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Comment by lampshades | Hacker News Reader

Interesting that they're laying off writers seeing as the American public has been pretty unhappy with Netflix quality (whether the actual content or the idealogical pushes). I know a lot of people personally that cancelled their Netflix accounts after Cuties and even more for similar reasons as time continued on. I wonder how much of their subscriber-ship was impacted due to things like this and if it's a non-minor amount, what will be the affects on their content?

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> Interesting that they're laying off writers seeing as the American public has been pretty unhappy with Netflix quality

I'm not sure if I'm phrasing this right. But I've felt for the past three years Netflix's US' content has become like the Hallmark Channel for U.S. progressivism. Too sterile, too formulaic, too forced. (Or could it be the algorithm that is recommending me the same content over and over?)

I'm sure someone could come up with a "Generic Netflix TV Show" video like this one:

* Dissolve - This a Generic Millennial ad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG_i7oWzTyU

* Dissolve - Generic Brand Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YBtspm8j8M

I still keep the subscription for some Asian and European content though.

I am virtually certain you have not watched Mignonnes. It is really quite good, and treats its subject matter with care. You have fallen for propaganda. Just watch it. It isn't long and I promise you won't wind up scarred for life. If you hate it, at least you will have come to that decision yourself.

Until you watch the film, I couldn't possibly care what you have to say about it.

GP doesn’t have anything to say about the movie, they just said they know people who cancelled their account because of it.

Why are you so defensive about something that wasn’t even sort of attacked?

For anyone confused by the comment, Mignonnes is the original name of Cuties [1] in French. I haven't watched it, so I don't have an opinion, but the trailer [2] seems pretty okay-ish. I you don't like the move, hit dislike and move on. Not sure why the whole "#cancelnetflix" drama.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0O7lLe4SmA

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuties

These seem to be blog post writers for this blog: https://www.netflix.com/tudum. They're closer to the marketing team than to being writers on shows.

I don’t know anyone who even knows that the show Cuties existed.

I do (me). Your anecdote is hereby nullified! ;)

I canceled and encouraged people to cancel[1] after The Closer was released. I will continue to encourage people to cancel when they mention Netflix content as a way to demonstrate allyship. It is a small act of protest anyone can do in just five minutes.

1. https://www.netflix.com/cancelplan

What is that URL? Does that lead to an account cancellation flow? I'm bemused that Netflix would make that so straightforward, and go-viral-able. (Also, come on - nothing says 'allyship' like trying to ruin a black guy's career to teach him a lesson for expressing unhappiness about the relative pace of change in trans vs black rights. I don't agree with everything he said, as a gay guy, but I find this response extremely distasteful.)

This overreaction of transactivists to Chappelle cracking a few jokes at their expense really just supports the point he was making.

Source on "know a lot of people canceled after Cuties"? Or just anecdotal stuff? I never saw data on that...?

> I know a lot of people personally

Yes, anecdotal.

I cancelled my account directly because of Cuties. I dont live alone and do not want anyone in my household watching CP disguised as an art house film. I know of at least 1 other person who have done the same.

Have you watched the movie? At its core it’s a story about how vulnerable children are and how society sexualizes children.

That they showed by sexually exploiting children in the filming. There is no excusing this - forget about the 'message' - one is watching children in sexually explicit situations and trying to say 'the artistic direction excuses it.'

I think I'm going to sit far far far on the other side of the overton window.

This is a pretty standard film criticism- you can't make a movie about something bad without glorifying it. Scorcese comes in for that a lot, Fight Club, people reading or watching Liar's Poker and feeling inspired, the list goes on.

This is not the same. Nobody actually gets their face broken in fight club, and there are no actual murders filmed in Goodfellas.

Cuties exploits children on camera in an attempt to tell a story about child exploitation.

I'm curious by what standard the film's production sexually exploited the actors, and it's a serious accusation. On first approximation, having watched the film and due to the fact nobody has been prosecuted by and government for the film, I'm inclined to disagree.

Anorher commenter in the thread called it 'child pornography', which is an even wilder claim, from a legal or moral perspective.

The exploitation is on and off camera.

How many audition tapes did they go through in order to choose those 5 girls? 50? 100? Someone sat there and watched dozens of half-nude 11 year old girls twerking on camera. This is disturbing to me. If it isn’t to you then i don’t know what to say.

You're making an assumption that the actresses are chosen on whether or not they can twerk, and then an assumption that the producers of the show (or the audience) see it with a pedophilic gaze. Are parents who read shop catalogues showing children in underwear pedophiles, or looking at the image in that way? How about the people who take the photos?

I really can't see why it would be disturbing, unless the person watching is doing so in service of a pedophilic desire - and you still have to prove that.

I feel uncomfortable watching the trailer, much less the movie. I’m not sure I know anyone who wouldn’t.

Also, I don’t understand that reasoning. You could make a film about the horrors of prison rape. That does allow or require you to film the actual rape.

Anecdotally I think it's the long tail of ideological content rather than the extreme examples that make people leave. But I suppose it could be specific things that push people over the edge.

I'm a strong free speech supporter - I'd rather there be lots of things that people find offensive on offer (as long as they wouldn't have been illegal in the year 2000). But having all new content revolve around some aspect of identity politics means there's nothing actually interesting to watch, which is why I've abandoned netflix now that I've seen all the foreign police procedurals.

Netflix can have free speech. They can make and do whatever they want.

No one should be expected or required to keep paying a subscription when they start disagreeing substantially.

Yes I agree, maybe I wasnt clear. What I mean is that I don't generally hold it against a platform (or whatever) for allowing views or content that I find offensive. If somebody does, that's their right. But what I can't abide is (obviously) not having anything that interests me, because in that case why would I pay them.

That's nothing. I cancelled when they added Full House (https://fullhouse.fandom.com/wiki/Back_to_School_Blues). When it comes to virtue signaling, you're an amateur.

I shared a password with my parents at the time. My wife and I stopped using Netflix entirely because of Cuties, and I think my parents also canceled.

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