
I don’t know the director’s intent, but Cuties, a French coming-of-age film, was sad and disturbing. The heroine, 11 year old Amy has come to Paris with her mom and two younger siblings. Her mother is devastated to learn that her husband, who’s still back in Senegal, has chosen a second wife. It hits Amy hard, but her reaction is far more self-destructive than she knows.
At her new school, Amy becomes obsessed with joining a mean girls clique, who’re preparing to dance in an upcoming competition. That sounds a bit harmless, though sacrificing your self-respect to befriend people who mock, humiliate and hit you, is not a good choice. I cringed when the girls kick out their lowest status member and Amy strives to get accepted by a group of misguided, powerful jerks.
Amy and her new “friends” get way over their heads in social media and sexy dancing. The camera draws the audiences’ attention to the girls’ bodies and movements that is gross and would only appeal to a pedophile. It’s really horrible and a far cry from a “feminist liberation” as the director claims. The director has recently claimed that the film is a critique on the exploitation of girls. I see it as more of a film about a degenerative society where parents neglect their children. The girls aren’t roped into anything, they just have no adult in their life who’s paying close attention to them.
SPOILER ALERT
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