Netflix asked a federal court on Thursday to block a Texas prosecutor from pursuing child pornography charges against the streaming service for distributing the 2020 French film “Cuties.”
Lucas Babin, the elected district attorney in Tyler County, Texas, indicted Netflix in September 2020, alleging that the film violates a state law against the “lewd exhibition” of children. The film portrays a children’s dance troupe, and sparked controversy in the U.S. after its release due to its suggestive choreography.
Netflix has sought to have the case thrown out, arguing that the statute violates the First Amendment.
A hearing was initially set on that motion for Thursday. But in a procedural move on the eve of the hearing, Babin dropped the original indictment and brought four new indictments under a different statute, alleging that the film violates the Texas state law against child pornography.
In response, Netflix filed a request for an injunction in federal court,...
Lucas Babin, the elected district attorney in Tyler County, Texas, indicted Netflix in September 2020, alleging that the film violates a state law against the “lewd exhibition” of children. The film portrays a children’s dance troupe, and sparked controversy in the U.S. after its release due to its suggestive choreography.
Netflix has sought to have the case thrown out, arguing that the statute violates the First Amendment.
A hearing was initially set on that motion for Thursday. But in a procedural move on the eve of the hearing, Babin dropped the original indictment and brought four new indictments under a different statute, alleging that the film violates the Texas state law against child pornography.
In response, Netflix filed a request for an injunction in federal court,...
- 3/3/2022
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Woodville is a small town in the forestland of East Texas. With a population of about 2,500, it is home to the Tyler County courthouse, where two circuit judges split their time with other counties.
Woodville is, in other words, an unlikely place for a culture war over a French movie.
But on Tuesday, Lucas Babin, Tyler County’s criminal district attorney, announced that he had indicted Netflix on a charge of distributing lewd content. He said that he had heard about the controversy over the provocative scenes in “Cuties.” The film, about an 11-year old girl who joins a Parisian dance troupe in rebellion against her traditional Senegalese family, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and began streaming on Netflix last month.
Babin watched it, and decided that it crossed a line, and that he had to act. In doing so, he touched off a high-stakes battle over obscenity in the streaming era,...
Woodville is, in other words, an unlikely place for a culture war over a French movie.
But on Tuesday, Lucas Babin, Tyler County’s criminal district attorney, announced that he had indicted Netflix on a charge of distributing lewd content. He said that he had heard about the controversy over the provocative scenes in “Cuties.” The film, about an 11-year old girl who joins a Parisian dance troupe in rebellion against her traditional Senegalese family, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and began streaming on Netflix last month.
Babin watched it, and decided that it crossed a line, and that he had to act. In doing so, he touched off a high-stakes battle over obscenity in the streaming era,...
- 10/9/2020
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Few films of the past decade have been so widely excoriated — and so widely misunderstood — as Cuties, an award-winning French film currently streaming on Netflix. Directed by French-Senegalese filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré, Cuties is a poignant, if raw, coming-of-age story about an 11-year-old Muslim girl who joins a dance troupe. The film contains depictions of scantily-clad adolescent girls dancing in a sexualized fashion, prompting uproar even though Doucouré maintained it was intended to serve as a critique of female hyper-sexualization. Netflix marketing materials, which featured the film’s stars in provocative actions,...
- 10/8/2020
- by EJ Dickson
- Rollingstone.com
A Texas grand jury has indicted Netflix on a charge of disseminating lewd material by distributing the French film “Cuties.”
The grand jury in Tyler County, Texas, returned the indictment on Sept. 23 under a state law that forbids “the lewd exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of an unclothed, partially clothed, or clothed child.”
To be illegal, such material must appeal “to the prurient interest in sex” and have “no serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
Netflix defended the film in a statement: “‘Cuties’ is a social commentary against the sexualization of young children. This charge is without merit and we stand by the film.”
No arraignment date has been set.
The Tyler County district attorney is Lucas Babin, a onetime model and actor who appeared as Spider, the shirtless musician in the 2003 film “School of Rock.” He also played Rocky on “The Young and the Restless,” according to his IMDb profile.
The grand jury in Tyler County, Texas, returned the indictment on Sept. 23 under a state law that forbids “the lewd exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of an unclothed, partially clothed, or clothed child.”
To be illegal, such material must appeal “to the prurient interest in sex” and have “no serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
Netflix defended the film in a statement: “‘Cuties’ is a social commentary against the sexualization of young children. This charge is without merit and we stand by the film.”
No arraignment date has been set.
The Tyler County district attorney is Lucas Babin, a onetime model and actor who appeared as Spider, the shirtless musician in the 2003 film “School of Rock.” He also played Rocky on “The Young and the Restless,” according to his IMDb profile.
- 10/6/2020
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Later, gator. Gop House Majority Whip Steve Scalise went on a hunting trip with Donald Trump Jr. ... and they bagged a 9-foot alligator!!! We got Steve at Reagan National Airport in D.C. and Scalise tells us the gator meat was finger-lickin' good, and gave us a taste of what it's like to hunt gators, fry 'em up and make gator jambalaya. Guess that's what Don Jr. had in mind when his father famously said,...
- 9/14/2018
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
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