History Film / Cuties

** Possibly the entire point as the girls are shown not only dancing ''way'' too maturely for kids of their age, but the songs they dance to also contain explicit lyrics, some of which are initiating sex with other people.

* AgeInappropriateDress: despite being 11 year olds, The girls wear tight, skimpy clothing that are meant for night clubs.

* BrokenAesop: A major problem with the declared intent of criticizing oversexualization of children in Western Culture is that the film kind of forgets to actually do that. There's no discernible antagonist pressuring the Cuties to incorporate sexual elements into their dance routines, like a stage parent or a sleazy producer. Furthermore, the girls never really suffer any consequences of their behavior, at least none that would actually befall children who engage in such practices (such as unwanted sexual attention). In fact, the only time their lewd dancing is plot-relevant, it ''helps them get out of trouble’'! The only real consequence the girls suffer, that being [[spoiler:booed by the audience for their dance routine in the climax]], seems to outwardly imply that Western culture does not approve of or condone children engaging in such sexualized behavior.

''Cuties'' (French: ''Mignonnes'') is a French coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, this being her first feature film as a director.

%% !!'''PLEASE NOTE: Due to the ongoing controversy surrounding the film, and to avoid any controversy with the administrators of Wiki/TVTropes, please refrain from linking the Netflix poster or any screenshots or videos of the film. The original French poster of the film has to be used instead. Also, please use common sense and don't let your personal feelings about film and creators leak onto the examples.'''

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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1_9.bmp]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Original French poster.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Amy, to a disturbing degree. [[spoiler:She steals money from her struggling mother, frames an innocent man by posting a picture of her naked crotch from his phone (which she'd also stole from him!) just to spite him, stabs a boy's palm with a pen and nearly drowns a girl to take her place in the dance competition.]] Her only comeuppance is that she feels bad for few moments, if even that.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: A revolting example with one of the Cuties finding a ''used'' rubber and blowing on it like a balloon. When she was chastised by the other girls that it's a condom, she remains oblivious until they explain to her that people with AIDS use it, which itself is a precocious example by the girls who have misguided perceptions about sex, including that you could catch AIDS orally.[[labelnote:*]]By the way, you can't, but it's worth noting that you could catch ''another'' STD from it entirely, so their worries aren't entirely unfounded.[[/labelnote]]

The film was presented at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2020 and was theatrically released in France on August 19, 2020. Creator/{{Netflix}} acquired the rights to the film and it was released outside France on September 9, 2020.

''Cuties'' (French: ''Mignonnes'') is a French drama and coming-of-age film written and directed by Maïmouna Doucouré, this being her first feature film as a director.

* EveryoneHasStandards: As sexually mature as the Cuties were trying to act for their age, such as suggestively dancing and attempting to take pictures of a classmate's penis, they feel alienated by Amy's impulsive decision to take a picture of her genitals and posting it on the web. Even Coumba, who had been shown to be foul-mouthed and aggressive so far, felt uncomfortable about it and said she'd be severely punished by her mother if she ever tried something similar.

* EveryoneHasStandards: As sexually mature as the cuties were trying to act for their age, such as suggestively dancing and even watching porn, they feel alienated by Amy's impulsive decision to take a picture of her genitals and posting it on the web. Even Cuomba, who had been shown to be foul-mouthed and aggressive so far, felt uncomfortable about it and said she'd be severely punished by her mother if she ever tried something similar.

** It portrays France's rather loose attitudes towards sex and sexuality in general, even extending to minors, and the film criticizes them (supposedly). There is a subversion in that the girls are openly booed by the crowd during the penultimate dance contest, including several African-French onlookers who do not take kindly to it at all.

* BrokenAesop: A major problem with the declared intent of criticizing oversexualization of children is that the film kind of forgets to actually do that. There's no discernible antagonist pressuring the Cuties to incorporate sexual elements into their dance routines, like a stage parent or a sleazy producer. If anything, the audience booing the Cuties dance routine in the climax seems to imply that Western culture does not approve of or condone children engaging in sexualized behavior. Furthermore, the girls never really suffer any consequences of their behavior, at least none that would actually befall children who engage in such practices (such as unwanted sexual attention). In fact, the only time their lewd dancing is plot-relevant, it ''helps them get out of trouble''! And what little mishaps they do endure, are mostly attributed to Amy, the supposed innocent they supposedly corrupt. Instead the Cuties are made to look like victims of an anti-social and borderline psychotic person who feisted herself on them and ruined their aspirations. Whereas any blame that can be found is put squarely on the backward, unhealthy and oppressive environment Amy is a product of, which the movie goes to great lengths to depict in unsavory details (child brideship, polygamy, indoctrinated misogyny and creepy barbaric rituals).

%% !!'''PLEASE NOTE: Due to the ongoing controversy surrounding the film, and to avoid any controversy with the administrators of Wiki/TVTropes, please refrain from linking the Netflix poster or any screenshots or videos of the film. The original French poster of the film has to be used instead. Also, please use common sense in order to add information about the film.'''

