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Show Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, September 19-22, 2020 B-3 The Park Record Sundance film draws backlash for depiction of young girls ‘Cuties’ director: Movie is criticism of sexualization LINDSEY BAHR Associated Press The backlash to the French independent film “Mignonnes,” or “Cuties,” started before it had even been released because of a poster that went viral for its provocative depiction of its young female actors. But the spotlight has only intensified since the film became available on Netflix last week and it has become the target of heightened politicized outrage from members of Congress, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, and others online calling for subscribers to #CancelNetflix. At the heart of the backlash is the idea that “Cuties” is dangerously and irresponsibly sexualizing pre-teen girls, which, ironically, is what the movie itself is criticizing too. The campaign against the film, which includes calls for the Department of Justice to investigate it and hundreds of thousands calling for subscribers to cancel their Netflix accounts, is riddled with inaccuracies due in part to the fact that some critics have not seen the film (one claims that there is child nudity when there is not). Netflix said in a statement that it is a, “social commentary against the sexualization of young children.” Written and directed by Maimouna Doucoure, “Cuties” is about an 11-year-old Senegalese immigrant named Amy (Fathia Youssouf) who is living in an impoverished Paris suburb with her observant Muslim family. She becomes fascinated with a clique of rebellious girls at her middle school who choreograph dance routines and wear crop tops and heels. They talk about Kim Kardashian and diets, practice “twerking” and giggle about boys and sex-related things that they don’t yet understand. Netflix acquired “Cuties” out of the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year where it was favorably reviewed and won an award for its direction. It is the kind of film (foreign-language and with no stars from a first-time director) that would otherwise have gone under the radar. But because Netflix’s promotional materials caught the attention of the internet and even led to an apology from the streaming giant and the removal of the posters, “Cuties” was thrust onto the national stage. Late last week, Republicans Cruz and U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas called on the Department of Justice to investigate the film’s production and distribution. Cruz in his letter to Attorney General William Barr asked that they, “determine whether Netflix, its executives, or the individuals involved in the filming and production of ‘Cuties’ violated any federal laws against the production and distribution of child pornography.” On Sunday in an interview on the Fox News Channel, Cruz elaborated that Netflix is “making money by selling the sexual exploitation of young kids.” Cruz and others have made it a sticking point that Netflix has a production deal with former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, although neither have any association with “Cuties.” Congressman Ken Buck of Colorado tweeted that he and Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona also want DOJ to investigate. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican, also sent a letter to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings asking for the film to be removed from the platform while he awaits answers about how the film was made and marketed. The criticism is not just from Republicans. Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, in a Twitter post called “Cuties” “child porn” and included a photo of the recalled poster and wrote that it will “certainly whet the appetite of pedophiles & help fuel the child sex trafficking trade.” “Netflix, you are now complicit,” Gabbard continued. Melissa Henson, program director for the Parents Television Council, said that it “normalizes the sexualization of little girls,” and over 640,000 accounts have signed a Change.org petition calling on users to cancel their Netflix accounts over the film. But this time Netflix is not apologizing. “It’s an award-winning film and a powerful story about the pressure young girls face on social media and from society more generally growing up — and we’d encourage anyone who cares about these important issues to watch the movie,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. Some film critics have also weighed in on the controversy and highlighted the merits of the film. “It would have been easy for Doucoure to use a broad brush to paint the different extremes of Amy’s experience (‘stifling tradition bad, dancing good’), but she’s not exactly making ‘Footloose’ here,” New York Magazine film critic Bilge Ebiri wrote. “‘Cuties’ is not a blunt screed or a finger-wagging cautionary tale in either direction — which is one reason why anyone watching the film looking for clear messages about right and wrong is bound to be disappointed, maybe even outraged.” Doucoure was inspired to make the film partly because she observed some 11-year-old girls dancing “like we’re used to seeing in video clips” at a gathering in Paris and wanted to investigate why such young girls were mimicking such adult behavoir. “Our girls see that the more a woman is overly sexualized on social media, the more she is successful. Children just imitate what they see, trying to achieve the same result without understanding the meaning,” Doucoure said. “It is dangerous.” Her protagonist, Amy, is at the crossroads of conflicting messaging from her family, French Western culture and the “hyper-real fiction of social media,” she said. Doucoure