Netflix has been indicted by a Texas grand jury over the documentary ‘Cuties’ moments ago, Your Content is learning.
According to federal charging documents, 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.”
Rep. Matt Schaefer shared the indictment Tuesday on Twitter. “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,” he wrote.
The indictment states that Netflix promoted, distributed and exhibited 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” for the “prurient interest in sex.” It also states that the material held no serious “literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
The film, directed by Sundance winner Maïmouna Doucouré, follows an 11-year-old Senegalese immigrant named Amy living in Paris who joins an adolescent dance group, The Cuties, in her attempts to determine her identity in her new world. A coming of age journey of sorts, Amy essentially emulates the sexualized behavior typically portrayed by women in Western societies as a means to fit in and performs dance routines with her peers that imitate the older, sexually uninhibited women they are trying to emulate.
A Netflix spokesperson responded to the indictment in a statement to Your Content: “Cuties is a social commentary against the sexualization of young children. This charge is without merit and we stand by the film.”
The indictment against Netflix comes following outrage over the film’s release in September.
Your Content readers were first to know when hundreds of critics called out the film’s sexualization of young girls in various scenes throughout the movie, particularly ones in which they copy an older dance group’s sexual moves and another in which one 11-year-old member of the dance troupe takes photos of her genitals, although no nudity is actually showcased.
This is a developing breaking news story. It will be updated momentarily.
