Miss-representation? Helen in Huffpost

Films have been ‘cancelled’ for featuring offensive content way before cancel culture began: in 1973, Stanley Kubrick declared that his film, A Clockwork Orange, should never be played again in his lifetime after the furore it caused.

Audiences have called out films which they have deemed to be offensive for decades, but typically, film-makers and distributors have fought back, claiming their work is important in an artistic sense.

The debate about what constitutes ‘good’ art has risen again after Netflix acquired the rights to Cuties, a French feature from film-maker Maïmouna Doucouré.

The film, about one young girl torn between the life of her Senegalese Muslim family and the Westernised ways of her French schoolmates, won the directing jury prize at this year’s Sundance, and has received a raft of positive reviews, scoring 88% on online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

But the scenes of suggestive dancing have riled some viewers who have condemned the feature as child pornography. Those on the other side of the debate view the film as a nuanced criticism of the culture of child objectification – and a crucial conversation starter.

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