encouraged audiences to watch the film “without judging this child.” According to Lauren Aronson, a representative for Cruz who said he has not seen the film, the intent of the filmmaker is not the point. “There should be absolutely no place for the filming and distribution of these scenes,” Aronson wrote. But Doucoure believes that her film is a worthy call to action. And her messaging seems to have the same goal as those bemoaning its existence. “We must all come together to figure out what is best for our children. As a director, as an artist, I am doing my part with this film,” she said. “Politicians, the education system, parents and children must come together to fix what’s gone wrong.” Ski Conditioning Fitness Program October 1 - November 24 Tuesdays & Thursdays 6:30am - 7:30am The Fieldhouse $160 Pre-Pay Only (no drops ins) www.basinrecreation.org | (435) 655-0999 Get all the latest Park Record updates. FINAL OFFER Prepare your muscles and your mind for all the fun winter activities to come! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 No. 0920 15 16 17 18 40 41 42 69 70 71 112 113 BY MARYELLEN UTHLAUT / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ 19 MaryEllen Uthlaut is a writer and homemaker in Charleston, S.C. Some years ago she was at her local library doing research for an article when she stumbled across a book about crosswords that had been misshelved. She checked it out, read it and started constructing. Her first-ever puzzle appeared in The Times in 2010. This is her third crossword for the paper and her first Sunday. — W.S. AC R O S S 1 Curse 5 Unit of current 8 Developer of 1982’s E.T., a video game so bad that hundreds of thousands of unsold cartridges were secretly buried in a New Mexico landfill 13 Stealing attempts on the diamond? 19 Look extremely stylish, slangily 20 ____ People’s Democratic Republic 21 Classic actress Sophia 22 Lacking freshness 23 Always glad to be seated in the back of the boat? 26 Printed cotton fabric 27 Think of together 28 Perfectly placed ‘‘Batman’’ punch? 30 Behind the line of scrimmage 32 Pried, with ‘‘in’’ 33 Look ahead 36 Unfilled spaces 40 Part of New York City’s Museum Mile, with ‘‘the’’ 43 Charlatans 46 ‘‘Catch you later!’’ 47 Buddhist temple structure 50 Penny going through the wash once again? Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 4,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). 53 Subject of Walter Lord’s ‘‘A Night to Remember’’ 54 Epson product 55 Facebook profile feature 56 Soup served at the church social? 58 Persuade by force 61 Sheep’s kin 63 Commencement 64 Church officer 65 Grape-Nuts maker 66 Ark groupings 68 Feudal workers 72 In a lively manner 74 What a pointless meeting probably should have been handled by 76 California in San Francisco, e.g. 77 Afternoon gatherings of Mensa? 81 Force at sea 83 Monk’s title 84 Withdrew 85 Having no feeling in one’s texting hand? 89 Assumed name 90 One of the so-called ‘‘Three Crowns of Florence,’’ along with Petrarch and Boccaccio 91 Source of the idioms ‘‘fat of the land’’ and ‘‘fire and brimstone’’ 92 As we speak 93 Small anatomical opening, as in a bone 96 These can go for a lot of bucks 97 Check for mistakes 100 Party tray meat 103 Ad for heartburn medication? 109 Puts forward 114 State you’ll never get to 115 ‘‘Quit your snickering, Damon!’’? 117 Hitting the floppy disk icon, say 118 Islamic rulers 119 Hill resident 120 Soup pod 121 Dangerous fly 122 Dividing membranes 123 ____ flour 124 ‘‘No man hath ____ God …’’ DOWN 1 Labor-regulating org. 2 ‘‘Such a pity!’’ 3 Bugs 4 Doc’s needle 5 Without reserve 6 Yucatán natives 7 Fancifully worded 8 Drink rarely drunk with a straw 9 ____ Bora, area of Afghanistan 10 ____ American Heritage Month (April) 11 Foul rulers 12 Says without feeling 13 Start of a magician’s phrase 14 Send over the moon 15 Waited at a red light, say 16 FedEx, maybe 17 Order by the border 18 ‘‘Please ____ your tray tables’’ (plane request) 24 World-renowned 25 Sanskrit scripture 29 Part of many California place names 31 Get out of Dodge, so to speak 33 Caustic compound 34 Needing a passcode, maybe 35 Even one 37 Latin clarifier 38 Easy-to-bend metal 39 Greek vowel 40 Lead-in to rail 41 Computer menu with Undo and Redo 42 Dash gauge 43 Word with freeze or fixing 44 Choice word 45 ‘‘Don’t just ____ there!’’ 47 Digital passcodes 48 Viewed optimistically 49 ____ snake 51 Japanese city where Lexus is headquartered 52 Classic muscle cars 53 Cards with the most pips 57 Bread 59 Map section 60 Irascible 62 Some Hollywood up-and-comers 65 Responded in court 67 Cowardly sort 69 Turn down 20 23 21 24 25 26 27 28 30 33 34 36 44 38 47 52 56 60 61 64 62 65 72 78 66 73 74 79 80 84 85 89 63 67 68 75 76 81 82 104 98 87 88 91 94 99 95 100 105 83 86 93 97 49 57 90 92 48 53 55 59 39 46 51 58 103 32 37 45 50 54 29 31 35 43 77 22 106 107 108 96 101 109 102 110 114 115 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 70 Units of distance in physics 71 Sticks a fork in 73 Piece of news 75 Drinks usually drunk with straws 76 Compos mentis 77 Stark who was crowned king in the ‘‘Game of Thrones’’ finale 78 Eight-year member of Clinton’s cabinet 79 State 80 Glance at, as headlines 82 Animal for which the Canary Islands are named 86 Opposite of WSW 87 -s or -ed 88 Modern prefix 90 Practices lexicography 93 One vain about his looks 94 ‘‘You ____?’’ 111 116 95 Greetings to some mainlanders 97 Ground-dwelling songbird 98 Bit attachments 99 Old enough 101 Kind of acid 102 Like most mouthwashes 103 Brownish shade 104 Greek vowels 105 Classic pop-art sculpture with a slanted ‘‘O’’ 106 ‘‘Personally …’’ 107 Cut out 108 Male deer 110 Singer/songwriter Lee 111 Appropriate 112 ‘‘Suis’’ is part of its conjugation 113 Comic book publisher Lee 116 Where to find MA and PA |