This archive report was first published on 23 August 2020.
On September 9th, Netflix will debut the film Cuties, a new drama directed by Maimouna Doucouré. The French film depicts an 11-year-old girl who joins a dance group, exploring the idea of young girls imitating sexualized imagery without understanding its meaning and dangers.
However, the original poster for the film sparked controversy after it was accused of 'sexualizing an 11-year-old for the viewing pleasure of paedophiles.' The petition, which garnered 25,000 signatures in less than 24 hours, claimed that the poster was not representative of the film.
Netflix apologized in a tweet, stating, 'We're deeply sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for Mignonnes/Cuties. It was not OK, nor was it representative of this French film which won an award at Sundance. We’ve now updated the pictures and description.'
The film follows 11-year-old Amy, a young girl in France living with her Muslim family and waiting for her father to return home from Senegal. Her mother Mariam still holds dear the traditional Senegalese values, and Amy rebels by joining a dance troupe named The Cuties.
The trailer for the film shows the pre-teens engaging in risqué choreography, including twerking, and wearing revealing shorts and tiny crop tops.
