Republican lawmakers are calling on the Justice Department to take on Netflix for releasing the film Cuties over concerns about the sexualization of children.
Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Jim Banks confirmed to the Daily Caller that they will request the department to seek charges against the streaming service.
“There’s no excuse for the sexualization of children, and Netflix’s decision to promote the film Cuties is disgusting at best and a serious crime at worst,” Cotton said in a statement to the Daily Caller. “I urge the Department of Justice to take action against Netflix for their role in pushing explicit depictions of children into American homes.”
The film, described by Netflix to be about an 11-year-old girl rebelling against her overtly conservative family’s traditions to befriend a free-spirited dance crew, received widespread condemnation from viewers on the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes. On Thursday, the trend #CancelNetflix spread through Twitter.
Banks said the DOJ should be preparing charges against Netflix for spreading “child pornography.”
“As a father of young daughters, I find it sickening,” Banks said. “Not only is this movie fodder for pedophiles, it encourages very young girls to defy their parents’ wishes and share pornographic images of themselves with strangers. Our culture has come a long way in recent years, recognizing the power of television, movies and magazines to affect young girls.”
Netflix defended the French film on Thursday, calling it a “powerful story” that actually criticizes sexualization of children even though it shows young girls dancing in provocative ways multiple times throughout the film.
