Ohio Attorney General Wants 'Cuties' Removed From Netflix

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is asking Netflix to remove the film "Cuties" from its streaming service.

“In this era where we are fighting a seemingly never-ending battle against human trafficking, this film is counterproductive – it whets the appetites of those who wish to harm our children in the most unimaginable ways,” Yost said. “I vehemently opposed the continued streaming of the movie and request that it is voluntarily removed.”

Written and directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, “Cuties” is about an 11-year-old Senegalese immigrant named Amy (Fathia Youssouf) who is living in an impoverished Paris suburb with her observant Muslim family. She becomes fascinated with a clique of rebellious girls at her middle school who choreograph dance routines and wear crop tops and heels. They talk about Kim Kardashian and diets, practice “twerking” and giggle about boys and sex-related things that they don’t yet understand.

The film "Cuties" condemns the sexualization of children, but does so by showing how society treats young girls. There is no actual nudity in the film, according to the Associated Press.

Netflix has defended the film, saying it is a “social commentary against the sexualization of young children.”

Yost joins a host of other Republican politicians who have launched a crusade against the film and Netflix. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have also requested the removal of the film, while Senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton have asked for an investigation into the production of the film. Cruz has admitted to not seeing the film.

Doucouré said she made the movie after seeing young girls dancing in Paris. The girls were mimicking a dance seen in video clips and the filmmaker wanted to understand why the girls were emulating such adult behavior.

“Our girls see that the more a woman is overly sexualized on social media, the more she is successful. Children just imitate what they see, trying to achieve the same result without understanding the meaning,” Doucouré said. “It is dangerous.”

Reporting and writing from The Associated Press was used in this report.