Netflix’s New Children’s Movie Is Getting Roasted For Having A Sexually Explicit Title On Accident
Netflix's new family movie, Chupa, means literally means "sucks" in Spanish.
The title for a new Netflix family movie about Chupacabras sucks, literally. The streamer shortened the word Chupacabra to Chupa when naming their movie, a word that viewers have pointed out has sexual connotations in Spanish. As Twitter account El Norte Recuerda points out, Chupa translates to suck but is often used to describe a particular act that no kid’s movie wants to be associated with.
Not since Free Willy has there been a family movie with a title so ripe for double entendres and adult jokes. El Norte Recuerda points out in another Tweet from the same thread that Chupa has a Mexican director and lead actor, meaning that someone should have caught this before the name was finalized. Someone even points out that Chupa means sucker right in the trailer.
The word chupacabra means “goat sucker,” which already sounds like something dirty even before you shorten it. As Wikipedia notes, Chupacabras are legendary cryptids from Puerto Rico and Mexico that are said to kill livestock and drink their blood. Descriptions range from bear-sized reptiles to dog-sized creatures with feathers.
Netflix clearly went with the dog-sized incarnation of the cryptid. The trailer for Chupa shows a boy discovering a cute, fluffy canine perfect for selling stuffed animals. It’s easy to see that the director Jonás Cuarón is going for an E.T. vibe with the movie.
Chupa isn’t the streamer’s first controversy involving a movie about kids. In 2020 Netflix released the infamous Cuties, about a group of young girls. Cuties satirized the sexualization of pre-teen girls and, unfortunately, did such a good job the movie was accused of doing the very thing it was mocking.
Thankfully for Netflix, Chupa is facing less of a controversy and more of a general roasting by Spanish-speaking viewers. The movie itself looks like a very wholesome family adventure full of Latin representation. It just happens to be burdened with a very adult-sounding title.
Kid’s movies have a long history of sexual in-jokes and easter eggs. Surprisingly Disney, a company synonymous with family, is one of the biggest offenders. For years fans have been pointing out Disney‘s secret sex references, one of which is literally the word “sex” written as a cloud in the Lion King.
Other examples include a penis hidden on the cover of the Little Mermaid, a priest in the same movie sporting an erection, and a photograph of a topless woman for one frame of The Rescuers. Meanwhile, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? has a walking sex joke in the form of Jessica Rabbit. Almost everything about the character is either a double entendre or a physically risque gag.
Despite its name, Chupa will most likely end up being a big hit for Netflix, thanks to the adorable title character. All of the chatter online about the movie’s double meaning is really just free advertising at the end of the day. It’s doubtful that Netflix will take any action, like giving the movie a different title.
Of course, if Netflix did decide to change the title, they could always go with the creature’s original name, “el vampiro de Moca.” It’s not as cute, but at least it doesn’t suck.
