For most of my life I have sensed an undercurrent of resentment by certain people — specifically, that they weren’t alive to protest with MLK, or oppose the Vietnam War, or do any of those cool 60s things. Consequently, ISTM, some people are always looking for the next civil rights issue to get upset about. They want to protest too, doggone it!
This leads to an attitude of never being satisfied. There’s always another evil thing to be uprooted. There’s a constant search for villains and victims.
To some extent … to a small extent … this is a good thing. We always want to be improving. But it seems to have gone way beyond that. It’s a paranoid sickness, analogous to the heresy hunters you find in some strict religious circles. Nothing is ever pure enough.
Who’s the next victim?
I’m afraid it might be pedophiles (or perhaps ephebophiles). Those poor, misunderstood people who have been abused and discriminated against for so long.
There were some good satiric posts from The Babylon Bee about this. E.g., Hollywood Elites Rush To Normalize Pedophilia Before They’re All Outed By Ghislaine Maxwell
But now we’ve also got the Cuties controversy over at Netflix.
What do you think? Will there be / is there an attempt to normalize pedophilia?
QUOTE: What do you think? Will there be / is there an attempt to normalize pedophilia?
Seems one-time conservative darling Milo Yiannopoulos seemed to have some interest…especially as he described his escapades as a minor with a priest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJhHwspZGcg He also was quoted as saying, “…some of those relationships between younger boys and older men, sort of coming of age relationships, in which those older men helped young boys discover who they are…“
This is a decent review: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/cuties-netflix-pretty-babies/
He’s not whining like he usually does.
@smitemouth, although it had an agenda, the review you cited focused well on the style and substantive of the Cuties film. It provided thoughtful and critical points to consider. The NRC Newsbusters review seemed like a lot of partisan, tit-for-tat, snowflake whining…very little value-add.
I hadn’t heard of the Cuties movie. Yet, the American Conservative review has rightly raised the question of where one draws the line in addressing a controversial cultural issue and decency. The review contained a clip of a scene highlighting the extreme (revolting) nature of the issue but also showed a reaction of disgust. Having not seen the film, it wasn’t clear if the director was advocating for indecency or attempting to shock the viewing audience into action against such vileness.
Yes, the subject matter is revolting and shouldn’t occur. Yet, in the age of technology and social media, there’s no hiding this stuff. It would be irresponsible to not address the topic in some form. Still, the question is…what’s the right balance between realism (for credibility) and exploitation (sensationalism/driving an illicit agenda) for film makers to take.
Pedophilia has become an increasing problem in America. Interstate 10, which passes by near where I live, is a major sex-trafficking route. Many of the rich and powerful (more so than common people who are forced to keep touch with reality) are actively involved in pedophilia, usually with impunity, and they are trying to normalize it. Pedo Island is not an isolated example. The difference is only that Epstein got caught. The Babylon Bee article, though intended as mere satire, sadly hits close to the mark.
Now having seen the film, I have two major take-aways. First, it was extreme in some parts. No way do I think minors should be depicted in some ways the film portrayed. Second, it wasn’t quite as extreme or pedophilia-laden as some reviews indicated. The provocative scenes were definitely edgy but weren’t the largest parts of the film.
Family trauma seemed to be the cause of the lead character rebelling and seeking acceptance…likely in a way a young girl would in our current culture. Given the plot, there likely needed to be “some” provocative content to provide realism. Still, the provocation could have occurred with less salacious material. I was truly uncomfortable seeing some scenes and surely wouldn’t have allowed my minor daughter to be depicted in some situations within the film (if she were an actress).
That said, the plot provided food for thought. There were lots of lessons to learn within this film. I hope those watching caught them and weren’t too distracted by the edgy scenes. It made me very happy my children are beyond such an age. It also reinforced the necessity for some parental measures we took when our kids were adolescents. Lastly, I’d suggest people don’t take the critic’s perspectives as absolute gospel. They should view and come to their own conclusions.
Thank you, no, I will not watch the film.
And the question is not whether Cuties is as bad as the critics say. The question is whether it is part of a movement to normalize pedophilia.
On that point, I’m undecided. I can see reasons to believe it and I can see reasons not to believe it.
QUOTE: The question is whether it is part of a movement to normalize pedophilia.
On that question, I would say no. Despite being uncomfortable, at moments, I found the film’s plot larger than the salacious parts.
