So what’s the big deal with Cuties? I’ve thought long and hard about this. My first reaction of seeing all the advertisements from NetFlix was repulsion and sadness for these young actresses and the influence they will have in our society, further spiraling our girls into the depths of sexualization at younger and younger ages. And then it was pointed out to me that this has been going on since forever. Ugh. They had a really good point.
Little girls that are scantily clad is nothing new. Go to any children’s dance recital literally anywhere in the United States, and you will see what I’m talking about. Turn on your TV, and you’ll find even more examples of little girls dressed inappropriately for their age. It’s everywhere and depending on where you’ve grown up, it’s been like that for a long time. In many Latin American cultures, little girls dressing way too provocatively is not seen as inappropriate at all, but cute and adorable. And it’s been that way for as long as I can remember.
So I decided to look into the arguments for the “other side.” Cuties was intended to bring attention to how young girls in our society are being influenced by the culture through their phones and inattentive parents. To my understanding (admission: I never personally watched the movie), at the end of the movie, the main character Ami realizes that what she’s doing is wrong and decides to go back to her former life with her family and be a “normal” 11-year-old little girl, jumping rope and all.
But here’s the question of the day – do the ends justify the means? Is the end message a good one? In many ways, yes. As parents, we absolutely do need to be more attentive to our children. And our children should not have unlimited access to a phone at such a young age.
However, this could have been done so differently and gotten the exact same message across. Why the close-ups to all sorts of privates? Why the crazy, caricatured religious and patriarchal family of Ami? And what about the women who these girls are trying to emulate? Why is what they represent OK? Has anyone thought about that? Why is it not considered to be inappropriate in our society for them to dress and dance like that? Why aren’t we equally horrified that grown women would behave like this? It’s insane to think that kids don’t have to look very hard to find examples of women provocatively dressed and behaving extremely sexual. Just look at the most popular song right now, WAP. That about says it all. And it’s mainstream.
It greaves my heart that the rationalization for this movie that was about not sexualizing children is to sexualize children. The thinking is completely backwards. There was a documentary produced by Exodus Cry called Nefarious: Merchant of Souls. It was incredibly powerful and was not covering up in the least the horrors of human trafficking, anyone from children to adults. But no where was the sexualization of children glorified in any way, shape, or form. No close ups. No lingering videos of dancing women on tables. None of it was necessary. It was all painfully obvious.
I think a good analogy for this movie, Cuties, is like making a cake. The cake has many things that go in it to make it a good cake. But for this particular cake, there’s some poop in it. Just a little though. No harm, no foul. You still want to eat it?
And that same “poop” is everywhere, and we need to call it out for what it is. It shouldn’t matter what age the people are. It’s all wrong. It’s taking a gift the LORD has given us and perverting it into a commodity to be abused, consumed, and then thrown away. When we take a gift like sex (and/or sexuality) and disregard the clear teaching of Scripture for how we are to use said gift, it will always get corrupted (or any other gift from God, for that matter). Sex is a gift between one man and one woman, in the bonds, protection, and beauty of biblical marriage. This may be a difficult concept in practice for some, but it is always the best decision for each and every one of our lives.
Father God, help us to not complicate the beautiful simplicity of the many gifts you have given us, especially with respect to sex. Give us the discernment we need to seek out biblical truth, and when we come across a tasty looking “cake,” help us to first ask what it’s made up of before we decide to take a bite.
LORD, help us to pursue wisdom and righteousness, no matter what anyone else is doing or who is watching and critiquing us.
Amen?
