The "Cuties" Thread

[chickpea]

where were the dance moms protests???

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

yeah 4chan must have changed quite a lot in the last decade or so because i seem to remember it being full of child porn? now every member is an anti-pedophilia crusader? did all the pedos go to the spinoffs or what?

Duh. 4chan is the place to go if you dare to be against pedophilia. You must not grasp the clever irony of pedobear.

 

[Jaguar]

It's my understanding 4chan is a shit hole.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

It's my understanding 4chan is a shit hole.

 

[Jaguar]

where were the dance moms protests???

The synchronization is for shit. I'd fire their coach.

 

[chickpea]

babe, i don't care about 4chan please stop mansplaining at me

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

From what I understand about 4chan's history. It was a place where pedos lurked in its early years, this was back when the internet was just taking off and the concept of censorship didn't exist online yet. They were targeting 4channers, and people used to dox themselves all the time. I mean, the website was some teenager's experimental imageboard at the time that got insanely big very quickly. It's creator moot was voted one of the most influential people of all time. 4chan quickly established some hard rules as the owner got older, and that's what is known as the "Global rule list" that applies to all boards, and that list has evolved over time to the point of adopting DMCA regulations (And needing to be over 18 to use the website). It did however, become somewhat of a window into the darkweb for a few years. Far worse things were posted there than CP. For some reason people go there to "Dump" things, such a crimes committed and or to engage the boards in one way or another, and or to commit suicide with an audience before facebook streaming was a thing. But from all the time I have been on it, stuff like CP is permabanned instantly. Also, the FBI intentionally browses the website for leaks and or this exact thing. Today, its more like an offensive Reddit.

Another thing you should realize about 4chan, is that it's culture always becomes the opposite of what is mainstream popular. It's culture is also extremely complex and hard to understand without engaging in it. They even have a rule that you can only lurk for 2 years before you should even attempt to post anything. It's politics rapidly change too, depending on what is popular in the mainstream culture of that era. During the Bush Era, it was Liberal as fuck. During the Obama Era, it was staunchly Libertarian. Now during the Trump era, it is largely right winged but has expanded into supporting multiple views at once compared to previous eras.

4chan despite portraying itself as Chaotic evil on the surface, its actually more chaotic good/neutral overall in my opinion. They have helped track down people who abuse animals, they have reported criminals to the authorities. I would tell you more, but I really suck at explaining things because I tend to oversimplify. You can google some of the good and bad things they have done in the past.

They invented Pedobear, though. Even if it was ironic, why would that exist there if there wasn't a lot of pedophiles? Keep in mind Pedobear was around at least as late as 2009... I remember I had the internet at my home in 1998, so 2009 can hardly be said to be the "early years" of the internet by any stretch of the imagination.

You would only have need for an ironic pedophile meme if you were around a lot of pedophiles.

 

[chickpea]

How can I be mansplaining if I am a woman? Also, sorry you don't want to be educated on something you made a comment on. My bad, I didn't know.

mansplain: to explain something to a woman in a condescending way that assumes she has no knowledge about the topic

you should have been able to infer from my post that i am well aware of 4chan, and apparently have known about it much longer than you, yet still wrote me an essay mansplaining it to me. the only (rhetorical) question i asked was if the pedophiles all decided to migrate to another website. from the glimpses of 4chan i stumble upon, the mentality of the average 4chan user seems to have changed little since the mid 00's. basement dwellers be dwelling

 

[JocktheMotie]

If you can't look at Cuties and not see it as an indictment of how children are aggressively sexualized by culture I don't really know what to tell you. It seems like the obvious takeaway.

Like, this shit happens! All the time! It should be portrayed in art. If it's not effective, or done poorly, that sucks, but I still think it should be made and women who have grown up like this should be able to tell their stories.

 

[EcK]

If you can't look at Cuties and not see it as an indictment of how children are aggressively sexualized by culture I don't really know what to tell you. It seems like the obvious takeaway.

Like, this shit happens! All the time! It should be portrayed in art. If it's not effective, or done poorly, that sucks, but I still think it should be made and women who have grown up like this should be able to tell their stories.

My understanding was that nobody was pushing the girl to do any of it in the movie and that most everyone was against it in the movie. If it is so I don't get how that can be an expression of how society is 'pushing' them to do anything.

