Ottawa, Ontario September 17, 2020
Media Release
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole Criticized For His Concerns About the Netflix Movie “Cuties”
Netflix recently released the film, Cuties, which is a French film set in a poor section of Paris telling the story of Amy, an eleven-year-old French-Senegalese girl, and her struggles within a traditional Muslim family.
This film sexually exploits eleven-year-old girls by showing them sexually gyrating, out-thrusting their crotches and bottoms, mimicking sex acts and one baring her breasts. The film includes close-up shots of the little girls’ crotches and buttocks, and in one scene, a child is shown photographing her genitalia and posting it online. This movie serves as an incitement for paedophiles and child sex traffickers.
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has been criticized for expressing his concerns about the film when he stated, “I’m a dad who is deeply disturbed by this Netflix show. Childhood is a time of innocence. We must do more to protect children. This show is exploitative and wrong.” Mr. O’Toole is spot on.
Netflix is defending this film, claiming it is merely a sensitive coming-of-age story supposedly criticizing the choices that contemporary society forces upon young girls. This is an absurd explanation. There are many ways to tell coming-of-age stories without sexually exploiting children. Cuties is a pornographic film masquerading as social commentary and is part of a larger trend towards the increasing sexualization of children.
The condemnation of paedophilia and child pornography isn’t just a conservative issue – it cuts across all party lines. Protecting children from exploitation should be the business of all individuals no matter what their political/professional affiliation. Basic human decency demands it. In this regard, the apparent silence from others in positions of influence to do something is as disappointing as it is disturbing.
Instead of criticizing Mr. O’Toole, it would have been newsworthy if the Attorneys General in Canada launched a criminal investigation into the Netflix film, which appears to fall within the provisions of section 163.1 of the Criminal Code which prohibits the making and distribution of obscene material.
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For further information contact:
Pauline Guzik
National President
REAL Women of Canada
Cathy Smith
Western Canada Board Member
REAL Women of Canada
Ottawa Office
Phone: (613) 236-4001
Email: realwcna@rogers.ca
Toronto Office
Phone: (905) 787-0348
Email: realwcto@realwomenofcanada.ca