By Lindsey Bahr // Associated Press

The backlash against 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. The spotlight has only intensified since the film became available on Netflix last week, and it has become the target of heightened outrage from members of Congress and others online calling for subscribers to #CancelNetflix.

Critics say “Cuties” is dangerously and irresponsibly sexualizing pre-teen girls. The campaign against the film includes calls for the Department of Justice to investigate it and hundreds of thousands calling for subscribers to cancel their Netflix accounts.

The Netflix poster (L) and French poster (R) for 'Cuties’Credit: Netflix/BAC Films — The Netflix poster (L) and French poster (R) for 'Cuties’
***Credit: Netflix/BAC Films***

Netflix said in a statement that it is a “social commentary against the sexualization of young children.”

Written and directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, “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 celebrities, 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.

Doucouré 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 behavior.

“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,” Doucouré 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.

Doucouré encouraged audiences to watch the film “without judging this child.”

Late last week, Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas 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.”

The criticism is not just from Republicans.

Democratic 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.

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 Doucouré 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.”