Netflix were forced to take most controversial movie to court after viewers were left horrified
Topics: Entertainment, TV And Film, Netflix
Bec Oakes
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Entertainment, TV And Film, Netflix
Netflix has had its fair share of controversial films and TV series over recent years.
Last year, Fiona Harvey - the woman who allegedly inspired stalker Martha Scott in Baby Reindeer - sued the streaming platform for $170 million (£133 million), claiming the show told 'brutal lies' about her.
And, following the recent release of Apple Cider Vinegar, the father of late wellness influencer Jessica Ainscough slammed its 'inaccurate' portrayal of his daughter and wife's deaths.
But the most controversial film to hit Netflix was so contentious, a Texas district attorney pursued child pornography charges against them.
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French comedy-drama film Cuties follows Amy, an 11-year-old French-Sengalese girl who rebels against her family's conservative Muslim values when she joins a twerking dance crew and becomes embroiled in a dangerous online world.
Director Maïmouna Doucouré told TIME it was inspired by her own personal experiences.
She said: "For me, this film is sounding an alarm. This film tries to show that our children should have the time to be children, and we as adults should protect their innocence and keep them innocent as long as possible."
But, after the film was released in September 2020, it immediately sparked controversy over its depiction of the teenage girls in it.
While it doesn't contain any sex scenes, underage actors can be seen doing provocative dance moves throughout, and an adult woman's bare breast is also exposed during the movie.
People slammed Cuties for its 'sexualisation of children,' and it even became the subject of an indictment by Texas district attorney Lucas Babin.
Babin, the elected DA in Tyler County, indicted the streamer for 'depicting the lewd exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of a clothed or partially clothed child who was younger than 18 years of age' and said the film had 'no serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.'
Netflix hit back against the accusation, defending the film as 'a social commentary against the sexualisation of young children', and took the case to federal court.
They argued that Babin was pursuing the case in bad faith and had no hope of obtaining a conviction.
The case - and its subsequent appeal - were both dismissed, with a federal judge saying he was 'unconvinced that Cuties contains child pornography'.
Judge Don R Willett said: "Netflix has shown at this stage that it has been subjected to a bad-faith prosecution, an injury we have already deemed 'irreparable.'
The balance of equities also favours Netflix. It has an obvious interest in the continued exercise of its First Amendment rights, and the State has no legitimate interest in a bad-faith prosecution."