Union leader in the union Norwegian Film Directors, Marianne Kleven, takes seriously the proposals Sylvi Listhaug (Frp) makes about the Netflix film «Cuties».
Listhaug believes the film must be removed from the streaming service because, in her view, it sexualises children and “can help trigger pedophilia”. Listhaug, however, reveals to Dagbladet that she has not seen “Cuties”, just clips from the movie and trailer on YouTube.
The debate about “Cuties” is also one of the topics in today’s episode of Dagbladet’s podcast “Right on”:
– Junk
That a Storting politician goes out so hard and draws pedophilia into the criticism of a film without actually having seen it, makes Kleven react.
– It’s junk and just gets too thin. It’s like responding to a hearing without reading the hearing notes. Had she seen “Cuties” I do not think she would have expressed herself in this way. I have seen it, and it is a very good film by an obviously talented director, who succeeds with his goal: social criticism, says Kleven to Dagbladet.
“Cuties” is not only very critical of the sexualization of children, it is also a growing-up film about how difficult it is to be young to understand growing up. It also addresses a number of issues regarding women’s rights and liberation, Kleven continues.
– Spend time on advertising
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This week, the Norwegian Media Authority published the survey «Children and the media 2020», which states, among other things, that one in four 9- to 12-year-olds has received advertising for losing weight and for products that are supposed to give bigger muscles. The Norwegian Media Authority is concerned about increased body pressure.
The head of Norwegian Film Directors believes Listhaug should rather draw attention to the massive marketing children are exposed to.
– I wish Listhaug used this room to regulate the ads that children and young people are bombarded with every day. It’s what affects them, not this movie. Selling products is the exact opposite of a critical film about our time, says Kleven.
Asks Netflix to remove movies she has not seen
– Watch it with the kids
“Cuties” depicts the life of an 11-year-old girl from Senegal who has recently moved to Paris. The mother has little time for her and the father is absent. “Amy” is from a Muslim home and must compromise with her own values and culture to get into a group of girls whose great passion is dancing.
It is especially that the girls in the film, in an attempt to copy celebrities and dancers they see on social media, practice dreary and sexualized dance numbers that have made “Cuties” is subject to boycott and criticism, especially in the United States.
– An important tool in the film is that the people who see the dancing think it is disgusting and wrong. I think I should watch this movie with my daughter. If you watch with your children, there is a lot to discuss afterwards. It is too often underestimated how critical and conscious young people are, says Kleven.
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