The American streaming platform Netflix has been indicted for child pornography by a grand jury in Texas over the broadcast of the French film Cute. The lawsuits date September 23, but they were revealed by a statement from the Tyler County District Attorney on Tuesday, October 6.
According to the prosecution, Netflix has “Knowingly promoted” visuals that would show “Obscene exhibition” genitals of minors, soliciting a “Lustful interest in sex”, a felony punishable by prison in the conservative state. The grand jury also ruled that the film had “No real literary, artistic, political or scientific value”.
Cuties, the American title of Maïmouna Doucouré’s film, evokes the story of Amy, an 11-year-old Parisian pre-teen who joins a dance group formed by three other girls from her neighborhood, whose choreographies are sometimes provocative.
The controversy began in August, when Netflix used an image to promote the feature film showing the young actresses in suggestive poses. The platform had to remove the image and apologize, but the damage was done, and many elected ultraconservative Americans rushed into the breach.
In September, Republican Senator from Texas Ted Cruz, who had not seen the film, called on the Justice Department to investigate possible violations of laws prohibiting child pornography. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, meanwhile, joined two colleagues in asking Netflix to remove the feature film from its platform.
The prosecutor, a former actor
The film has no connection with Tyler County, but local prosecutor Lucas Babin said in his statement that he saw it and found that there was a “Sufficient reason to believe he was a criminal [au sens du code pénal texan] “.
Lucas Babin is a former actor and model, who notably starred in the film Rock Academy (School of Rock), in 2003, with Jack Black – ironically, the comedy involves children and he plays a guitarist who plays shirtless in a lascivious way. A lawyer since 2015, he was elected county prosecutor in 2018. He is also the son of one of the Texas Republican elected officials who had been moved by the feature film, representative Brian Babin.
In the Texas Tribune, independent media, free speech lawyer, Thomas Leatherbury, judge “Disturbing” bringing criminal proceedings against a film. For him, it is a “Unusual case”, above all intended “To mark the occasion”.
The Tyler County Clerk confirmed to Agence France-Presse (AFP) that“No hearing date” did not have “Been fixed for the moment”. A Netflix spokeswoman defended the film to AFP on Tuesday: ” Cute is a social column against the sexualization of young children. This accusation is unfounded and we continue to support the film. ”
In France, the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, defended Maïmouna Doucouré, denouncing critics who “Are based on a series of reductive and decontextualized images of the film”. The intention given to the director, she asserted, is “In total contradiction with the purpose of his work”.
