Texas lawmaker calls for Netflix to be investigated for potential violations of child exploitation, pornography laws

Texas Rep. Matt Schaefer (R) is calling for the state's attorney general to investigate the Netflix film, "Cuties," for potential violations of child exploitation and child pornography laws.


The award-winning French film and its Netflix distributor have been under fire for the last several weeks over the film's decidedly graphic depiction of a troupe of 11-year-old "sensual" dancers.

What are the details?

Schaefer announced the plans on Twitter amid the #CancelNetflix boycott that began trending on social media following the film's release.
He wrote, "I have asked Texas Attorney General Paxton's office to investigate the @netflix film 'Cuties' for possible violations of child exploitation and child pornography laws."
At the time of this writing, Schaefer's tweet has been liked more than 37,000 times.

'Social commentary against the sexualization of young children'

French-Senegalese filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré told Refinery29 that the work has been misinterpreted.
"Cuties is a mirror of our society, and I hope that we can all look at each other, and work together to make a better world," Doucouré insisted. "Imagine if all that energy that was devoted to blindly criticizing my film could be used towards protecting those who need it, and offering new role models."


A Netflix spokesperson told TheBlaze that the film "is a social commentary against the sexualization of young children."
"It's an award winning film and a powerful story about the pressure young girls face on social media and from society more generally growing up — and we'd encourage anyone who cares about these important issues to watch the movie," a spokesperson for the company told TheBlaze on Friday.
A petition calling for people to cancel their Netflix subscriptions over the controversial film has received more than 614,000 signatures at the time of this reporting.