Source: StockSnap/Pixabay As a media scholar and a parent of young children, I've had multiple people ask me what I think about the film Cuties. If you haven't heard, this film has received considerable controversy, with many people cancelling their Netflix accounts as a result. Cuties follows the story of an 11-year-old immigrant girl with a religious background. She attempts to figure out her womanhood by joining a dance group of girls her age. The film has been criticized for promoting child pornography and pedophilia. I've seen this all over my social media accounts, with many of my friends speaking out against the film.
I decided to save judgment until I actually watched the film. And afterward, I feel really mixed. The move made me think deeply, which is definitely a good thing. But it left me feeling uneasy with several questions.
On one hand, I believe it's a powerful statement about what it means to be a tween, trying to figure out womanhood during a TikTok era. It's not easy at all and there is so much pressure to be perfect. Women are valued for their sexuality and their youth. This is a consistent message we get over and over again from the media. No wonder the main character (Amy) thinks that twerking and dressing provocatively is what it means to be a woman and to be accepted by society. This is what we reward in society—through likes, fame, money, and attention. And it is so hard to navigate those messages at 11 years old, on the cusp of womanhood. The intent of the movie was to make that point and make it strongly. I don't believe that the movie glamorized child sexuality. In fact, Amy is messed up! She is exhausted by the end of the movie and is not overtly rewarded for her behavior. The dance scenes made me feel uncomfortable—and they should! That's probably the point of them. And yet, how are they all that different from the way we sexualize and extort little girls in reality TV shows like Dance Moms, or Toddlers in Tiaras? This is not new.
But on the other hand, I was uneasy. Is this child pornography? I don't think so. But some of the scenes felt gratuitous. Did the director need to go that far to make her point? Probably not. Did the actresses (mostly age 14) have the cognitive capability and forward thinking to understand what they were creating and how it might impact their future? Definitely not. I had the same feeling when I see young children in films doing other "adult-like" things, like saying the F-word or using sexual language they clearly don't understand. Or in horror films where the children are the scary ones, psychopathic demons set on killing others. Where is the line between professional acting and exploitation? Did this cross the line or simply make an excellent point about our already messed up society?
I'm not sure.
I do know that I'm not going to cancel my Netflix account.
I also know that It's OK to feel mixed. It's OK to sit with something that makes you feel uncomfortable and hopefully it makes you look at the world in a different way.