Netflix film Cuties reflects social media’s damaging impact on young girls today
- Netflix’s sexualised marketing of Cuties has caused a stir, but it is the misuse of social media by the young that is one of the film’s big talking points
- It raises concerns about the hypersexualisation of young girls and the extreme pressure social media influencers place on them in today’s society
Controversy continues to swirl around French film Cuties, the directorial debut of Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré that centres on Amy, an 11-year-old Senegalese Muslim growing up in a poor Paris neighbourhood.
The coming-of-age tale received positive reviews when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, landing Doucouré a best director award. The film tells the story of 11-year-old girl Amy, who is torn between her family’s strict Muslim traditions and her friends’ attempts to imitate the sexualised personae of women portrayed in Western culture and on social media.
But Netflix’s marketing of Cuties, with posters and a trailer showing the female leads in provocative clothing and poses, was condemned for sexualising the young characters.
The streaming giant’s artwork was different from the poster issued to promote the film’s release in French cinmeas. Even Doucouré found it objectionable.