My Opinion of Netflix's "Cuties"

Push up bras….pouty lips…sexy eyes and curvy hips. Have you ever wonder what the sexualization of women is doing to our little girls? I watched the new Netflix movie Cuties with an open mind. This may look like another kid dance film, but it’s not. It’s rated MA. Therefore, I did not watch it with my 7 yr old ballet dancer. (Who loves watching dance shows.) I would have loved for her to be able to watch it because it shows a little brown skin girls who lives within a different culture. But I could just hear her saying, “Dad will never let me wear that!” “Why did she take a picture of her vagina?” “I’ve never seen those dances before.”

I had 2 main thoughts as I watched this film: #1 -I remember trying to act grown, and #2 - This movie is a pedophile’s dream.

The girls in this movie are trying to grow up too fast. I remember when I was young and I would play dress up in my mother’s heels. I would put on some lip gloss, pucker my lips and sashay around the house. I would even do the “tootsie-roll” and the “Funky Y2C.” I wanted to pretend I was older than I was. When I was 7, I couldn’t wait to be 13. When I turned 13, I looked forward to Sweet 16, Then I looked forward to 18, 21 and 27. I was always trying to “appear” older than I was. I even remember when I would get ready for school. I would put on one set of clothes and change into another set of clothes once I got to school. (Yea, I was that child.)

So I can relate to this movie a little bit. I get it. I remember what it was like wanting to look older…more attractive….sexier. That’s what the main character, Amy, wants. She wants to fit in with a group of girls who are also a dance group. While trying to fit in, she realizes that “sex sales.” After watching a western/American twerk video, she begins imitating what she sees. It’s very apparent that these girls really don’t understand sexualization. They didn’t even know why you shouldn’t blow up a used condom that you found on the ground.

Now, while I understand the thrill wanting to “grow up,” as a parent, this movie was very shocking. In our days of W.A.P., City Girls, Meg the Stallion, Cardi B and twerking challenges on Youtube, our little girls can be exposed to some really racy images. But even without the aforementioned topics/people, our girls are exposed to women in tight dress, curvy waist, and big boobs. These women are always depicted as “it” girls. They’re the women who everyone wants to be and every man wants to “do.” They are fully accepted in society and always on the winning side. So can you blame these girls???

Nope. I can’t. I do however believe that little girls should be kept more guarded. As parents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers and cousins, we should all make sure that they don’t try to sexualize their childhood. I do believe that little girls trying to act older is normal. (Maybe not wanted or praised, but definitely common.) Pre-teens talking in the girl’s restroom about sex and rape….not normal right? Pre-teen girls acting boy crazed…normal right? Butt shots of little girls in daisy dukes is NOT NORMAL AND NOT OKAY. The girls in this film were doing some legit soft porn moves. And that is NOT OKAY.

Could the warning message about over sexualizing our youth have been portrayed without crotch shots of pre-teens? Definitely!!!!! Do I need to see little girls gyrating all over the damn place? HELL NO!!! My husband saw a snippet of the film, and he was like, “What in the @#%! are you watching?” And I get why people are boycotting this film in America. However, how can we boycott what could very well be a product of our own over-sexualized system? 


I get the message, but the means by how they did it…smh.