Posted on 09/17/2020 5:41:47 AM PDT by Kaslin
Netflix, the video streaming giant, is in hot water with at least some segments of the American public because of a French film it is currently showing called “Cuties” (“Mignonnes” in the original French).
The film is about a group of 11-year-old girls in Paris who form a team to enter a dance competition. But this isn’t ballet or jazz. It’s twerking.
The initial negative reaction was to promotional images Netflix used: the four young girls posed provocatively in their clingy, midriff-baring tops and tight shorts. But once people watched the film, shock turned to outrage. During a performance, the girls simulate sexual intercourse; bump and grind their hips; bend over in front of the audience; and touch their crotches while they sigh, look skyward and suck on their fingers. And that’s just one scene.
If some Americans were shocked by “Cuties,” they were even more taken aback by the reactions to their reaction. The “right versus left” cultural divide in the country has grown so deep that there’s no longer even a consensus on something as serious as child exploitation, which would have generated broad agreement just a few years ago. Instead, the cultural elites came out in force to snub and insult the rubes who just don’t understand great art.
An insufferable opinion piece by Sam Thielman on the NBC News website proclaims that criticism of “Cuties” is just “a cynical ploy in the culture war.” Thielman describes the film as “a sweet-spirited French coming-of-age drama” about an 11-year-old girl “looking for friendship among the competitive dancers” at her school. The twerking prepubescent girls are just rebelling as “conservative kids have done from time immemorial.” (Come on, weren’t we all simulating sex onstage in front of audiences in major cities when we were 11?)
Thielman says “there is no sexuality” in the film; it’s just about friendship between girls; again, as if all little girls watch porn together, blow up used condoms like balloons, grind their rear ends in each other’s faces, and take pictures of their genitals and post them on the internet.
He also chides us, saying that we watch adult women do this all the time. And, hey, “making your butt cheeks slap is hard” (I’ll take his word for it), so they must have started practicing as preteens.
Probably. And that’s a big part of the problem. Director Maimouna Doucoure has defended her film as a feminist cautionary tale about the sexualization of girls in today’s society. But it was only Cardi B and other “adult women” twerking just a few short years ago. If we take director Doucoure at her word, that “art” has now filtered down to children. So how long before we have 8-year-olds singing about their “WAPs”? Will we be asked to believe that’s just a “statement,” too?
The problem here isn’t Netflix; the problem is a culture that celebrates the sexualization of everything -- including and especially children. And American culture sexualizes children at just about every opportunity.
For example, sex education in schools used to be about teaching human reproduction but has morphed into advocacy for gender confusion, lesbianism and homosexuality, desensitization to vulgar slang and detailed explanations of explicit sex acts -- in early grade school and middle school. Planned Parenthood is responsible for a lot of this “educational” material.
Teen Vogue -- whose readership, we are told, is the 11- to 18-year-old demographic -- has featured articles on how to have anal sex and what gift to get your bestie after her abortion.
And let’s not forget Drag Queen Story Hour. Videos of some of these events -- sponsored in many cases by the local public library -- show men dressed as women cavorting around, twerking (of course), stripping and spreading their legs in front of toddlers. One such performer in Houston was a convicted sex offender.
People are promoting their children as little drag queens. Desmond Is Amazing is the stage name of a slender prepubescent boy who made national news last year when he dressed as a girl and danced at a gay nightclub, with grown men throwing money at him.
Just last week, California passed a law reducing the criminal penalties for “consensual” anal or oral sex between adults and minors no more than 10 years younger. If you don’t think that a 14-year-old boy (and, yes, the law anticipates children that young) is capable of “consenting” to oral or anal sex with a man in his mid-20s, congratulations: You’re out of touch.
A culture that presents children as sexual objects is a culture that is exploiting them for adult gratification. This is not limited to adults receiving sexual gratification from children. More often, it is about making the adults feel better about the sexual choices they themselves have made, regardless of what this does to the children.
I accept that “Cuties” director’s intention was to criticize the commodification of females in Western culture, but that won’t be the result any more than “13 Reasons Why” didn’t glorify teen suicide. You can’t say you want to discourage X and then make stars out of beautiful people who do X on film, become famous, make tons of money, go to glitzy parties and pose for glamorous magazine shoots. You may think you’ve fooled the public, but you haven’t fooled the children. They get the real message.
Pornification of America. Look at what is trending on the porn sites and you will see the future. America’s addiction to porn is what is killing this country. When normal porn “vanilla” becomes boring, men will look to other forms to get excited. Pedophilia, incest, rape is what the “hottest”types of porn out there. What is done in secret spills out because what men lust for doesn’t stay contained.
I can only spend a certain amount of time here a day anymore.
The news is infuriating and the petty arguments here exhausting.
Like right now, I’m leaving for a 5 mile walk, followed by meditation and reading.
I’ll come back in the evening for an hour or so, then I’ll do more reading.
Sometimes I put on Planet Earth, Life, or a similar nature documentary.
Often I put on some classical music and chill.
It’s all about balance for me, which I have always had a problem with.
You can subscribe to services like HBO, Showtime, Hula, Tubi, Ruku and a number of other places for as low as $10 a month (if not free) independent of Cable. If you want news there is plenty to be had on the Internet and some services stream it. We’ve been watching a number of church programs from YouTube and the churches’ websites.
But it’s hard for people to break away from Cable and satellite TV. I have been arguing with my wife for years that we really could get everything we need without Cable-just Internet. Probably 90% of our programs come from other sources. Even buying 6-7 packages would cut our bill to a third of what we’re paying. I just can’t convince her.
We bought Direct TV cable after they added FOX to their lineup. As years passed they added so many unwatchable programs that we were often on the brink of canceling but put it off. The final deciding factor was the drifting of FOX from reliable reporting and good programing to the insidious undertone of progressive slant and outright disrespect for President Trump and all of those American citizens who support him. Finally saved ourselves over a thousand dollars a year and now pick streaming over the Internet on a monthly basis. We frequently change venues to get a particular series for awhile, do not have time for watching more. Streaming is more flexible, and satisfying, than cable. We only take one at a time but others can take on as many as they want and still be below the paid cable.
So basically your argument is that if you don't like child porn - just watch something else - there are plenty of other things to choose from - and leave everyone else alone. Are you serious?
Well yes
You used the word child porn that seems to be argumentative embellishment not really valid
Denying reality does not an argument make.
Child-Sexualizing ‘Cuties’ Movie On Netflix Is Even Worse Than We Thought
It's Not Just 'Cuties:' Netflix's Big Pedo Problem
New Adult Netflix Cartoon 'Hoops' Sexualizes Minors With Porn and Prostitutes
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