In the United States, the controversy continues to swell.
The petition against the presence on Neftlix of the French film
Les Mignonnes
, widely publicized after the publication of a controversial poster at the end of August, has reached almost ... 500,000 signatures.
Their motivation?
Franco-Senegalese director Maïmouna Doucouré is believed to have
“sexualized children”
in her feature film.
The story of a kid who believes that she is freeing herself from her very conservative family by participating in dance competitions that are not her age.
Read also: Turkey bans the broadcasting of the film
Mignonnes,
deemed "Islamophobic and pedophile"
So much so that the political world has seized on the issue.
Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley sent a letter to Netflix on September 11.
"Have you consulted any experts regarding the sexual exploitation of children or regarding the psychological and emotional impacts of the sexualization of minors?"
, can we read.
Then:
"Has Netflix, at one time or another, put in place measures to ensure the protection of the physical, mental and emotional health of children (...)?"
"Child pornography"
The same day, another Republican senator, Texan Ted Cruz, also wrote a letter, addressed to the Department of Justice this time.
“
The film regularly fetishes and sexualizes these pre-teens as they perform dances simulating sexual behavior in revealing clothes
,” writes the politician.
"
It is likely that the shooting of this film created even more explicit and abusive scenes
."
The ultra-conservative Ted Cruz therefore calls for an investigation to be carried out to find out whether federal laws on
"child pornography"
have been broken.
Netflix has not yet responded to these requests, which mainly target several scenes showing these girls (they are 11 years old) dancing like the rappers they admire.
On social networks, the hashtag #CancelNetflix is multiplying and outraged messages keep raining.
Problem: These critics ignore the very purpose of the film, which is to denounce the hypersexualization of pre-teens.
“I saw 11-year-old girls dancing in a very lascivious way on stage
, explained the director Maïmouna Doucouré to
Madame Figaro
.
I was challenged, I wondered if these young girls were really aware of what they reflected through the movements of their bodies. "
Mignonnes
, the Achievement Award at the Sundance Film Festival and honored with a Special Mention from the Berlinale 2020 jury, was thought to be a wake-up call.
Will Netflix give in to pressure by removing it from its catalog?
