Netflix indicted on child porn charges over 'Cuties'

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Steve Timko

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Oct 8, 2020, 1:17:06 AM10/8/20
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pbrown...@gmail.com

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Oct 8, 2020, 7:07:53 AM10/8/20
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Indicted by a grand jury in the very influential Tyler County, Texas. That's Texas, the epi-center of child beauty pageants and cheerleading. Texas should be suing for copyright infringement. 

Mark Jeffries

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Oct 8, 2020, 8:36:46 AM10/8/20
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Not to mention that the link's from the Daily Moonie.

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PGage

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Oct 8, 2020, 9:44:54 AM10/8/20
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QAnon is banned from Facebook,  but not Texas Grand Juries...

On Wed, 7 Oct 2020 at 10:17 PM Steve Timko <steve...@gmail.com> wrote:
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M-D November

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Oct 8, 2020, 3:18:56 PM10/8/20
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I haven't seen the film, but I know the initial ad campaign didn't do it any favors. But based on what I've heard (there was a great "On The Media" segment about Cuties a couple of weeks back), is the content of this film any worse than what's shown on "Dance Moms", or similarly exploitative Discovery Communications shows?  

Mark Jeffries

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Oct 9, 2020, 10:52:27 PM10/9/20
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Well, it's 86% on Rotten Tomatoes and 68% on MetaCritic--but only 2.9 out of 10 on IMDB (run by Netflix's competitor, but I'm sure no relation) and 6% approval by Google users, most of which have probably never set foot in their local art house (or traveled 100 miles to one in the closest big city).

The thing is that 10 years ago, when Netflix was still in their red envelope era, these sorts of films (remember, it's French with subtitles) either had to be viewed at an art house or college film society or a premium channel late at night where the kids couldn't see it.  Now, you can watch it any time of day--and even though Netflix has a separate portal for the kids, they know what "TV-MA" means--and unless Mom and Dad have put a password on their entry...

To anyone who's been at the arthouse during their life, "Cuties" (which I haven't seen yet) would not shock them.  But for the MAGA types, this is a whole new world (cue Peabo and Regina).  Netflix has so much material that shows can easily drop out of sight fast, but if they don't want to see anything salacious, they can always subscribe to Disney+.

Mark Jeffries
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Jim Ellwanger

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Oct 9, 2020, 10:59:27 PM10/9/20
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Your points would be well-taken if any of this were actually based on the film itself… as opposed to being based on one promotional image Netflix released, and the manufactured social-media outrage that followed. I would be surprised if anyone complaining (or voting the film down on IMDB or Google) has so much has seen Netflix’s actual poster image for the film show up on their TV, much less actually watched it.


Mark Jeffries

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Oct 10, 2020, 12:58:30 AM10/10/20
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I thoroughly agree with you.  But these are people whose contact with indie films or art house pictures is perhaps going to see the milder of what Harvey Weinstein pushed for Oscars in any given year.  They can't handle racy material when it's on the same TV sets where they watch with open-mouth glee Tucker Carlson and Hannity.

Mark Jeffries
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Kevin M.

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Oct 27, 2021, 2:27:13 PM10/27/21
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The Verge is “reporting” (sarcastic air quotes) Netflix rigged its own search tool to avoid “Cuties” appearing in search results.

The only way this is a story is if the filmmakers get paid more for the number of views. Otherwise, frankly it is obvious to me that Netflix manipulates search results all the time. 

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Adam Bowie

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Oct 27, 2021, 2:50:39 PM10/27/21
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I think this was a pretty decent story actually. Link to The Verge piece here:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/26/22747488/netflix-suppress-cuties-algorithm-search-results-dave-chappelle

It's relevant because while "of course" anyone can tweak their algorithm at any moment, it shows how Netflix, or others, can minimise blowback to their programming by just downplaying it on the platform. The reporting does include confidential leaks showing that cancellations were up during the period which shows why they would try to "hide" their own films. Knowing someone could do that, and seeing proof that they *did* do that are different things.

And of course it's relevant because the current Dave Chappelle case is basically very similar. Lots of blowback. Netflix basically standing firm. But  do they downrank his special for a bit to hasten the story to move on? 

And while I doubt that the director of Cuties got paid on views, that's very likely to be the case in the future. The talent agencies will basically demand it. And if a service buries my film/special/series, am I likely to work with them again in the future?
 

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PGage

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Oct 30, 2021, 1:14:40 PM10/30/21
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It may just be a function of how my viewing history gets digested by their algorithm, but I find Netflix continues to be relentlessly trying to get me to watch Chappelle, so it doesn’t seem like they are hiding it.

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