Following the major backlash to Netflix film Cuties for its alleged sexualised portrayal of pre-teen children, the streaming giant has now been indicted by the US grand jury over the controversial film.
Cuties, which is directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, focuses on an 11-year-old Senegalese girl who joins a French hip-hop dance troupe, in what is described as a “coming of age dramedy”. However, upon the film’s release on September 9th, angry viewers took to social media to voice their disgust over the sexualisation of the young girls in the film, leading to the trending tag on Twitter, #CancelNetflix.
While the film doesn’t feature any underage nudity, according to Washington Post (via Texas Tribune), “it includes a minute-long scene with close-ups of the girls in the dance group gyrating their thighs, butts and stomachs.”
Now, a grand jury in Tyler County, Texas, has returned an indictment that was filed on September 23rd, with the charges stating that Netflix did “knowingly promote visual material which depicts the lewd exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of a clothed or partially clothed child who was younger than 18 years of age at the time the visual material was created, which appeals to the prurient interest in sex, and has no serious, literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
Netflix, Inc. indicted by grand jury in Tyler Co., Tx for promoting material in Cuties film which depicts lewd exhibition of pubic area of a clothed or partially clothed child who was younger than 18 yrs of age which appeals to the prurient interest in sex #Cuties #txlege pic.twitter.com/UJ1hY8XJ2l
— Matt Schaefer (@RepMattSchaefer) October 6, 2020
In a statement on Tyler County District Attorney Lucas Babin office’s Facebook page on Tuesday, Babin said that after watching the movie, he “knew there was probable cause to believe it was criminal.”
“The legislators of this state believe promoting certain lewd material of children has destructive consequences,” Babin continued. “If such material is distributed on a grand scale, isn’t the need to prosecute more, not less?”
He added: “A grand jury found probable cause for this felony, and my job is to uphold the laws of this State and see that justice is done.”
Meanwhile, Netflix is standing by the film, saying in a statement:
“Cuties is a social commentary against the sexualization of young children,” a spokesperson told Fox News. “This charge is without merit and we stand by the film.”
