I don’t usually wade into a secular company’s bad behavior that other Christians are up in arms about, partly because of what I wrote yesterday. Believers could stand to be a bit more winsome in their interactions, I think.

That said, Netflix’s movie Cuties, which sexually exploits pre-teen girls (look it up if you haven’t seen this story) merits a mention. Interestingly, I can’t find any stories in the mainstream media supporting people’s concerns. The prevailing view is, “Just watch it. You’ll see it’s against the sexual exploitation of girls.”

But one can make a point without showing the behavior they’re supposedly against. My son Mark captured the issue well, I think, in his usual creative and concise style:

Whenever it was, a couple weeks ago, when the Cuties poster came out and people were up in arms, Netflix said, “Oh it’s a bad poster, sorry, that’s not what the movie is about, give it a chance.” Now we’re seeing the actual movie and it’s as bad or worse. If I were making a movie about how bad it is to burn puppies, I wouldn’t set puppies on fire with focused shots on the puppies going up in flames, scenes that would be huge hits with the puppy-burning community, and destruction of actual puppies in service of teaching us a broader lesson about the challenges faced by puppies as they face incineration. -Mark Ewell, on or about September 10, 2020, via Facebook

Unfortunately, the uproar has drawn more attention to the movie, and it was one of Netflix’s most-watched last week.

I generally don’t sign petitions telling companies what to do. I can (and did) cancel my subscription, however. 

With respect to petitions, one organizer of petitions, Steve Cleary of RevelationMedia wrote this insightful comment when asked whether or not such petitions were effective against a large company like Netflix:

For me, the question whether we can influence Netflix is far less important than the question of whether or not we can influence followers of Christ to safeguard their homes and stand for righteousness. – Steve Cleary, RevelationMedia.

That’s a good perspective!

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. (1 Peter 2.11, NKJV)

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving…Therefore do not become partners with them. (Ephesians 5.3, 4, 7, ESV)