* BrokenAesop: A major problem with the declared intent of criticizing oversexualization of children is that the film kind of forgets to actually do that. There's no discernible antagonist pressuring the Cuties to incorporate sexual elements into their dance routines, like a stage parent or a sleazy producer. If anything, the audience booing the Cuties dance routine in the climax seems to imply that Western culture does not approve of or condone their behavior. Furthermore, the girls never really suffer any consequences of their behavior, at least none that would actually befall children who engage in such practices (such as unwanted sexual attention). In fact, the only time their lewd dancing is plot-relevant, it ''helps them get out of trouble''! And what little mishaps they do endure, are mostly attributed to Amy, the supposed innocent they supposedly corrupt. Instead the Cuties are made to look like victims of an anti-social and borderline psychotic person who feisted herself on them and ruined their aspirations. Whereas any blame that can be found is put squarely on the backward, unhealthy and oppressive environment Amy is a product of, which the movie goes to great lengths to depict in unsavory details (child brideship, polygamy, indoctrinated misogyny and creepy barbaric rituals).

* BrokenAesop: A major problem with the declared intent of criticizing oversexualization of children is that the film kind of forgets to actually do that. There's no discernible antagonist pressuring the Cuties to incorporate sexual elements into their dance routines, like a stage parent to drive their exposure to the adult content or a sleazy producer to take advantage of it. Furthermore, the girls never really suffer any consequences of their behavior, at least none that would actually befall children who engage in such practices (such as unwanted sexual attention). In fact, the only time their lewd dancing is plot-relevant, it ''helps them get out of trouble''! And what little mishaps they do endure, are mostly attributed to Amy, the supposed innocent they supposedly corrupt. Instead the Cuties are made to look like victims of an anti-social and borderline psychotic person who feisted herself on them and ruined their aspirations. Whereas any blame that can be found is put squarely on the backward, unhealthy and oppressive environment Amy is a product of, which the movie goes to great lengths to depict in unsavory details (child brideship, polygamy, indoctrinated misogyny and creepy barbaric rituals).

** Amy, big time. She steals her cousin's cellphone, some money from her mother, gets into a fight with the rival dance crew that ''she'' initiated (even if the other crew sort of started it by calling them names), [[spoiler: and in one instance, she even gets away with nearly drowning another girl.]] And yet when other characters finally call her out for the way she's acting, it's never portrayed as getting her just deserts but rather we're supposed to see it as a tragic turn of events for her.

* BrokenAesop: A major problem with the declared intent of criticizing oversexualization of children is that the film kind of forgets to actually do that. There's no discernible antagonist pressuring the Cuties to incorporate sexual elements into their dance routines, like a stage parent to drive their exposure to the adult content or a sleazy producer to take advantage of it. Furthermore, the girls never really suffer any consequences of their behavior. In fact, the only time their lewd dancing is plot-relevant, it ''helps them get out of trouble''! And what little mishaps they do endure, are mostly attributed to Amy, the supposed innocent they supposedly corrupt. Instead the Cuties are made to look like victims of an anti-social and borderline psychotic person who feisted herself on them and ruined their aspirations. Whereas any blame that can be found is put squarely on the backward, unhealthy and oppressive environment Amy is a product of, which the movie goes to great lengths to depict in unsavory details (child brideship, polygamy, indoctrinated misogyny and creepy barbaric rituals).

* SoapPunishment: In a variation where instead of doing it because someone said a bad word (a moot point because FromTheMouthsOfBabes is in play), they subject Columba to this after seeing her blow on a used condom like a toy balloon, presumably to clean out the "AIDS" she caught from doing so and so she wouldn't infect anyone else.

** It portrays France's rather loose attitudes towards sex and sexuality in general, even extending to minors, and the film criticizes them (supposedly). There is a subversion in that the girls are openly booed by the crowd during the penultimate dance contest, including several African-French audiences who do not take kindly to it at all.
** The scenes with Amy's family, portraying a very conservative Muslim family and the women preaching their roles as a woman, including modesty and subservience to men making Amy's eventual rebellion all the more shocking to them.

* GoodShepherd: Muslim version with the imam that Amy's mother brings to their house to examine her. He treats Amy gently and kindly reassures Mariam that Amy's [[BrattyTeenageDaughter behavior]] is not due to the Devil's influence. He also counsels Mariam that, if the situation with her husband is causing her and Amy more suffering than they can handle, she should consider divorcing him.

* LeftHanging: [[spoiler: So is her friendship with the Cuties and Angelica irreparably damaged after she runs off on them in the middle of their dance routine during the contest? Do we get to see what happens in her father's wedding when the mother tells her that it's okay if she decides not to attend? And what did her mother mean by that? ''Never'' explained as [[GainaxEnding the movie just ends with Amy skipping rope with some girls.]]]]

* SoapPunishment: In a variation where instead of doing it because someone said a bad word (a moot point because FromTheMouthsOfBabes is in play), they subject Coumba to this after seeing her blow on a used condom like a toy balloon, presumably to clean out the "AIDS" she caught from doing so and so she wouldn't infect anyone else.

* SoapPunishment: In a variation where instead of doing it because someone said a bad word (a moot point because FromTheMouthsOfBabes is in play), they subject Coumba to this after seeing her blow on a used condom like a toy balloon, presumably to clean out the "AIDS" she caught from doing so and so she wouldn't infect anyone else.