I started getting all these reactions on social media, direct messages from people, attacks on me. As she told Deadline, "I discovered the poster at the same time as the American public." Her reaction to the criticism "was a strange experience. Netflix's apology aside, as a result, Doucouré herself became a target. Netflix updated the image on its service to match that of the original poster the new description reads, "Eleven-year-old Amy starts to rebel against her conservative family’s traditions when she becomes fascinated with a free-spirited dance crew." Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos even called to personally apologize to Doucouré. Netflix quickly apologized for the poster, admitting that it was not representative of the film. Tessa Thompson, who saw the film at Sundance, tweeted that she stood by her assertion that Cuties was a "beautiful film" and that she was "disappointed to see how it was positioned in terms of marketing. People who hadn't even seen the film swarmed IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes to leave bad reviews and plummet the film's ratings.īut Cuties also had its share of defenders. A number of petitions were started online to have the film removed from Netflix, while others threatened to cancel their subscriptions to the service if it wasn't. Netflix was accused of promoting pedophilia. On social media, accusations that the film promoted the sexualization of children were swift and vicious. The Netflix poster, left, and French poster for 'Cuties.' Netflix/BAC Films Hoping to join them, she starts to explore her femininity, defying her family’s traditions." Almost immediately, the critics pounced. Netflix bought Cuties just before its successful premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, but controversy struck late this summer when Netflix premiered its poster for the film, which featured the four lead girls in booty shorts and crop tops striking provocative poses - a vastly different image from the movie's original French poster, which showed the girls frolicking with shopping bags.Īdditionally, Vulture reports, the description on the film's Netflix page read at the time, "Amy, 11, becomes fascinated with a twerking dance crew. While her family encourages her to be modest and obedient, Amy befriends a group of outspoken girls who form a dance troupe in order to gain popularity on social media. Directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, Cuties (in French, Mignonnes) tells the story of an 11-year-old Muslim Senegalese immigrant named Amy who moves into a housing project in Paris. There's quite a bit of controversy surrounding the movie that might very well disperse once more people actually watch it. The French coming-of-age drama Cuties is now available to stream on Netflix, but before you dive into the film you might need a bit of background info.
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