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My thoughts on #Cuties. A thread. Maïmouna Doucouré made a powerful film about the patriarchal expectations on young girls. Its also about shame around burgeoning sexuality and the awkwardness of being pre teen with hormones raging. She also authentically explored immigrant life.
#Cuties is also about the hypocrisy of cultures which on the one hand expect young girls to be like mini carers/parents/cooks and often get heterosexually married, and at the same time shame them for expressing emotions and (hetero) sexualities.
#Cuties is beautifully performed, shot and written. It should be used as a starting point for conversation about girls and how they can make informed grounded choices centred on their own needs, rather than mysogynist expectations.
The acting from the girls in #Cuties got the right mix of looking gawky and unsexy imho. They acted in a way that we saw how the characters were mimicking adult sexualities, rehearsing for sexuality they didn't quite yet understand fully. The condom scenario shows this superbly.
The camera in #Cuties challenges us the viewer to look at how we impose adult sexuality on to young girls. (Hammered home a bit too much and clunkily with the dancing) If we feel uncomfortable, i would say that's the result the filmmaker wanted - to show us how damaging it is.
I would love to hear some feminist and intersectional analysis of #cutiesnetflix. I found the inherent colorism not great btw, in how Coumba was treated as a character.
When we say #ListenToBlackWomen are there conditions? Maïmouna Doucouré is a Black woman film director and deserves to be heard, and her work seen, whether we like it or not, find it affirming or not, agree with her perspective/vision or not. What are your thoughts on #Cuties?