As I said previously, people should decide for themselves. Critic’s characterizations aren’t always reliable. For instance, some expressed consistent disdain for Dave Chappelle’s stand-up material. Interestingly, his 2019 Netflix special became recommended by those critics, when it contained content which supported their political views (despite containing plenty of material they had objected to previously). Somehow that objectionable content became palatable…image that?
Lastly, I find it interesting those who are opposed to “cancel culture” are calling for the Cuties film to be banned. Could it be a part of a movement to normalize free speech based only on their world view? After all, we’ve seen similar responses when it came to Kaepernick Nike ads, Kuerig sponsorship changes, Starbucks policy changes, false accusations inciting threats against NYT journalists and most recently a call to boycott Goodyear tires (just to name a few).
Re: cancel culture, that’s not a good comparison. There’s all the world’s difference between expressing unpopular political views, like, for example, “women are women,” and showing films that sexually exploit young girls.
(The point is not whether Cuties actually sexually exploits young girls. The point is that the issue is different in an important way.)
It’s true that “cancel culture” has been a fad on both the right and the left. But there are important distinctions to be made on the way things are approached. For example, boycotting a business because of something the owner does independently of the service they provide (e.g., liberals who wouldn’t eat Dominoes Pizza because the owner was pro life) is different from boycotting a business precisely because of the service they provide. There are other distinctions that can and should be made as well — e.g., whether the proposed New Moral Directive was just made up last Thursday in opposition to the accepted practice of all of humanity for thousands of years.
I suspect it’s a matter of opinion…if there is an important distinction. In this case, that’s why I suggest people view and decide for themselves, rather than let other’s do so for them.
That said, in “my” opinion, I’d say the film didn’t exploit. There was no obscene nudity or sex with young girls in the film. The provocative content was mostly “suggestive”. My discomfort wasn’t with “suggestion”…it was with the degree of suggestion. The director likely could have had the same impact without going as far in few scenes. Yet, each time that occurred there was a strong counter reaction to it…in support of decency. That indicated to me that the director was attempting to go for realism without giving support or approval of salacious behavior. As well, most of the movie wasn’t provocative…just a few scenes.
QUOTE: It’s true that “cancel culture” has been a fad on both the right and the left. But there are important distinctions to be made on the way things are approached.
Agreed, there can be distinctions…that wasn’t at issue. My point was the right has used “cancel culture” in a manner in which they’ve criticized of the left. Yet, some conservatives don’t seem to see it that way. Their actions seem to be “justified” in their eyes, despite them being the same as the left, in many cases.
As an aside, I still find it fascinating that our buddy Tucker Carlson incited the very action he decried. But, his supporters felt they were justified in threatening and doxing the NYT journalists. In fact, to my knowledge, Carlson hasn’t come out and admonished his supporters for taking such action. So, in this scenario, the liberals are seen as barbaric ghouls but the conservatives are righteous defenders. Give me a break…in this circumstance…they were both barbaric ghouls.
I don’t expect to see any normalization of pedophilia. Even prisoners have a code and even awful “libs” think that child molestation is a crime.
QUOTE: I don’t expect to see any normalization of pedophilia. Even prisoners have a code and even awful “libs” think that child molestation is a crime.
Agreed. Although possible, I suspect it’s not very probable, given most people’s (libs and cons) push back on these matters. NABLA has been advocating for years to normalize their twisted version of men and boys “relationships”. Yet, society, by and large, has resisted to date. As well, most seemed to decry similar rhetoric from Milo Yiannopoulos when he was an influential political advocate. In fact, he fell out of favor when his pedophilia-like views hit the mainstream. People still recoil when they hear of a sex scandal involving minors relative to the Church. There seems to be an especially strong reaction when young girls have been trafficked or sexually molested by adults.
I hope you’re right, but remember how quickly we went from near universal condemnation of homosexuality — even among so-called liberals — to gay marriage.
QUOTE: I hope you’re right, but remember how quickly we went from near universal condemnation of homosexuality — even among so-called liberals — to gay marriage.
Although anything is possible, I’d suggest there are nuances that make these issues different and those differences will continue to create resistance to making pedophilia normative. Yet, if the culture goes there, it won’t be as if this would be the first time in human history. Hopefully, history won’t repeat itself. We’ll see.