In 2008 the Australian MSM enjoyed whipping up a moral panic when police raided a Sydney art gallery removing naked photos of young teenagers taken by the celebrated photographer Bill Henson. The then Labor Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, stated he found the photos to be ‘absolutely revolting’ adding that he hadn’t actually seen them. The future Prime Minister, the nominally conservative Malcolm Turnbull, defended the photographer adding that he owned two photos taken by him.

I found the photos to be tastefully understated and was in no way surprised when it was advised there’d be no prosecution and the Australian Classification Board rated them PG only.

So when #cancelnetflix started trending over the controversial film Cuties, I was curious to know what was shown in the film to provoke this outrage.

Cuties tells the story of a Senegalese family living in a socially-deprived suburb of Paris. The film centres on the 11-year old Amy who is expected to follow a servile and subjugated life to the menfolk – her father is returning from Senegal with a second wife and she’s expected to celebrate. Amy’s ambitions are aroused when she oversees a neighbour’s girl twerking; she finds freedom from her stifling life in joining a group of girls in a raunchy adult-style dance troupe.

Written and directed by debutant filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré, Cuties is extremely well shot on the whole and there are strong performances from what I imagine is a largely non-professional cast. But Ms Doucouré has made gross errors of judgement in including overtly sexually provocative dancing from her young players; others in the making of this film with more experience should’ve ensured these scenes hit the cutting room floor.

For Netflix to defend Cuties, saying that the film is a piece of ‘social commentary against the sexualization of young children’ is rather like defending a Snuff Movie by saying it’s against murder.

The film’s moral compass is also wonky. A scene where Amy twerks the girls out of trouble by, it’s implied, turning on a pedophile was unpleasant to watch; her extreme bullying action against fellow troop member Yasmine, bordering on attempted murder, passes without commentary.

Little Miss Sunshine (How come so many haven’t picked up this is a comedic remake of The Grapes of Wrath?) showed with great skill how to satirise the sexualisation of children, and is one of the finest comedies of the last twenty years. Unfortunately, Cuties comes nowhere near in reaching this film’s heights.