A newly-released preview for the Netflix movie "Cuties" has fueled negative hype around the movie, as it appears to show provocative dance scenes involving underage girls.
Netizens, outraged by the video, urged users to unsubscribe from Netflix over the movie, and denounced the network for "hypersexualizing" children.
The clip included what some consider to be explicit dancing, even though Netflix claimed that the initial movie poster that showed young girls in provocative poses did not reflect the contents of the movie. The network apologized for the promotional poster, saying that the picture and the description have been updated.
However, it did not seem to calm down the critics, who castigated not only Netflix for releasing the movie, but also the parents of the girls who participated in it.
Some, however, claimed that it was a goal of the movie to spark a repellent reaction from viewing the hypersexualization of children and drawing attention to the problem.
Others immediately refuted the suggestions, insisting that one does not need to commit the act they denounce to draw attention to it.
Some users cancelled their subscription to Netflix, urging others to do the same, launching the hashtag #CancelNetflix and calling on the network to take responsibility for viewer reaction.
Some noticed that the backlash cause Netflix's market performance to drop.
"Cuties" premiered at the Sundance festival, telling the story of an 11-year-old girl who joins a "free-spirited" dance crew to rebel against her conservative family.