why cute?
For us who work fighting human trafficking, it should come as no surprise that Pedophila is not a new concern. But it is crucial to speak up when it comes to issues that are either too spoken of, trending, or ignored.
Much has been said about the Netflix movie “Cuties”. It has been praised, justified, and condoned. These voices came notably from circles within the Hollywood elite and the Sundance festival, where we know a deep and festering reality is surfacing concerning Pedephelia. So the praise was concerning. The movie is more so.
Yes, the author is said to have an honest desire to express what pre-teen girls are facing in the world today. And yes, her concerns are more than real. Every pre-teen girl is being sucked towards believing that their sexuality is their identity. According to the author the goal of the movie is to show how a little girl decides that glorifying sex is not her personal path. That initial information made me wait to comment, and it made me accept Netflix’s initial apology for the advertisement.
However this movie does not promote what the author purports. Like it or not, our world grooms girls to believe that being popular is crucial, and lacking that on social media, they will miss out on basic functions of their future. What a resume was a generation ago, social media followings are today, at least from their current tween lens. In fact, it is likely that most girls have a porn life, secret online identities, and are being courted. So the concept of trying to expose this in a movie should, technically, be praise worthy. But if children are exploited in order to make the point that they shouldn’t be we are worse off than before.
The fundamental question is why is a girl child’s value on social media not based on how they did on an exam, or with 4-H Club, or the family vacation camping? Why is their image based on their bodies? Has no one stopped to do the math? Why we can’t grasp that this is mysogeny blows my mind. Ponder how we got here, and what we approve of. In his book, “Atomic Habits; Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results”, author James Clear shows that when we are even one degree off of focus, initially it’s imperceptible. Move a few hundred miles out, or a few generations on, and how far we’ve missed the goal can become clear - if we will look at it.
Fighting human trafficking fifteen years ago it was shocking to find that women were sold. Now it’s common knowledge that girls are too. And boys. And lobbyists are arguing to promote Pedophila as a gender choice. Children’s books are being sold on Amazon promoting gay, bi and transgenderism. But Pedophila is there too. Toys that promote sexuality started with Barbie. Grooming is happening in our own homes.
Folks, Pedophiles will be adding “Cuties” to their porn library and hitting replay. This highly praised movie is porn enough that it will push men from porn to child porn. Does it matter how supposedly redemptive the end of the movie was intended to be if the movie is pornographic?
What does matter is our response. House to house. Home to home. We don’t need this movie to “help” us have conversations with our children. We need pure hearts. We need love and a clear focus on what we will fight for to change the society our children are growing up in.
And a good starting point might be to ask, why ‘cute’?
Why not precious, innocent, intelligent, creative, strong, future generation?