 

[Red Memories]

1. How did you come to notice Cuties existence?: I originally saw the Netflix promo poster. My original take from the poster is that it would likely be a humorous commentary on how rauncy children's dance tropes have become. I wasn't TOO far from the mark...but then I saw READYTOGLARE discussing the movie, and trailer, and realized this was anything but comedic and these were also very young girls playing out some very harsh realities...

2. Did you watch/plan to watch the movie to see what you fully think?: I don't actually have Netflix to begin with, but I did actively search out scenes from the movie. Some of the scenes do upset me so I think in my best interest I shouldn't watch it. I don't mean pure vulgarity, I mean traumatic memories for myself.

3. If you did watch the movie, do you think it is better or worse than originally thought and why?: It is slightly better than I originally imagined when I see a mix of positive and negative clips. On a positive note, I do feel the movie taps on the idea that these girls really are just young, impressionable, and not thinking for themselves properly yet. They see this online influencers doing this stuff and see them as rolemodels, as much as I idolized Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift when I was their age. Online and media portrays feminity and sexualization of your body as maturity for women, empowering, feminism. And I begin to wonder - when does doing these things cross a line? Is it really about feminism? Or is it about knowing what sells? Is it then a choice really, or a career obligation for these people? Why are so many parents ignoring the harms social media causes to their kids? I think perhaps the movie would be an opener to a good DISCUSSION but should not be viewed without a discussion lens, because the movie I feel does not properly portray the repercussions fully. She cannot go back to being the same little girl she was, she never will. I speak from that experience. I think the movie might have been better through the lens of the adult, with flashbacks to how she got where she was. I think it would have been safer to have adult but youthful looking actresses, NOT real kids with there's twerking to holy water, provocative eyesore dance scenes, crotch selfies, etc. Which don't take me wrong, I realize it is what they're doing. But I don't like other kids doing it either. If I could go on a trip making a seminar for 11-16 year olds to tell them that isn't maturity and it will only scar you in the end I would because that's my personal experience.

4. How do you feel about the use of real child actors in situations which could emotionally harm them? What would you have in place to protect them from the harm they may incur from being part of such a production if you are okay with it?: Strongly dislike it, and it is my main problem with this movie. It did console me a little that a child psychologist was with them, but I do hope the families continue outpatient therapy with them till they are adults.

5. Where does a line cross from artistic exploration to actual child exploitation?: I think what really crossed the line more than anything is the intentional panning into the private areas of the child. Jaguar already forementioned, twerking is not necessarily a sexual dance yes. But having a camera panning into these girls in skimpy clothes, in their underwear dancing over holy water, dancing in front of questionable people, really is a major turn off. It makes the initial points get lost in the midst. I do not think these girls should be panned at provocatively. This is where I suggest good intentions but bad execution.
The easiest way to end this debate would to be for her to use adult actors and not children, but, to speak to the question, I think doing a movie involving these topics will require a bit more imaginative production to imply rather than show. These girls cannot even watch their own movie...

6. Do you feel Cuties met the burden of its message? Why or why not?: I have not seen the entire film so take me with a grain of salt, but I do feel the ending does not capture the reality of the situation, and the messaging got lost some in the mix. So not entirely. I think again, poor execution.

7. If you are foreign, I have noticed some suggest their view of the movie is quite different. I'd love for an international dialogue of how other countries view this situation.: N/A

8. Do you feel we should do more about the exploitation of children through internet mediums and fame in general?: I think we should really be doing more to protect our children online and in media period. There's so many contradictory messages, so many ways for girls to experience assaults to their self-esteem, so many predators using this as a medium... And they think this will get them popular or loved, but it isn't real. I sometimes wish social media wasn't made so young kids could just continue to go be young kids. Yes, there's still a chance of finding a bad crowd, but less chance on this level that SO MANY would be captured by it...

9. When does one become mature enough to make a choice to do such actions without the same psychological damage?: I would lean to 16-18 years old. At 16 I think there's a greater understanding of what you're doing, what is happening, etc. but it also depends the child, as some 16 year olds can be very immature still.

