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.
— Netflix (@netflix) August 20, 2020
Movie streaming service Netflix is receiving serious backlash for its decision to “pick up” a movie about 11-year-old girls who dance in a sexually-suggestive manner.
The French-language movie follows an 11-year-old Muslim girl who breaks with her tradition to join a “twerking” crew in the hopes of finding stardom through a local dance contest.
The company apologized for the artwork it has run promoting the movie, but not for the decision to air it. Artwork shared by writer Claire Heuchan and others on Twitter showed the film’s all-child cast in skimpy uniforms striking suggestive poses.
“We’re deeply sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for Mignonnes/Cuties,” the company’s statement read. “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 company still plans to move forward with its premiere in September. It is rated “MA” for mature.
An online petition to bar the movie from being shown has garnered nearly 90,000 signatures so far.
The Parents Television Council, a conservative-leaning watchdog group, is requesting that the platform not release “Cuties,” and remove “other content that sexualizes children or romanticizes sexual assault and rape.”
“Netflix must stop sexually exploiting children for the sake of entertainment, period,” the organization’s president, Tim Winter, said in a release issued to USA Today. “It’s time for Netflix to account for the content it hosts, and the first step it must take is to remove ‘Cuties’ and other content that sexualizes children, such as ‘Baby,’ ‘Big Mouth,’ and ‘Sex Education’ or that glamorizes rape and sexual assault such as ‘365 Days.’”
You can sign the petition to have “Cuties” removed from Netflix here.