Time For a Boycott

Thoughts on Netflix’s Propogation of Child Sexual Exploitation


Weekly Mourner 8

By screm, September 2020

I cancelled my Netflix subscription today. I want to strongly encourage you all to do the same. 

    Reed Hastings and Netflix went forward with airing a movie called “cuties” about a group of 11 year old girls who run from their families to form what is essentially a burlesque dance group. I can’t see any reason to keep Netflix after this horrific decision. In fact, some people should go to prison for what they did to these girls in this movie; Reed Hastings included. Still, all of the producers, directors, and fundraisers would be a good start. I’d be ok if they never saw the light of day again. A dark, dank, cold cell is where these dark, dank, cold minds should be placed until the day they die. Too harsh? I don’t think so. If you’re the type of corrupted mind that will exploit young girls for sexual, financial, and/or corrupt social causes like the normalization of pedophilia then you have, in my opinion, forfeited your right to exist in society. By all legal means of course. Well, okay, let’s settle for simply demanding that those complicit in this are at least charged with a crime?

     Here are some facts about the movie:

Multiple drawn out scenes show the 11 year old girls dancing, twerking, touching themselves in their private areas, touching each other in their private areas, spanking each other while humping the floor, pulling on each other’s clothing suggestively, dancing in this way for grown men, who watch intrigued, to name a few. 

     I saw a few seconds of some of these scenes on social media even while those posting the scenes were debating openly with themselves as to whether they should even show the clips. Some decided to show them for proof that this is real, some decided not to. On one forum I reposted a thread I found valuable that did include some clips and decided later to delete it because I decided the need to disprove detractors was not greater than simply refusing to show anything from this artistic work of evil.

     I have read but not been able to verify that the movie also depicts the children watching pornography, one child participating in it via webcam, one of the girls taking a photo of her vagina and texting it to another person and more. My understanding is that this does not show the child’s nudity but the act of her doing this and if your mind even went there to question that, stop for a moment… both are evil. An implicit scene with a child is as evil as an explicit scene with a child.

     The underlying theme is that these girls are doing this in direct defiance of their parents who they consider to be overbearing and traditional (See how that works? Parents are the bad people who won’t let their children pursue their dreams therefore pedophilia is justified. Presto!). Every good drama needs an antagonist I suppose. To the exploiters and abusers of children, parents are the perfect foil; Attack parents and you’ve removed the most essential and vital barrier of protection for our children. This is of course not to say that there are not some remarkably bad parents in the world, even evil and malicious parents… their children are the first pick of those who sexually stalk children. Still, this is a sexual predator’s game. This is where they focus their efforts as they play the “long game” to normalize their wicked predations. 

      As an artist I can’t be silent about this. What we do with our eyes is all important. Our eyes, for those of us with the gift of sight, are what we meet our world with. They are the front line to our souls. We will all see bad things with our eyes. We will all see things we regret seeing. Especially in the age of the internet. We will also, all, behold beauty beyond description with our eyes. Our task is to think about our sight proactively, even defensively, and perhaps more important, offensively, seeking out beauty to behold with a purpose. In terms of our sight, there is no other way to counteract all the bad things we will see. 

     Still, there are certain sights that we should never behold, and the exploitation of children is one of them. We can begin to draw a line in the sand of this ever-critical frontline by boycotting Netflix. Here is a legitimate reason for a boycott. There is no more important treasure to defend than our children. May God protect them and may God help us to recommit to protecting them in light of this outrage. 

Some have justified this film by arguing that it claims to be a “cautionary tale” warning of the dangers of child sexual exploitation in today’s world. It also force feeds its viewers a toxic dose of fourth wave feminist ideology. Coincidence? No. Of course it does. What other worldview would soft peddle child sexual abuse as a good mechanism for a gritty and brave and honest, groundbreaking film? But this argument of the film having a good overall context would be like arguing that it is wise for parents to have a child molester come over to their home to molest their children as a cautionary tale against the horrific effects of child molestation. It’s an absurd argument. The film uses real child actresses. They were encouraged, led, choreographed, into the lewd poses and acts they partake of in this film. In real time. In front of adults who were supposed to be protecting them from that very thing. That’s the real evil of this film. The other effects are secondary. They’re already devastating. All of us should rush in to put a stop to it in any viable way that we can.