10. How does this movies promotion possibly play into how it was perceived after the fact?: I think Netflix handled the movie promo extremely bad. Like really bad. When I saw the original poster from France, I don't know why Netflix used a different one. The original captures I think the messaging better, a group of girls trying to understand what it means to be feminine and mature in our modern times.

11. Could any artistic medium really capture the strong reality of the psychological negatives young women face today?: I think it can capture aspects but no one movie will ever perfectly encapsule the entire issue.

12. How do you feel about children and internet fame in a general sense here?: I feel like internet fame has become a dangerous thing. Kids are being wrapped into likes, retweets, and forgetting to educate themselves properly and to develop on a personal level. They become whatever gets them the most hits, which in the end becomes no one at all. And if they become unpopular they sink and literally kill themselves. Or they get crazier and narcissitic. It is really sad where we are at.

13. Could the hypersexualization issue in America be part of the reason America appears to be the most angry about the film?: I think so yes. We already see so much of it in our culture, the last thing we want is a movie highlighting it I suppose.

14. How can we better protect young girls in an online world?: I really don't know. I'd suggest not getting a phone or laptop without supervision until 16 but they'll probably find a friend to introduce it all to them...because most people just don't care...

15. How do you feel about the MAPs (Minor-Attracted persons) sexuality movement and how could this also affect our ability to protect those young children online?: This shit scares me to death. I honestly never imagined someone going with this and thinking they're normal. Like how can you rationally go if gays are okay so am I? IT'S NOT A SEXUALITY, ITS A FUCKING ILLNESS. GO TO THERAPY. It scars me, and knowing these people have support...I can't think about it too much. I saw those defense videos, those people acting like someone my age could really understand what was going on. NO. And it invalidates me and so many other exploited children's experiences. If you're okay with this FUCK YOU. I feel like if I ever had children they might not be online for a long time...

16. Do you think there are any partisan bills which could be introduced to try and fix some of these issues? Should it merely be left to parents?: I think parents have tried, but with the saturation of devices today it is TRULY near impossible for them to monitor on this level. I think it is time to hold social media companies accountable for what they have on their pages, not just politically, but how children are exposed. They should have automatic filters in place or something. New code technologies need invented, but policy needs to make it so they have to. Because none of these people running social media have a moral compass.

- - - Updated - - -

Would like to make a closing argument with this as well.

 

[The Cat]

I guess some wish we could turn back time...to the "good ol days" when the mamas sang us to sleep... but now we're stressed out.

 

[ceecee]

It's amazing to me that there is this much outrage over a Netflix doc about exploration and sexual abuse of children but the reality of what ICE is doing - molesting, raping children and doing some Fourth Reich organ removal on women - nope that's fine. Not a peep.

lol at the first stupid that screams AcKuSaTiOnS!!!!! 🤪

 

[The Cat]

It's amazing to me that there is this much outrage over a Netflix doc about exploration and sexual abuse of children but the reality of what ICE is doing - molesting, raping children and doing some Fourth Reich organ removal on women - nope that's fine. Not a peep.

lol at the first stupid that screams AcKuSaTiOnS!!!!! 🤪

You know. Distractions from real problems actually start to lose their effectiveness if you keep trying to focus on the real problems the distractions are meant to distract you from. You would really be much easier to control if you would just get with the program and get on the distraction train.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

You know. Distractions from real problems actually start to lose their effectiveness if you keep trying to focus on the real problems the distractions are meant to distract you from. You would really be much easier to control if you would just get with the program and get on the distraction train.

but worrying about cuties, pizza, and Tom Hanks is the redpill we need to free ourselves from the matrix

 

[The Cat]

but worrying about cuties, pizza, and Tom Hanks is the redpill we need to free ourselves from the matrix

 

[Deprecator]

Yikes. All I can say is that I was thinking something COMPLETELY different when I first read the thread title.

 

[chickpea]

I wasn't trying to be condescending to you at all. Also, the term mainsplaining was coined by feminists to use against men who talked down to them. Hence the "man" part of mansplaining.

*goes on to mansplain the word mansplain*

never change!!!

 

[Red Memories]

I am a bit saddened people just kind of want to bicker and make this solely about pizzagate and not at the overarching issue at hand just because "redpillers" grab it. There's no real discourse we're having anymore, just needless bickering that adds nothing to the discussion.

 

[Red Memories]