Is Cuties Really That Bad?
Maïmouna Doucouré’s debut film, “Cuties”, has gained somewhat of an infamous reputation. Initially fuelled by a Netflix marketing blunder prior to release, the film has become a topic of contention over its “sexualisation of young girls”. The past few weeks have seen Twitter flooded with calls to #CancelNetflix, a 700,000 signature-strong petition to remove Cuties from the streaming service, and even members of US Congress demanding the Justice Department take action against it on grounds of child pornography. We all know that cancelling is an increasingly common option, especially in 2020, so is it really something that should be cancelled? Or is it that, amongst the hysteria and Netflix’s misrepresentation of the film, we may have lost sight as to what it is actually about?
Twerking and eleven-year-olds are two things that do not comfortably go together. So, when Netflix released a description of Cuties that boiled the entire film down to that, it understandably set a bad precedent. Accompanied by an image of scantily clad children in some pretty inappropriate poses, the pre-release promotion was enough to start a viscous attack over the film being supposedly paedophilic. Netflix subsequently apologised for their misrepresentation of the film and reverted to the artwork to what was used in France for initial release. But by that point, the damage was done, and the debate had already begun, with polarised reactions coming from all voices – spanning from politicians, to journalists, and of course, the public. It is safe to say that Cuties has gained a lot of attention.
Controversial films are not anything new. From Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, to Brokeback Mountain, time and time again there have been films that cause moral outrage for going against social norms. With this comes the recurrent pattern of calls for these to be banned from public viewing. What is unique with Cuties though, is that much of the issue seems to have stemmed from this initial marketing error, with many dismissing and casting judgement without having watched it. This poses speculation as to whether the film may have simply passed under the radar as another indie coming-of-age flick had Netflix got their marketing right.
Something that seems to have intensified reaction has been the broader conversation around child sexualisation that has come with the recent rise of the QAnon conspiracy into mainstream media since lockdown. For those unfamiliar, this theory claims that the many of the world’s elite are engaged in a paedophilic sex-ring (alongside Satanic-worshipping). It is important to emphasise that it is just a theory and not based on solid evidence or fact.
Why mention this then?
Because the narrative that has come with it has shifted conversation. We have seen rises in #SaveTheChildren hashtags, rallies against trafficking and even celebrity endorsement of the theory. Even the news coverage of it has made child sexualisation a more top-of-mind issue than beforehand. So, when news broke of a film that apparently sexualised children, for some, it served as “evidence” that Netflix too was involved in this and added fuel to the fire. And it is all having an impact. Variety have reported that Netflix cancellations are up eightfold and denouncements for the film are ever growing.
But again, is Cuties really that bad?
The plot of Cuties is centred around eleven-year-old Amy (Fathia Youssouf), a French-Senegalese girl stuck in a cultural dichotomy and grappling to find her place. Her family, on the one hand, are devout Muslims, enforcing a set of beliefs regarding her role as a woman. Conflict arises as we see Amy become fascinated by the “Cuties”, a hyper-millennial dance crew she encounters at school. The film explores Amy’s internal struggle between these two juxtaposed lifestyles as she tries to fit in. This is poignantly portrayed from the opening scene. Her fascination then begins and spirals into rebellion against her upbringing.
Sounds fairly normal so far? Well, as the film progresses, we see Amy attempting to make her mark on the dancers by creating new routines based on what she thinks will win them the competition, and her – their respect. What that looks like is progressively more sexualised dances derived from popular music videos. This is when the discomfort of the film begins to creep in. We see these children making inappropriate gestures, twerking, and going as far as posting nudes to social media. And I will admit that some scenes are hard to watch and make you wonder whether that many close-up shots are necessary to convey the message.
But in fact, the shocking scenes serve a purpose by intentionally creating discomfort to highlight the sort of culture kids nowadays are exposed to. Something that we, at a societal level, may overlook. As Doucouré put it, Cuties is supposed to be “mirror of today’s society, a mirror sometimes difficult to look into”. So the outrage over the film is not invalid or unexpected but was intended to be channelled into society rather than the film alone. Above all else it is a piece of social commentary, aimed to encourage conversation on the very real issues we see for children growing up too fast. It does not glorify child sexualisation. In fact, the climax of the film shows the girls performing their routine to a live audience; rather than being praised and winning as they expect, the audience are horrified at what they have seen.
It feels reminiscent of Catherine Hardwicke’s Thirteen in that it focuses on coming-of-age from a brutally honest point of view. Thirteen tackled sex, drugs and rebellion for Gen Z-ers in an unflinching way. With both this, and Cuties, when you are looking at it from the outside, and not in that specific phase of life, it can be challenging to watch, and even tougher to relate to. But ultimately, Cuties is a well-researched view of some of the the modern-day pressures on children which are causing them to act beyond their years.
Not too long ago, it was easier to control information and censor what children had access to (remember when parental controls on the internet actually worked?). But with social media and internet culture so deeply entrenched in millennial life, this is now an almost impossible battle to win. Whatever parents try, children are always savvier to technology, and so if they want to find something, they will. This is especially true with platforms such as Tik Tok, which 25% of millennials use daily, and is regularly under fire due it’s lack of age-restrictions and potential for exploitation.
If you scroll through Tik Tok, you’ll find masses of content created by children copying sexualised actions, and dancing to explicit songs that they don’t really understand. The media in any form – whether pop music , social media like Tik Tok, or even TV – has extensive effects on children’s behaviour and how they develop their identify. Psychiatric research has even shown that exposure to this sort of social media has produced “reductionist beliefs of women as sex objects” amongst young adolescent girls. When content that kids are exposed to presents overly sexualised individuals as successful, children will absorb this information like a sponge and begin to show mimicry of it.
This is the take-home message that Cuties aims for.
Initially an outsider, main-character Amy longs to be part of the in-group, to avoid getting bullied and be part of something. Unfortunately, the tools she has at her disposal to navigate this are mostly internet culture and social media which causes her identity to be shaped based on wildly inaccurate representations of femininity and adolescence.
Whether you loved Cuties or hated it, there is more to be said for the film than the marketing and subsequent reactions have suggested. Underneath all the hype and controversy sits an all too familiar story of a child prematurely thrust into an adult world and unsure what to do.
Written by Yasmeen Frasso
Yasmeen is a Londoner working in digital marketing, trying to write in her free time. She studied Psychology at university with an interest in forensics and the psychology of religion. You'll usually find her with coffee in hand, pining over cute cat videos.