#CancelNetflix Is Trending After The Release Of A Controversial Movie
A movement to cancel Netflix has taken root on social media after the release of this film.
This article is more than 2 years old
A cancel Netflix movement is beginning to gain traction on Twitter after the release of the film Cuties. The movie came under fire earlier this year when Netflix marketed the film around a group of underage girls and their sexualized dance group that supposedly focuses on twerking.
People have taken to social media with a rallying cry to cancel Netflix by pushing the hashtag #CancelNetflix. Their opinion seems to be that Netflix is supporting pedophilia by hosting the French film from writer/director Maïmouna Doucouré.
This has even prompted a review and response from The New Yorker that argues the film is actually commenting on the sexualization of minors in popular culture. This op-ed also posits that the outrage over the film is tied to bad faith right-wing politicking. Those supporting the #CancelNetflix movement have also taken offense to this.
Proponents of the #CancelNetflix movement have also taken to screenshotting the stock market performance of Netflix and are claiming that the social media trend is responsible for the drop in Netflix’s stock price. As of this writing, there is no confirmation of a direct correlation between these two events.
Cuties writer/director Maïmouna Doucouré spoke to Deadline about Netflix’s marketing error with the film and says she has even received death threats from some people. This prompted a response from prominent actress Tessa Thompson who defended the film.
While the film currently maintains a critical rating of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, review bombing has begun and the audience score has plummeted to 5% on the review aggregator website. It is worth assuming that the #CancelNetflix movement has also decided to bombard aggregate review sites, as the IMDb’s user rating for the film now sits at a 2.0.
As of this writing, #CancelNetflix is currently the number one trend on Twitter. Could this strong of a reaction cause the streaming giant to remove the French film from its library? It is unclear how many of the people behind this social media trend have actually viewed the entire movie, or if they are simply going off the marketing and clips that are circling on Twitter at the moment.
There is certainly a conversation to be had about the depiction of underage children in media, but it becomes a difficult one when political mindsets get brought into the mix. The #CancelNetflix trend has already become deeply politicized by parties on both sides of the aisle, and it seems to be overriding some healthy conversation on the topic.
Has Cuties created enough of a stir for a large number of Netflix subscribers to cancel Netflix? Or is this movement a short-lived social media trend and nothing more? It is going to be very interesting to see if there is a sizable enough response to the #CancelNetflix movement to garner a response from the streaming giant. If we learn of any significant updates to this story, we will update this article accordingly. As of now, Cuties remains in the Netflix streaming library and is available to all Netflix subscribers.
