PTC Calls on Netflix to Remove “Cuties” and Other Content that Sexualizes Children, Glamorizes Rape

LOS ANGELES (August 20, 2020) – The Parents Television Council is calling on Netflix to remove the TV-MA-rated film, “Cuties,” and other content that sexualizes children or romanticizes sexual assault and rape. “Cuties” focuses on an 11-year-old girl and her friends as they “hope to twerk their way to stardom at a local dance contest.”

“Netflix must stop sexually exploiting children for the sake of entertainment, period. ‘Cuties’ is not the first time Netflix has blatantly promoted programming that sexualizes children, but this must be the last. It’s time for Netflix to account for the content it hosts, and the first step it must take is to remove ‘Cuties’ and other content that sexualizes children, such as ‘Baby,’ ‘Big Mouth,’ and ‘Sex Education’ or that glamorizes rape and sexual assault such as ‘365 Days,’” said PTC President Tim Winter.

“The only motivation of those who would produce such a film as ‘Cuties’ is to sexualize children and to fuel the appetites of those who would feed on the sexualization of children. Who at Netflix is greenlighting such a flood of content that sexualizes children? How can the company possibly reconcile a ‘coming of age’ film, and one that centers entirely on 11-year-old girls, with a TV-MA rating? This is not a random decision – it has become corporate practice. If Netflix management continues to be allowed to embrace this pattern, then the Board of Directors of this publicly-traded company must be held publicly to account.”

Parents Television Council research of Netflix programming designated as “Teen” reveals that nearly half was rated either TV-MA (104 titles, or 40.8%) or R (23 titles, or 9.0%); and every single program that carried a TV-14 moniker included harsh profanities.