PTC Commends Indictment of Netflix for “Cuties”

LOS ANGELES (October 7, 2020) – The Parents Television Council commends the indictment of Netflix by a grand jury in Tyler County, Texas, for promoting a film, “Cuties,” that sexualizes minors. The charge is the “promotion of lewd visual material depicting [a] child.”

“We applaud the bold action to investigate Netflix for its sexualized depiction of 11-year-old girls in the film ‘Cuties.’ The admirable intention of the film to raise awareness of the pressure girls have in today’s sexualized culture is entirely obviated by the sexualization and exploitation depicted in the film. ‘Cuties’ is only the latest example of a host of programs that should be scrutinized because they sexually exploit children. It is time for Netflix to be held to account for enabling these kinds of programs to exist on its platform,” said PTC President Tim Winter.

The PTC points to these programs on Netflix that specifically sexualize children:

• The Netflix original series “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” featured an orgy scene with half a dozen scantily-clad teens.
• Netflix streamed an Argentinian film called “Desire” which included a scene of a nine- or ten-year-old girl self-stimulating to climax.
• Netflix acquired a series called “Baby,” about 16-year-old prostitutes.
• Netflix airs “Sex Education,” which contains explicit depictions of sex and nudity -- including male genitalia – mostly involving high school-aged characters.
• The Netflix original animated series “Big Mouth” is particularly vile in its attempts to sexualize pubescent children. According to the show’s IMDB page, episodes have contained “full screen closeup of a 13-year-old’s penis and testicles; a girl talking to her vagina about her life -- the vulva and clitoris and labia are shown in graphic close up for extended periods of time; a middle-school student’s bare breasts are drawn; two 12-year-old and 2 high schoolers play a game where they face each other in competition to see who can ejaculate on a cracker the fastest.

The PTC recently asked President Trump to “instruct Attorney General William Barr to open an investigation into Netflix for its pattern of repeatedly and grotesquely sexualizing children for entertainment.”