Netflix’s Cuties is Lost in Translation

The Controversy is Well Earned

I went in watching Netflix’s Cuties, also known as Mignonnes, giving it ample room to not prejudge it as it swirled with controversy over the claims of sexualizing children. The film, directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, is a tale of a young Muslim girl who becomes envious of a group of her school friends who’s commonality is provocative dancing. Oh, and the girls are 11-year-old’s. On a whole, the film is not that remarkable. It’s a typical family that happens to be Muslim. They have similar problems compared to anyone else’s family living with preadolescent pubescent children. It’s a slow film.

As I kept watching it, I waited for any signs of controversy and it slowly walked into the scene in the form of one of the young actress who wears the glasses. I can’t give you a name as they are not household names. Anyway, the glasses-wearing girl saunters onto the school playground wearing a very tight red dress and, I guess, crop-top piece. Again, she’s 11 years old. This is a French film so perhaps the dress standards for preadolescent girls are less restrictive for school attire as she was not the only girl wearing a tight-fitting dress. Her close friends were also wearing tight-fitting clothing and with one, a very short miniskirt. So now, the plot of the film has shifted and you’re drawn away from that and unto what these preteens are doing and it’s just worthless immaturity.

The film is now about the girls' objective of entering a dance competition. Getting to that point is a questionable task filled with the young girls watching another girl dance troupe that contains a bit of nudity. Again, since this is a French film, exposing children to nudity may be okay to do. Here in America, they do careful editing to give the illusion of exposing children to dangerous or questionable elements. As far as I know, this scene could have been implied. But there was a scene where the lead actress was on a toilet and she’s using it and goes through the motion cleaning herself. I’ve seen adults do this but not children.

As you continue to watch this, you know have lost all interest in the main subject of the girl’s struggle to conform with her Muslim tradition while trying to appease her newfound friends and practicing for the dance competition. The lead actress steals a phone and she uses it to talk to glasses and look up videos of strippers performing. She uses those images that inspire her to mimic the stripper’s move and she incorporates that into their routine. The moves are highly suggestive and yes, inappropriate for 11-year-old girls to be performing. There is also one scene where the girls are dancing in front of two men very provocatively and it is here where you can fully understand the controversy because they are 11-year-old girls. These young girls aren’t just twerking, they are simulating sexual intercourse and rubbing their hands on the butts and genital areas.

I understand this film has won some sort of award and the actress, Tessa Thompson, has come to the defense of the film and the director because she’s a black woman. Just because she’s black doesn’t make her work immune from criticism and it doesn’t make the film in any shape or form to be avant-garde. Cuties are not any of this, it’s a wet dream for only one kind of person, let’s call them Epstein-steins, yeah, that dreaded monster, an Epstein-stein. This film is nothing more than a child exploitation film. You would figure that since a woman directed this that she would have brought a sense of sensibility to the film but there are female Epstein-steins out there too.

The lead actress does the ultimate Epstein-stein move as the director films her to remove her pants and then her underwear and photographs her genitals and send that photo out to everyone. Was this necessary? There are no consequences for this action, she gets chastised at her school but she seems not to care. Her mother finds out and again, she slips out and goes to the competition. She shoves her adversary into a canal and makes her way to the competition where she and the three remaining girls do the stripper routine and the director shoots close-up shots of the girl's crotch and butts. Okay, this is enough. I’ve sat through this thing and found no redeeming values with this. Netflix made a huge mistake in buying this and airing this. People have discontinued their subscription because of this film. Why the hardheads, Netflix? Why make your subscribers choose between this Epstein-stein flick and Stranger Things? Your stock took a big hit behind this film. You have a huge black eye behind this. You are going to have to do something to get those subscribers back and, more importantly, you need to listen to your subscribers,. They had given you fair warning of their intent to end their subscription if you went ahead and show this Epstein-stein film.

Films are supposed to entertain, to inspire, to make you smile. This film just left you disturbed. There was a film, another French film, that had an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old girl in it and one teen boy. The name of the film shall remain nameless as it to was controversial as these girls went full nude. One of the girl’s mother had photographed her in nude and semi-nude poses as she was still young. Years later, the woman has made claims that her mother took advantage of her along with other allegations. I wonder if Epstein-steins like France?