Netflix Cancellations Spike Big as ‘Cuties’ Fallout Continues

Editor’s Note: This story contains links to the petition from the American Family Association. We believe the petition is important, but the link displays a scene from the movie discussed in this article and depicts an inappropriately dressed young girl. Please be discerning and aware of this as you move out of this story.

A letter from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, could soon prompt the Justice Department to investigate Netflix on charges of indecency and purveying child pornography because of Cuties, a feature-length film that follows an 11-year-old girl who joins a “twerking dance group.”

The shocking and disturbing film is highly graphic, exploiting young girls through sexually explicit cinematography. The American Family Association (AFA, afa.net), which advocates from a biblical worldview for the rights and interests of families, collected more than 61,000 signatures in a petition calling on Netflix to cancel Cuties.

AFA called on Netflix to respond to its petition, yet this organization that distributes child pornography has simply dismissed the concerns of over 61,000 petition signers by not replying to AFA. As a result of the controversy, Netflix cancellations have spiked eight times their usual rate, and the price of Netflix stock is still down following the hashtag #CancelNetflix, which is still trending.

Netflix released Cuties on Sept. 9. Two days later, Cruz issued a letter to the Department of Justice asking it to investigate Netflix and its hosting of Cuties. The letter from the senator said the film “sexualizes young girls, including dance scenes that simulate sexual activities and a scene exposing a minor’s bare breast.”

“We agree with Sen. Cruz that Netflix should be investigated and held accountable for crossing the line with its distribution of ‘Cuties,'” said Monica Cole, Director of One Million Moms, a division of American Family Association.

“It is the responsibility of the Department of Justice to enforce federal criminal law which makes it illegal to produce or distribute material involving the sexual exploitation of minors, which would include the filming of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct,” Cole continued. “Netflix knows that this kind of film will only serve to feed the dark, depraved minds of pedophiles and child molesters and attempt to normalize this indecency.”

Netflix’s marketing—leveraging pictures of preteen girls dancing provocatively in equally provocative clothing—provided reason enough to demand the streaming giant forego hosting the film. Because of the backlash, though, Netflix made only one change: “they changed ‘twerking’ to ‘free-spirited,'” a release stated from One Million Moms.

AFA’s petition for the film’s removal from Netflix comes just weeks after the organization denounced a bill in California that would put minors in the unencumbered path of sexual predators. In the same duplicitous way the California bill masquerades as an attempt to lessen discrimination against LGBTQ in California, so too Netflix thinks it can scrounge a modicum of decency by calling on audiences to view Cuties with “positive eyesight and to enjoy it,” states One Million Moms.

AFA now calls on its members and others to write to U.S. Attorney General William Barr to heed Sen. Cruz’s call for an investigation into Netflix for distributing and disseminating child pornography.

Read and sign AFA’s petition here. {eoa}

For more than 40 years, the American Family Association has operated within the mission to inform, equip,and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture and give aid to the church here and abroad in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission. Visit AFA Action Alerts here. {eoa}