Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, in a Q&A session held recently, responded to a Texas grand jury’s indictment of the controversial film Cuties. The indie, made by French director Maïmouna Doucouré, has received a lot of backlash for seemingly objectifying children, particularly young girls, in an inappropriate manner.
Sarandos brushed off the verdict, calling the film “misunderstood,” stated The Hollywood Reporter. "Frankly, I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion about the First Amendment implications of this film. It's a film I would argue is very misunderstood with some audiences, uniquely in the United States," he was quoted as saying.
Cuties is a coming-of-age story about an 11-year-old girl from a traditional Muslim-Senegalese family who tries to fit in by joining a group of young dancers who carry out sexualised routines and post them online.
As per the indictment, Netflix is accused of promoting "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."
Sarandos defended Cuties saying, "It’s the director’s story and the film has obviously played very well at Sundance, without any of this kind of controversy and played in theatres throughout Europe without any of this controversy," he argued. "I think it’s a little surprising that in 2020 in America, we’re having a discussion about censoring storytelling…"
The Netflix chief said the streamer never considered making edits or limiting access to Doucouré's feature debut.
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